|
Price |
 |
|
Rereadability |
|
|
Lose Track of Time |
 |
|
Personal Choice |
|
|
|
Review #22674 - Dated: 22nd of January, 2023
Author: mizim |
Whenever a YA (young adult) book tells me that none of the characters in it are going to be inherently unhappy (taken by the blurb stating an epidemic of unhappiness), I am always wary and ready to read characters that are moody and grumpy and distrusting of everything, but that isn't the case with Happyhead, they're just, not happy. I'm also concerned when there is a heavy theme running through a book, that the author might be a bit out of touch, happily Josh Silver is both part of the LGBTQ+ community and a mental health nurse, so they actually know what they're writing about.
Seb, our main character, gets invited to the inaugural retreat for Happyhead, a program that aims to get teens a bit more back to basic but also get them relying on each other more. Of course, things soon start to get a bit iffy and this is really pointed out by Finn (who is very much a moody, leave me alone kinda guy). Seb, is very much a people pleaser and tries to go with the flow, even as Finn is pointing out that something is wrong (it did annoy me slightly just how long it took Seb to get his A into G).And of course, the government isn't doing any checkups etc. to make sure the program is running as promised... *sigh*
Still, put those little nibblings aside and what you have is a pretty decent thriller for the YA audience. While you know something is off, right at the start, it is still a slow enough build to things getting really uneasy and out of hand. I will admit that I was annoyed the book left me on a cliffhanger but that has to be a good sign, right? I enjoyed this more than I expected to and I will be keeping an eye out for the next installment.
|
