More Happy Than Not By Adam Silvera | BOOK REVIEW

TITLE: More Happy Than Not AUTHOR: Adam Silvera PUBLICATION YEAR: 2015 GENRE: Young Adult Contemporary, LGBT PAGE COUNT: 293 FORMAT: Paperback AVAILABLE  AT : amazon

 I have seen this book feature in the favourite LGBT Book list of most Book Tubers . I have also seen it being applauded by people who don’t necessarily like reading Contemporaries. So when I decided to read an Adam Silvera, I chose this one to read first. Adam Silvera is a popular Young Adult writer who is known to have written a lot of gut wrenching sad stories that could make even a heartless soul cry.

I didn’t end up crying but it definitely shook me – not because it was depressing but because I never thought the narrative would take such an unexpected turn towards the second half of the book. But let me say this out loud- I absolutely hated the first 170 pages of this 300 page book. I don’t know what got into me to continue reading a book that I clearly hated. But I am glad I did, because after that 170 page mark, I enjoyed every bit of it.

The story is about this guy named Aaron Soto who is going through a rough patch in his life. He is struggling with the loss of his father. But his sweet and lovely girlfriend Genevieve helps him deal with this trauma. However, he starts to develop some feelings for a guy named Thomas and things start to deteriorate. He found all this drama quite overwhelming and therefore he decided to erase some portions of his memory by undergoing a controversial medical procedure given by the Leteo Institute.
Aaron as a character was anxious, restless, confused and depressed. His struggles were pretty visible in his narrative. I was left with conflicting emotions about him at the end of the book. At first, I felt empathy and sympathy, but then I started hating him for his constant whining. For some reason, I continued to hate him even after he redeemed himself .
Genevieve was the best thing in this story. She was such a sweetheart who selflessly took care of Aaron when he needed her the most. Thomas was everything that Aaron aspired. He was quirky and a lot of fun.

The writing style was pretty ok but the real problem was pace. For the first 170 pages , this book reads like any other teenage romance story . It is pretty obvious that all the three major characters are kind of stuck in a love triangle situation with the main guy realising he is gay. It is the same old cliché /trope that I have witnessed in stories at least a hundred times. There was nothing special about it. Hence, I found it extremely boring and exhausting. But I still went ahead because I was curious about this Leteo institute. I wanted to know more about this medical procedure where doctors were able to erase certain memories . Somewhere near the 170 page mark came a plot twist that literally blew my mind after which I enjoyed every bit of it. 👍

The other major issue I had was the lacklustre description of the memory erasing medical procedure of   the Leteo institute. There was very little information provided to us which disappointed me considering that was the one I was most looking forward to in the book. I thought it was a super cool concept which was not properly executed.

Also, I want to add my concerns regarding the way teenagers are portrayed in YA books lately. Almost every YA contemporaries that I have read so far shows kids to be absolutely obnoxious and dealing with some shady stuff like drugs. They are shown talking about sex and girls like disgusting creeps. Even the games they play are brutal and borderline criminal..!! Is this the idea of fun these days?  Back when I was a kid, we were far more innocent with our fun activities. Honestly I am sick worried as someone who is planning on becoming a parent. This is why I don’t like reading contemporaries because although they are fiction,  they are believed to be showing a vague mirror of what is going on in the present world. This  frightens me. 😟

TRIGGER WARNING- Hate Crime, Self harm , Suicide, Homophobia.

It is pretty clear I did not like this book, but there were some moments and lines in the book that were worth mentioning. I don’t think the following contains any major spoilers but if you are extremely concerned, then you may skip this highlighted portion and go straight to my conclusion and rating.

*** SPOILER SECTION ***

 “I like waking up from nightmares. Sure, the nightmare itself is a mind fuck , but knowing I’m okay? That’s what I like.” 
👆 I found the above statement remarkable as it is such a cool and positive take on something as dreadful as nightmares.
👉 When Aaron says “I thought death was a happy ending exit strategy” . To this Thomas says something that really makes sense. He says and I quote “ We all make mistakes . Every wrong job I take is a mistake , but it’s also a step in the right direction . If nothing else, it’s a step away from the wrong one .”
👇The following is something that I strongly believe and advocate   .. LOL !! Just kidding -
“ I’m a firm believer that everyone in the universe will one day cut the bullshit – as in politely nod at one another instead of wasting their short lives with pointless conversations.”
👉 And this one was so relatable- “I have something I want to talk about but it’s not the kind of talk I can just have with anyone..... I draw instead because putting thoughts to page helps, it really does”
Just like him, I find putting all the random thoughts of my messy mind in a  paper far more satisfying than  talking about it.

CONCLUSION-
Contemporary has always been a hit or miss for me. This book could have been a huge hit if not for the first 170 pages of pure boredom. Overall it was average for me because at the end, it deals with some hard hitting issues like suicide, self harm, drugs, bullying, hate crime and homophobia. Also I agree with the author’s note which says that the readers will relate to Aaron’s journey even if they are not gay because his journey is ultimately about the pursuit of happiness, which is universal.  If you plan on reading it, then I urge you to keep reading till the end because it gets better eventually.

RATING -🌕🌕🌕 ( 3/5 )