My apologies in such a late review. I am tidying up my Netgalley books and saw I didn’t give my opinion on this book. I love anything Matt Inman puts out and this book was no exception. So many laugh out loud and relatable moments

For those who are familiar with The Oatmeal and his other books, this title is not like the others (and that's okay). Just don't expect his usual offbeat humour. How to Be Perfectly Unhappy is a visual, introspective attempt by the author to explain what happiness means (or doesn't mean) to him, and how he measures his life satisfaction differently.

I am perfectly unhappy and I really connected with what the author was trying to talk about. Lovely illustrations! Really breezed my way through this one!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This charming collection is a great read. It is well drawn and well written. I strongly recommend it.

What does it mean to be happy? Mathew Inman, aka 'The Oatmeal' ponders this question in this comic, inspired by an essay by Augusten Burroughs called How To Be Unhappily Ever After, published in the online version of the Wall Street Journal. It also reminds me of Russ Harris' excellent self-help book The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living, which talks about how it is normal not to feel happy all the time. The Oatmeal suggests that there is a problem with our definition of happiness.How To Be Perfectly Unhappy is an unusual comic, even for The Oatmeal, whose work often features a thoughtful, insightful kind of humour. It still has the weird drawings of strangely misshapen creatures doing things like farting rainbows, but it also makes a wonderful, serious point. The comic is still available online to read free, but now there is a book version as a keepsake. It would make a beautiful gift for somebody who spends more time worrying about how to be happy than just doing things they find fulfilling.

I have decided that The Oatmeal is preferred as a web comic and not a print book. The style of artwork and presentation put forward by The Oatmeal is crafted for the specific medium of dispersal and doesnt feel the same when in book format. this doesnt mean it was bad.. jus tthat i have a preference to the original web.

Another great offering from The Oatmeal! This cutesy comic actually offers some real advice about depression. I LOVED it!

I’ve read a number of Matthew Inman’s books and I’ve always enjoyed them a lot. They are very feel-good types of books—hilarious with charming and adorable illustrations—and this is one of my favorites. I found this collection to be much deeper than I had ever expected his work to be, and it actually really worked well. It wasn’t anything extremely life-changing, but it was very refreshing to have a bit of that mixed into the humor. Overall, this was a really quick and funny read that brightened my spirits while also making me think a bit.

Way too short and I didn't find it that good. Sorry. And I don't even care if it's 'to' or 'too'.

*Huge thanks to Matthew Inman, Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

*netgalley review*

Maybe it wasn't for me but I didn't like much. I expected the story a bit longer or detailed. He had a good point but what was written in the book was so brief. I couldn't grasp much.

I read this book one morning I was feeling particularly misanthropic. It was dark and had some twisted humour. Which totally works for me. It's my favorite kind of humour. I really enjoyed reading it. I felt I could get along with the author on a lot of topics.

I am pretty sure I have read this before, but the Oatmeal is on the internet so it wouldn't be surprising if I did. However that does not negate the fact that this is a great story. I love the message, the art is great & super cute, and I like how fast-paced it is. We should all look for meaning when it comes to life and the beauty is that we get to decide what 'meaning' means to us. I think that is really inspirational and totally a good thing to remind yourself of every once in a while :)

3.5 helms

Please follow me on my blog :) Review originally posted on Vellum Voyages (www.vellumvoyages.com)

Have never heard of The Oatmeal or Matthew Inman but I was curious about this graphic novel when I requested it. At first, I was confused about the context and it didn't really have much of an impact as I was trying to get my head around what message the author was trying to convey but as I was reaching the end of the book, things started to fall in place and I started to understand the profound message Matthew Inman was writing about.

Everyone's version of happiness is different and most of us only know two states: happy and unhappy. Matthew Inman attempts to make us understand that it is ok to enjoy a state between the two extremes and be content. Happiness can also be an unachievable, elusive goal and by always trying to achieve this state, we can also make ourselves unhappy during the journey.

Relating back to my own life, I always find I'm chasing happiness too and find it's always elusive no matter what I do. I don't need to think about it to know that my life is pretty damn good and I cannot complain at all. This book made me question what is the concept of happiness really? And how come it is so difficult to attain despite the fact that I have nothing to complain about! It was nice to realise that it's okay to have an unlabelled state of contentment despite it not being happiness!

I feel like this book really conveys a very important life lesson and it will do many people well to take away some advice from it. If like me, you initially find the concept confusing keep reading (after all it's a short book!) and re-read it again after a few weeks and see what you think! I didn't pay enough attention to the artwork to comment on it as I was more focused on the concept!

*Thank-you Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), Netgalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC.

If you enjoy Inman's The Oatmeal, chances are this will hook you in. Is happiness a binary state? No. Inman challenges us to move beyond the thought that if one isn't happy then one must be unhappy. This is a great short book that I hope will spark thought-provoking conversations over happiness, joy, bliss, and all that lies in-between.

What does it mean to be happy?

How to Be Perfectly Unhappy does a great job in showing that not society feels you can only be happy or unhappy. There seems to be no in between. A great, quick, yet inspiring read!

Mathew Inman, aka The Oatmeal, is always funny. His work is biting, sarcastic, and occasionally just plain silly, but ultimately hopeful about humanity and our boundless capacity for stupidity tempered by good intentions.

I always like the Oatmeal comic, because they mix funny and true life insights.
This short graphic novel is about happiness and how we have a standardized way of thinking about being happy /unhappy; it's a very nice book and it provides a different perspective about a concept which definition we take for granted as it is.

If Matthew Inman writes it, I buy it. Period. End of story.

How can something so short unravel the paradox of what is happiness, and if being unhappy = being miserable?

Through varying styles of comic illustrations, the oatmeal goes on a journey of understating the concept of happiness vs being content. Each style served its purpose, leaving a mark in my memory with its vivid imagery and styler of words.

I absolutely adored this, mostly because I finally found something that represented the emotion that I feel quite often. If you ever felt like happiness is a blurred line , then I highly recommend that you pick up this graphic novel.

I received an eARC in exchange with an honest review.

I only read the first few pages, but then I got really busy because of my exams and I had to stop reading, but I was definitely intrigued and might buy this book in the future...