Friday, July 17, 2015

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

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5 Stars
 
"It's okay how some stories leave off without an ending. Life doesn't always deliver the one you would expect."
Holy book slump, Batman! I was on a tear through 2 and 3 Star books when More Happy Than Not finally queued up at the library. Then Larry told me I had to love it or we could no longer be friends, but I had to go watch my kids lose 427 baseball games first so I left the book on the table . . .

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When I finally returned (my albino skin red as a beet from all of the outdoorsiness), I threw some meat products on the table for my family's dinner and informed them they were to leave me be. And I devoured this book. What is the limit of how much I loved this story????

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That's right, Blowhan. The limit does not exist.

I'm not going to tell you a whole lot about More Happy Than Not. Basically, this is the story of 16-year old Aaron - a boy whose father committed suicide a few months ago and now lives in the projects with his family. It's about choosing a different path for himself . . .

"I can't believe I was once that guy who carved a smile into his wrist because he couldn't find happiness, that guy who thought he would find it in death."

It's about Aaron's day-to-day life hanging with his friends and girlfriend, and about the new kid, Thomas, who quickly becomes his best friend and who makes everything about Aaron's world kind of go topsy-turvy . . . .

"From the shapes cast by the green paper lantern, you would never know that there were two boys sitting closely to one another trying to find themselves. You would only see shadows hugging indiscriminate."

It's about memories . . .

"Some can be sucker punching, others carry you forward, some stay with you forever, others you forget on your own."

And about dealing with pain . . .

"Sometimes pain is so unmanageable that the idea of spending another day with it seems impossible. Other times pain acts as a compass to help you get through the messier tunnels of growing up. But the pain can only help you find happiness if you can remember it."

Most of all, it's a completely unique take on coming of age that almost made me have some feelings . . .

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But I'm not a baby so I kept my s&^t together.

This ain't your typical Young Adult selection, friends. Adam Silvera's approach is 100% original and it totally blew me away. It gets every star and I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

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