Happy Happy Happy is about a young woman named Charlie, who left her village in order to escape from the tragic loss of her mother and unspoken emotions between her and her father. Charlie decided to run away from her past and live a new life in London determined to forget about everything. She had a new life, had a stable job, she found herself a fiance telling herself that she had indeed found her happiness... until her father died and she needed to go back to their village and face her past again. She was now finding herself asking whether she was indeed truly happy.

"You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anybody else." - Happy Happy Happy, Nicola Masters

I have never had such a love and hate relationship with a book, but this book.. argh! I honestly don't know how to feel about this one. This book is so sad, sad, sad and it was such a drag to be reading Charlie's thoughts. Charlie is such a sad girl and doesn't know what she really wants in her life. She usually just follows where life takes her and does not think about what really matters to her and would assume that she is happy just because she thinks it's a good thing.

Nicola made sure readers see Charlie's struggle to make peace with her dad and past. At first, I could never understand why some people are ungrateful to their parents. Charlie is a hateful female who disregards everything around her, not to mention how she treats her fiancé.

She just loves to push everyone away.

She hasn't gotten over her mom's death, and she expects her dad to do the same. She actually has the balls to feel infuriated when she learned he found someone new when she just ignores him whenever he tries to reach out to her. I almost DNF this book because I hated how she treated her Dad until the very end, and how she closed herself to the people in her village.

This was until Pauline came, her supposed-to-be stepmom was so awesome that I knew she would be a key to Charlie's acceptance of whatever she was battling with. Alongside Lowenna, I loved how they build friendships over time.

As I read further, I love how Nicola made Charlie so unlikeable in the beginning and slowly pave the way for her character's growth and transition. I love how she drops snippets of Charlie's past in every chapter making you understand why she is the way she is. I understood that she was never ungrateful, she did not disregard people, when was just so...sad, sad, sad.

Understanding her back story, I am glad I didn't give up on this book. I've learned that it's easy to judge people especially if you're only seeing what they want you to see. This book has reminded me that every one of us has different struggles in life, and how you see life even after the darkness is important.

Always know that you are not alone, and there will always be people ready to support you along the way... just find the right one and know what it really feels like to be happy.

After leaving her small hometown and never looking back Charlie just went with the flow of life. She spends a lot of time convincing herself she’s happy with the direction of her life.

Then she gets a sudden phone call that her father is dying. She runs out on her life in London and sinks into a state of existing without really living in her childhood home.

Now she’s facing the daunting tasks of grieving her father, cleaning up his home, facing the community and dealing with her fiancé.

Can she find her way to happy?

Brilliant... Marvelous... STUNNING! Where does one begin to describe how much I fell in love with this book. Everyone. And I mean EVERYONE needs to read it!

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. On the plus side, Masters' writing is often funny and fresh, occasionally reminding me of Maria Semple or Gail Honeyman.

However, several aspects of the book were challenging. First, the incorporation of backstory is disruptive. Backstory comes in italicized chunks, with no lead in, no hint at the time/place we're being dropped into- and often, the backstory was used to further illustrate a point that the present-day story had just made. I often found myself glazing over at those sections.

Second, I have no problems with an unlikeable protagonist, but I didn't buy this MC's arc.
<spoiler>She goes through the book, not learning the lesson she needs to, until 97% of the way through, when suddenly, she realizes she can't go through with it? Author doesn't even give us a good reason why. "I don't know what it is about this moment, but it is something about this moment.... And suddenly I know that I'm just not leaving." To make matters worse, her fiancé accepts this, they hug, and he drives off? For real? </spoiler>>

A solid debut that some readers will enjoy, but I found myself more frustrated with the book than excited by it.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free advance reader's copy in exchange for this honest review.

This book was okay. If I could do half stars it really would be a 3.5. The overall story was good I really enjoyed the 'young woman discovers her true self after overcoming the obstacles life has thrown at her'. However, the main character really annoyed me. She developed slow and so the next to last two chapters is her really coming into her own so I feel it didn't wrap up as well as I'd like. Also the fiancé was supposed to be the "bad guy" I think and part of me felt sorry for him for how she treated him and the other part of me couldn't stand him.

This book was really solid. At first I was really frustrated with how Charlie never told a soul how unhappy she really was, but then I thought about my own experiences with grief, anxiety, and depression. Her reactions and miscommunications are so realistic. If the traditional rom-com take on going back home isn’t really your thing, this would be a good alternative. I really enjoyed how it all played out.

This book was very well-written and fascinating! I loved the format of the book, and how we saw flashbacks of Charlie's life to understand her experiences and what she went through. It handles intense topics of emotional trauma and I loved reading about Charlie's journey as she works to deal with her struggles and issues.

I loved this one! I found Charlie to be very relatable in that she is struggling to figure out if the idea of happiness is a fairy tale or is worth the risk of upsetting the status quo and ending up with nothing. Sometimes it is so easy to taken
the path of least resistance in your life choices and tell yourself you are content enough. At some point, we all have to figure it out and following Charlie's journey towards her own realization is heart-warming.

The story is partially told through flashbacks to scenes with her parents, which shows how her current mindset evolved. I loved how she reconnects with other people from her past and rediscovers herself in the process. And of course, any book set in a cozy English seaside town is what I live for.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Amazon Publishing UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Navigating through grief, self-doubt, reflection, acceptance of oneself, a tale of how to make it work.

Thank you so much Amazon Publishing and Lake Union. Oh and NetGalley!

I loved, loved, loved this book. Charlie escaped her small town for London but returns to deal with her father's death. She has not told her fiancee about her past, and he shows up for the funeral. Lots of things come up for Charlie as she tries to figure out where she belongs.

The characters and small town location are all treasures. Some people will probably find Charlie annoying and the treatment of her fiancee annoying, but I think that is the point. She has put everyone else first because she thinks she is supposed to. I thought her fiancee was annoying at times, but he also doesn't know the real Charlie. Charlie doesn't even know the real Charlie. I also appreciated the ending because it seemed the most real.

Happy Happy Happy is a story of a woman, Charlie, dealing with grief, self-doubt, and insecurity while convincing herself that she is content. I enjoyed the premise of the story, the location, and, in particular, the relationship between Charlie and her father’s girlfriend, Pauline. However, I didn’t quite connect with the writing style and characterization of Charlie at times. Still, I recommend this to readers who like complex characters who aren’t always self-aware or act in their own best interests and stories set in charming Cornwall!

This was a fantastic story of acceptance, growth, grief, and self reflection.

Our MC pulled away from everyone in her hometown and moved away hoping to be happy and successful. We’ve all been there right? Buuut she continues the pattern of putting on a front in which she appear happy on the outside but has never truly acknowledged or handled the inner turmoil to reach a level of true happiness.

I would highly recommend if you struggle with self love, self doubt, being open to others and accepting that we cannot handle everything alone nor are we meant to always be happy.

“I am happy. I am happy. I am happy…”
If we tell ourselves this enough will it become reality? I read this book in one setting, although there was not much plot the intricacies of the Charlie’s inner world are quite wonderful and reminiscent of Fredrik Backman. It addresses the questions of escaping one’s past and what does it mean to be happy?
I found this book to be warm yet complicated as it explores one’s one sense of happiness and the implications of settling. Overall, it felt a bit like a psychological conversation with oneself in all the best ways. I would recommend this to reader’s who are character driven and enjoy inner monologues and personal growth.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by a cover, but sometimes they grab you... The cover and title caught my attention. I can see how some may have a love/hate relationship with this, but so far I'm loving this book. I rated it while reading and will update my review.

Nicola Masters' debut novel, Happy, Happy, Happy, follows the journey of Charlie Trewin as she navigates self-doubt and generational trauma when she's forced to return to her hometown after the untimely death of her father. It's an introspective piece that I believe will be hit and miss for the reader depending on the experiences of the reader themselves.

After the death of her mother when Charlie was a young girl, Charlie began emotionally shutting herself off from the world, purposefully growing distant from her father and everyone else in her hometown. She escapes to college in London, hoping for a glamorous, busy, semi-anonymous life; a choice that will resonate with many readers who have or hope to do the same as young adults. Masters does a fantastic job delving into Charlie's train of thought as Charlie continues to wish for closeness and intimacy while continuing to shut herself off from the world so much that she finds herself without friends and is completely unenthusiastic about her upcoming marriage to her fiance, James. Early on in the plot, Charlie remembers something her mother told her before she died: "You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anybody else." As Charlie returns to her hometown, convinced that everyone has forgotten about her and that she's merely back to deal with her father's estate before making a quick escape back to London, she projects a stony exterior to the outside world, internally chanting, "I'm happy, happy, happy,"--especially when she clearly is not.

Readers who have dealt with extensive self-doubt and emotional trauma may identify with Charlie. A common phrase for people struggling emotionally is "Fake it until you make it," but Charlie's journey shows that lying to yourself doesn't fix underlying issues. Her mother's words ring true, but it takes work to love yourself, and this can be an incredible struggle for many. Charlie's inner turmoil can frustrate the reader, but I believe this was an intentional choice by Masters. Even if someone knows what they need to address in order to begin healing, that first step can be the absolute hardest of all. Perhaps Masters' exploration of Charlie's journey will help some readers who are themselves struggling with self-doubt and self-love. Even if you've convinced yourself otherwise, you are never truly alone in this world.

Perhaps Charlie Trewin will be a love/hate character, depending on the reader. I loved her, and saw a great deal of myself in her. Yup, flaws and all. This author writes with a strong, authentic voice and I truly believed Charlie and rooted for her happiness. Her real happiness not her 'I'm happy, happy, happy' mantra that she doesn't mean. A mantra I often mutter to myself with as much falsehood. A great read, especially if you need a reminder that you should live the life you want, not the one expected of you. I loved it, a full 5 star read, possibly my favourite of the year so far.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
This book was unfortunately not for me. I didn't like the protagonist at all. She was so self involved, so unfair to her fiance that it really bothered me. It took the whole book for her to make the decision she should have made in the first place. Sorry!