A review by miak2
Something Like Happy by Eva Woods

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 
"I think we should all live as if we are dying too – because we are, make no mistake. We should live as if we’re dying at some unspecified but possibly quite soon time. We can’t expect every day to be happy, and there’ll always be sickness and heartache and sadness, but we should never put up with a sad or a boring or a depressing day, just for the sake of it. None of us have time for that, whether we have a hundred days left or a hundred thousand."


This was perhaps an odd choice for my first audiobook, but my library didn't have an ebook version and I thought "let's give it a shot." And boy am I glad I did.

On the whole, I don't think this is the most creative idea. We've seen countless books/movies/shows about people with terminal illnesses experiencing the last leg of their life to the fullest. However, I do think this is one of the best executed ones. Each character was so fully fleshed out, even relatively minor characters. And, maybe due to the audiobook narration, I really felt like these were real people, like Polly and Annie were two of my close friends.

It was such an emotional journey. I laughed at loud, sometimes uncomfortably in the middle of my workplace. I cried some, thankfully in the solitude of my own home. I felt downtrodden. I felt optimistic. The story wasn't picture perfect - although it had a great ending, it didn't tie up all the loose ends or solve all of the issues, but that's okay. That's what made it realistic and relatable. As someone who's a bit of an Annie in my day-to-day life, I'd like to think that I, too, learned quite a bit from Polly. 
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