HappyHead: The Most Anticipated YA Debut of 2023: Book 1 of 2

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Seb was a great protagonist. He wasn’t perfect, far from it. He could admit to being selfish and having done bad things. But not all the things he was ashamed of were things he should be. He’s a realistic-sounding teenage boy, one who’s been surrounded by some pretty horrible people and who has had some terrible circumstances. His anxiety also made him somewhat relatable. Wie so oft ging mir die „Liebesgeschichte“ / „Anziehung“ viel zu schnell und ich konnte das alles gar nicht nachvollziehen. Ich frage mich, ob es manchmal nicht auch einfach besser wäre, Dinge vage zu lassen (ohne das irgendwelche intimen Dinge geschehen) und den Leser mit seiner Fantasie allein zu lassen. Aber vielleicht bilden sich Emotionen in solchen Extremsituationen auch einfach anders aus, als unter normalen Umständen. I don’t know. This is a truly thought-provoking thriller, channelling the menace of dystopian favourites such as Maze Runner and The Hunger Games .' * Observer * Not for me. I am going to have to search for the word "dystopian" harder in blurbs than I do now. I mainly found this book irritating, unrealistic (as regards parents/feelings rather than the concept of a place to "make" you happy). The only people who appeared to be happy at the end were Lucy and Raheem so the whole project had failed 98 of the 100 intake. Or maybe the point was that we should pretend to be happy for the sake of others, which appears to be the status quo. Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood.

I immediately liked Seb, our main protagonist, and could easily root for him in his ventures. I did find that most of the other characters were quite unlikeable although I did develop a soft spot for Finn along the way.After deciding to change careers, Josh began training as a mental health nurse. Josh lives in Manchester with his boyfriend and their dog, Dodger. When 17-year-old Seb is selected for an exciting new retreat programme called ‘Happyhead’, designed to counteract an epidemic of teenage depression and anxiety, he hopes that this could be the solution he needs to get his life together and make his parents proud.

Sebastian Seaton is seventeen and selected for entry into a new and radical program designed to solve the ‘national crisis of teenage unhappiness’ or as one of the staff puts it ‘emotional dysregulation’ [35]. Seb’s parents are more excited about his selection than he is – which perhaps may be a symptom of his ‘teenage unhappiness’. Seb is also gay and has been outed through the good but misplaced intentions of his younger sister Lily. His only friend is Shelly – a rather acerbic but caring fellow student at Seb’s school. Die Geschichte an sich war spannend und ich mochte das Konzept ultra gern. Dem Ende nach vermute ich einen zweiten Teil und ich bin sehr, sehr gespannt <3 A difficult book to tear your eyes from, but even more difficult to describe and review. As I sit here, with no notion of where to begin, all I can remember is the overwhelming feeling of having to inhale every word, and the utter gutwrench of the finale.

Jennings said: “I can’t even begin to say how excited I am about this book. HappyHead has everything I could want in a YA novel. A world that immersed me utterly, twists and turns that kept me reading well into the early hours, and a slow-burn romance between an unlikely couple. Josh’s voice is just so fresh and immediate, bringing humour to even the most horrifying of situations. This is a book that will get under your skin and linger long after reading.”

I'm finding it difficult to explain why this was so good without spoiling the entire plot and I do think that it's worth going into this without knowing much about it. But all I know is that I absolutely can not wait until the next book comes out. I need to know what happens! Das Pacing der Geschichte war wundervoll; alles fing langsam an und wurde mit der Zeit einfach immer beklemmender. Auch Seb als Protagonist war wundervoll gewählt. Er hat solch einen faszinierenden und menschlichen und auch nahbaren Charakter, dass ich mich sofort in ihm wiedergefunden und mit ihm mitfühlen konnte. Seb ist einfach SO weit weg von perfekt und dennoch nicht bemitleidenswert, (sondern einfach ein menschlicher, realistischer Teenager) dass ich einfach nicht anders konnte, als ihn zu mögen. Das Hörbuch ist wirklich wundervoll; Huw Parmenter liest umwerfend gut! (Wenn auch ein wenig langsam – ich habe das Buch auf 1.25x Geschwindigkeit gehört und das war perfekt für mich) Ich liebe seinen Mut und seine Kreativität, was Stimmenvarietät angeht. Aber nicht nur verschiedene Stimmlagen werden genutzt, denn Huw Parmenter etabliert auch verschiedene Akzente für Charaktere, was nice ist. Für non-native speaker manchmal schwer zu verstehen, aber machbar. It’s a great premise, as we are currently living in a mental health crisis so the context feels very convincing and urgent, and HappyHead sounds like exactly the kind of programme our government might dream up as a solution. I’m a bit thorn to write this review. I generally liked it, but I think there were some unrealistic details (like family relations). But I like the way it was written when Seb’s internal voice mixed with actual conversations.It sounds like I’m exaggerating when I say I *inhaled* this book, but I was physically unable to put it down. I read it in bed, when walking my dog, whilst having a 2 hour tattoo… you get the picture. From the moment I read its blurb, I knew I couldn’t rest until I knew how the story ended. (I actually still can’t rest even now I know the ending, but more on that later.)

Right from the start, I was hooked. Seb is such a perfect narrator for this story. He's so interesting and relatable - and also hilarious at times. I laughed out loud a few times during this book. The story follows Seb, who when offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the program the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape. Josh Silver lived in London for a while as he studied at RADA as an actor. He later changed careers and trained as a mental health nurse and also began writing his first book. Josh lives between London and Manchester with his partner. HappyHead is his first novel. Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé' Review: An Intimate Yet Extravagant Exploration Of Beyoncé's Latest World Tour When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape...Wow - This really took me by surprise and blew me away! The creepy atmosphere was present right form the outset and really pulled me in. One of the quotes on the cover of the book says that it's like Hunger Games, but better and I thought - 'Yeah, right'. Hunger Games is one of my favourite series and this is certainly along the same lines, but in a contemporary setting. I loved the main characters and they felt very relatable. My favourite books are genre fiction with queer main characters and this really delivers! What I really liked, though, was the linguistic finesse with which Seb and his insecurities and fears were portrayed. When the voice suddenly became so high-pitched and squeaky and anxious .... God, I got goosebumps! I LOVE that we were given a queer male main character and I wish for more of them in books like this! In my opinion, it’s just too often straight girls and the story about Seb and his character was just so refreshing in that regard that it made me giggle.