Hello all! It is good to see you here again. Today I’ll be doing a book review on one of my most favorite novels.
And no. It is not an epic, high fantasy with characters who are continually fighting for their lives.
It is the simple, yet heart wrenching contemporary novel, Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand.
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Blurb
(from goodreads)
THINGS FINLEY HART DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT
• Her parents, who are having problems. (But they pretend like they’re not.)
• Being sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer.
• Never having met said grandparents.
• Her blue days—when life feels overwhelming, and it’s hard to keep her head up. (This happens a lot.)
Finley’s only retreat is the Everwood, a forest kingdom that exists in the pages of her notebook. Until she discovers the endless woods behind her grandparents’ house and realizes the Everwood is real--and holds more mysteries than she'd ever imagined, including a family of pirates that she isn’t allowed to talk to, trees covered in ash, and a strange old wizard living in a house made of bones.
With the help of her cousins, Finley sets out on a mission to save the dying Everwood and uncover its secrets. But as the mysteries pile up and the frightening sadness inside her grows, Finley realizes that if she wants to save the Everwood, she’ll first have to save herself.
Reality and fantasy collide in this powerful, heartfelt novel about family, depression, and the power of imagination.
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My rating: 5/5
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
My Thoughts:
This book had so many amazing aspects to it, it is hard to get all my thoughts onto this post! As a writer, I know how hard it is to ace all the different parts of the writing craft. Legrand did a very good job on incorporating fantastic character arcs, interesting plot and keeping the story flow.
One of my favorite parts of the novel was her character development. Additionally, the arcs were absolutely outstanding. It is easy to see that the author planned and thought them out clearly. Throughout the whole novel, you will be rooting on and on for the characters; I don’t know when I last felt that hard for the characters in a novel.
Secondly, the description was a perfect balance of not too heavy but not too small. I could easily see the scenery and the inside of Grandma and Grandpa Hart's home. I felt like I was there, joining in on Finley and Gretchen’s adventures in the Everwoods. There is nothing more frustrating than reading a book but you have no idea where you are or when all you are getting is a mouth full of setting and nothing else. Some Kind of Happiness had a perfect balance.
Not only was the description for the setting outstanding, but the description of the feelings and emotions was… stellar and beautifully raw. The way Legrand explains and shows Finley’s anxiety or ‘blue days’ I felt as if I were the one drowning in the darkness of her mind. Sometimes, I had to close the book because my heart was aching for Finley and her mental struggles.
Another aspect I found sweet was the family dynamics and relationships. As someone who is super close with their cousins, I was so glad to see this story focused on cousins and aunts and uncles! Even though Finley had never met them before the story started, she and Gretchen clicked and were best friends super quickly. I love seeing the different types of relationships within the age differences of all the cousins. Legrand was so real in the way she wrote family relationships, which I appreciated.
Typically, I do not enjoy contemporary, as a usual reader of fantasy, dystopian, and retellings, but I can’t explain how much I adored this novel. I felt for the characters so hard. I felt like I was there throughout the entire story.
Content Warnings
Another bonus of this novel was that there was basically nothing to be scared of content-wise, in my opinion.
There was one use of h**l, which was used by Finley’s grandpa while he was angry. God’s name, however, is used in vain a few times throughout the story.
Additionally, there is no romance in the novel, other than 11 year old crushes. I personally, do not count that as romance, lol.
The main character deals with anxiety and depression so at times there are descriptions of ‘drowning’ and things of that sort. But other than those few things, I’d say it was very, very clean.
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So do I recommend this book? 1000%!
If you are looking for your next clean, heart wrenching novel to read with no romance and just family relationships, then definitely read this book! It was beautifully written and I was engaged the entire way.
Have you ever read this book? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments!
~Mackenzie
