Despite the smiley face on the cover, this is not really a happy book, though "happiness" is one of its main themes. It's a grim, intense story about memory, sexuality, nature vs nurture, suicide, relationships, hate crimes and homophobia, and all set in the diverse socioeconomic landscape of the Bronx. Furthermore, there's an added science fiction element of a company that can erase memories to make people "recover" and "start over," which allows Silvera to raise a lot of interesting and important questions.
Not everything in life works out how you want it to, after all, but man is that particularly true for our protagonist Aaron Soto. Things seem to be going great with his girlfriend, but while she's away, he finds comfort in a new male friend. Now conflicted about his sexuality, and knowing how his circle of friends won't accept him as gay, Aaron wonders if he can just get the procedure to forget and make everything better. (And then things get complicated in great ways, but I don't want to spoil it!)
Despite the sci-fi aspect, the story still takes place very much in our present, forming a very realistic backdrop of intersections between race and class, and the effects of homophobia and abuse within it. I also appreciated how the feelings of and relationship between the characters were complex. Some of them could have been defined by jealousy, betrayal, and bitterness, but they were instead portrayed in many lights, and their feelings toward each other were not easily categorized, and that made it much more interesting and effective.
More Happy Than Not hurts, but it's thoughtful and tackles some very important subjects and it's absolutely worth the read.
Spoilery section (you have been warned)
The reveal that Aaron had already undergone the procedure was really effective storytelling. It's a twist, but it's also great because it displays so clearly that this is who he's been for his whole life, and all the pieces fit into place so well. The procedure was also described as used for treating mental illness such as PTSD or panic attacks, which made me think about the possible effectiveness and implications of that, even if it wasn't explored directly in the novel.
...I'm still thinking about the ending, I'm not even sure I can coherently say anything. But I think it was fitting for Aaron to be stuck with only prior memories--not that he deserved it, but it made thematic sense. There were parts of his life that he just couldn't escape from, and now he never can.
