More Happy Than Not

More Happy Than Not (2015) is Adam Silvera’s debut novel. It was well received and marked Silvera’s entrance into the growing field of queer young adult fiction. In the Author’s Note, Silvera speaks about his own sexuality and the difficulty of feeling “wrong” when surrounded by his straight friends. This insight and a deft writing hand have allowed him to produce several books featuring young queer protagonists, such as the acclaimed They Both Die at the End.

The novel made the New York Times best-seller list and was selected for several awards: CCBC Choices, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Junior Library Guild Selections, and the We Are Kid Lit Collective Summer Reading Lists. It was also honored by the Indies Choice Book Awards and was a finalist for Lambda Literary Award.

Plot Summary

The novel follows Aaron Soto, a 16-year-old boy who lives in a housing project in the Bronx, New York. The story unfolds in a fictionalized near future in which the Leteo Institute has pioneered a procedure that allows people to forget painful memories. Aaron shares a one-bedroom apartment with his mother and brother; his father recently committed suicide. Aaron himself bears the scar of a recent suicide attempt, but he is determined to make a fresh start and move forward. He adores his girlfriend, Genevieve, who is an artist like Aaron.

When Genevieve goes to an art retreat for a few weeks, Aaron feels lost—until he connects with Thomas, a peer who lives in another project and whom Aaron met at a recent community event. Without Genevieve around, Thomas and Aaron spend a lot of time together, and Aaron realizes that he is attracted to Thomas and has romantic feelings toward him. He breaks up with his girlfriend rather than continuing to lie to her to protect himself. Aaron is convinced that Thomas is gay as well and comes out to him. He later tries to kiss Thomas but is rejected and informed that Thomas is definitely straight.

Distraught, Aaron considers getting the Leteo procedure despite the protests of his family and friends. After a consultation, he is attacked by a group of his childhood friends. They beat him badly, and one of them hurls him through the glass door of their building, causing many injuries. The trauma to Aaron’s head “unwinds” him, revealing that Aaron has already received the Leteo procedure. He begins to remember things he had forgotten—things the procedure made him forget. Among these are the memories of his first boyfriend, Collin, who dumped Aaron after they were assaulted because his girlfriend was pregnant. Aaron remembers many things from his childhood that indicated he was gay to the rest of his family. He also remembers his father’s rejection and violent response to Aaron coming out, as well as finding his father’s body after the suicide. Aaron wants to get the procedure again but decides not to.

Unfortunately, the head trauma also caused anterograde amnesia, which means that Aaron cannot form any new memories. Within a week of the attack, Aaron is fully taken by his condition and cannot process the passage of time or remember anything about his recent life. The original novel ends with Aaron resigned to find happiness despite his difficult conditions. The deluxe edition, released five years later, adds a more concrete ending in which Aaron receives an experimental surgery and is cured of his amnesia. He meets a boy in group therapy, Jordan, who helps Aaron come to terms with his trauma and his feelings of hurt and resentment that Thomas and Genevieve formed a romantic relationship in Aaron’s “absence.”