As someone who works in mental health, reading a book by Josh Silver a mental health nurse really brought HappyHead, as a place, to life. I can tell you that parts of it were so realistic, I felt it in my bones. The characters were brought in so fluidly, nicknames for people as you would have in real life... so well thought through. The realistic portrayal of mental health meant that I found myself laughing at Seb's inner monologue, the flow of the conversation never missing a beat. The description of the outer world really enticed my senses - I could almost feel things whooshing past me and at some point, I could smell the antiseptic.
For a YA novel, especially with LGBTQI+-friendly themes, I loved the honesty of it. The description and development of young love and understanding oneself at that age is difficult, multi-layered, and delicate. However, Silver beautifully puts it into words and I found myself getting so invested in the relationships between the characters. The book's success in handling delicate subjects resonated with me.
The characters are well-developed, and the writing style is compelling and relatable. Easy to read, I read in some other reviews that people finished it in one sitting - Although I did not read it in one night, I can see how that is possible. Some of the tasks were thought-provoking and stressful, with Silver really showing off his brilliant and innovative storytelling skills.
I hated that it ended. It left me wanting more more more immediately, but I understand why an author would end a book in this way. The pacing, the character development and the consistency of the plot made this a 10/10 read for me. I enjoyed it, I don't know what I was expecting when I picked this up, but somehow it exceeded my expectations. Although this book was not written for my demographic, once I read it, I knew exactly who to recommend this to and have already gifted it to two young adults in my life. "Like Hunger Games but better" rings true to me, because it felt more real. It felt compelling and also left me hoping and wishing to the very last page.
I cannot believe this is a debut novel for Silver, as it has clearly been written by someone that wanted to make reading it enjoyable. And in this case, succeeded wholeheartedly.
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