Review Detail

4.2 7

This Is What Happy Looks Like

Young Adult Fiction 381

A fun contemporary with a sweet, lighthearted romance

May 11, 2013

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

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Characters

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Writing Style

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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

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I really, really liked This Is What Happy Looks Like. I’ve never read anything by Jennifer E. Smith before, but now I’m curious to see what else there is. It was the kind of book that made me smile just reading it—and I wish I hadn’t read it so fast. The characters were likeable, and I understood where Ellie was coming from with her fears. And Graham, well, he was dealing with troubles of his own. I liked seeing how their relationship panned out. It wasn’t perfect from the start, and was full of troubles and misunderstandings. This is one of the best contemporary novel’s I’ve read this year.

Good Points

The characters each had a backstory. The way the setting was described made me want to visit the town. The romance was sweet and the characters had more of an emotional investment in the relationship, rather than purely physical. And it was clean enough for younger readers to take a look at as well. It was refreshing to read something like This is What Happy Looks Like.