Firstly, the ending. I know I'm not supposed to start by talking about my thoughts on the ending, but here this seems necessary. I got to 92% and still I couldn't see what would happen. I was on edge throughout the whole of the last 20% and the ending just left it on the biggest cliffhanger. The amount of twists was not something I was expecting, and I just could not put this down, so I actually read it in only a couple sittings.

I always seem to talk about how much I loved the characters in book reviews, and this is no exception. Seb and Finn reminded me so much of Simon and Baz from the Carry On series by Rainbow Rowell, especially Finn and Baz, in all their vampire vibe, rebellious glory. I loved Finn especially and I think that Seb was such an interesting narrator too.

Something that I would like to say, however, it that I found some of it a little too convenient. How some things just fall into place and they know exactly what they are supposed to do. It wasn't all of the time, but there were a few scenes where I also felt that the author didn't really know how to write them getting past, for example, an armed guard, and so just made the narrator pass out and magically appear inside.

The premise was so exciting to me, and I really enjoyed my time inside the messed up world of HappyHead. The reasons behind the situation the characters find themselves in was very well crafted, and the pacing was spot on, especially in the second half. I did enjoy the second half more than the first, just because that's where most of the action happens!

The assessments were SO twisted and messed up and honestly the whole book was a little scary but so gripping and I just didn't know what to believe throughout!!

The supporting characters were also very well thought out, but I would have liked to see more of Ash, because I think there is real potential in her character.

The romance element was filled with tension and memories and secrets, but also didn't form a huge part of the plot, which I think was so important the balance between the two was perfect in my opinion (even if I was craving more romance and for them to just KISS ALREADY).

Overall, this was a very unexpected but fantastic read, which I can't wait to see in shops and for more people to get the opportunity to pick it up!

REVIEW POSTED ON MY BLOG 18/03/23
https://zbestbooks.blogspot.com/2023/03/arc-book-review-happyhead-by-josh-silver.html

HappyHead by Josh Silver

HappyHead is a radical camp for intervention to try and solve the epidemic of unhappiness. HappyHead is a dystopian novel following Seb's journey to solve teenage unhappiness.
This is a very different read and feels like you are in a trial for l life


Sebastian is entered into this program by his parents whislt we progress through his journey at HappyHead, we get an eerie vibe of what these educators are doing to these teenagers throughout their assessment. With each evaluation, we fear what will happen next. During these assessments, Seb meets Finn, which causes a conflict of emotions within Seb. I adore that Seb is gay, and it's a great representation of how males react to this discovery of themselves.

Getting near the end that twist I did not expect and this really shocked me.


Be aware, as I was not, that this is the beginning of a series! There is no resolution here; instead, the ending cliffhangs horribly.

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100 participants are selected at random to go a Scottish retreat to take part in a series of assessments designed to solve teenage unhappiness but it’s not as it seems…

I cannot think of the last time that I devoured a book in one day. From the moment I picked this book up, I knew I was going to love it and I was right. I loved the pacing of this book, how action packed it was, the character development too and Josh’s writing.

I need the next book immediately because how are you gonna leave the ending on a cliffhanger when so much is left uncertain?! As there will be a sequel, this ending definitely makes an excellent set up but I am so invested in the characters, especially Seb and Finn that I need to know what happens next.

Thank you to Rock the Boat for the opportunity to read this incredible book.

⚠️ TWs: profanity, vomiting, blood, animal murder, derogatory language; mentions alcohol and drug use, body shaming, homophobia, death, arson, drug overdose, suicide, forced outing, gun and eugenics ⚠️

HappyHead was a force of nature. Silver has smashed it out of the park with a tense, ominous and addictive thriller.

This book really hit home for me. In an environment where LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under attack and the transphobic rhetoric in the media intensifies, this book is a gut punch. It solidifies our worst nightmares in a technicolour dystopia that slowly reveals its rotting corruption. This is a book that excels in its creeping dread. From the start, something feels off, but the true darkness is only revealed near the climax. Some of the scenes are shudder inducing. The tension just builds and builds to an unbearable point. These assessments get ever more sinister and you can feel the suspense start to thicken. This gives the book such fast pacing and personally made me speed through the pages.

You can also tell how much heart and soul Silver has poured into this book. His passion permeates every page. This intensifies the emotion and tension of each scene tenfold. For me, his Q & A at the end is a must read. It brought everything back to reality and how close to home this is. This is dystopia for now because it is so believable and scarily accurate to where we could be heading. This passion also extends into creating such nuanced and three-dimensional characters that I fell head over heels in love with. I cared about them deeply and felt every shocking twist rip through them, disrupting their relationships and revealing ulterior motives behind calculated actions. All I know for certain is that I need the next book in my life immediately.

HappyHead was an absolutely incredible read that sadly rings more true with every passing day. It reminds us to fight at all costs.

Well, this was not what I was expecting! I thought maybe it was a secret conversion camp, but most of the participents appear to be straight, so that was wrong.

The writing is fantastic, tense and immediate. I was desperate to know what was going on. Be aware, as I wasn't, this is the start of a series! There's no resolution here, it cliffhangs terribly at the end instead.

I am surprised, though, with everything the programme was able to dig up on people, that they aren't aware of Seb's orientation! He seems to be (accidentally) out to everyone at school, so it shouldn't have been too hard to find out, with everything they appear able to find out about other participants. Given the ultimate goal of the programme, it feels like a big thing to miss.

I'm looking forward to reading the next volume and finding out what happens to everyone, and I can see this starting some very interesting conversations!

This book gave me all the feels, one minute I could be reaching for the tissues and the next I could be laughing out loud. I loved the writing style and the storyline really hooked me in and wouldn't let go. The characters are well developed and I really liked them. A great read

A heart pounding dystopian adventure that will take your breath away and keep you guessing till the last page - although I'm guessing there will be a sequel based on THAT ending?

When Seb is chosen to take part in a new scheme called Happyhead, designed to help teenagers fulfill their potential he is rather apprehensive but feels he can’t let his family down. But as the programme turns into a dystopian nightmare he has to find a way to get out of there.

I enjoyed this book but was left with more questions than answers . The ending was left set for a second book so maybe we will find out if Seb goes with the program or if he finds a way out.

Once you start, this one is almost impossible to put down! The dystopian world Silver has created is unique and draws you right in. Seb’s journey from innocently trusting the therapy process, to suspicion and later fear had me hooked! I need the next book right away!!

The one downside is that I did not know that this was not a standalone book going into it! So the abrupt ending came out of nowhere and left me feeling quite frustrated!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Commitment, growth, gratitude - how to grow a happy teen.

Or not. The reader will be wary from the start I'm sure, with dystopic tales surrounding them of mind and behaviour control stories, of Room 101 and Equilibrium, A Clockwork Orange and of course The Hunger Games. Spot the elements of these at play here.

Seb is one of one hundred ''lucky" selected from around the UK to participate in the pilot run of Happyhead, a retreat and intervention scheme designed to help unhappy teenagers resolve their issues. He wants to try his best at this, give his parents a reason to feel proud of him, try and better himself.

But Happyhead soon becomes something darker. Participants change rooms each day, are pitted against each other, are clearly being graded and some even start to get hurt. Is this right??

Clearly 'part one' in a series, the story ends without resolution, which always annoys me as I know I have to wait for the next instalment and will probably forget characters and events long before then.

I did like this though. It didn't feel new, I've read/watched plots like this before, even on children's television in the 1990s, but I did like Seb and Finn, even the eager and ambitious Eleanor. To today's readers this will likely be different, with elements of the above dystopian plots at play. And there are contemporary issues that haven't been covered so much before - gay characters weren't around in 1984. Seb is both empathetic and also frustrating as he tries to blend in and please everyone else, others being brave and standing up for themselves much more than he does.

The reasons for Happyhead and the nefarious goings-on felt a little obvious and pantomime-y, it didn't make total sense, maybe it will be explained more in part 2. I'd be interested enough, invested in the characters, to read the next book.

For ages 12 and above.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

Well this was a brain breaker. I love a dystopian YA and the concept behind this one definitely had me interested. Happyhead is a ‘camp’ created to try and solve the epidemic of unhappiness within teenagers by teaching them the skills to become resilient and happy within themselves. I immediately liked Seb our main protagonist but found most of the other characters quite unlikeable (Finn being an exception!). The challenges made me feel quite unwell as it was so clear from the offset that vulnerable teenagers were being manipulated and taken advantage of - this developed into full blown repulsión for me! Not with the book, but the idea of this ever happening - which I guess is the whole point! My only issue really is that it ended very abruptly and I felt like the end of this novel had been already given to me earlier in the book. I’ll still revisit a book 2 to see what happens next to Seb!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my early copy of this in exchange of a fair and honest review.

‘Happyhead’: a gripping YA thriller with LGBTQ representation, elements of dystopian fiction and many, many twists!

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.)

The novel begins with its protagonist Seb (Sebastian) being driven to Happyhead: a facility in which 100 handpicked teenagers will help scientists cure adolescent depression. At least, apparently. Seb's clueless parents and irritating sister Lily make the car ride into something of an endurance test, and immediately had me sympathising with him. As I’m sure you can imagine, though, it’s nothing compared to the trials that await him once inside the testing centre.

These tests range from displays of skill to truly upsetting discussions of trauma. One particularly horrifying moment includes (SPOILER ALERT) the characters having to kill, then cook a chicken. These increasingly worrying tests, as well as fellow participant Finn, soon help Seb realise that Happyhead isn’t the innocent experiment its founders pretend it is. Together they began devising a plan to bring it down, without capturing the attention of any of their surveyors. (Romance also ensues!)

I believe that people who love ‘The Hunger Games’, and fans of ‘The Maze Runner’ who ship Newt and Thomas, will particularly enjoy this novel, which I was shocked to realise is John Silver’s first. There’s a perfect blend of character-driven themes and plot-centered scenes as well as Silver’s delightful writing style. My only criticism, which I hinted to before, was the story’s ending; though I think it was utterly brilliant - and an excellent set-up for a sequel - I am now devastated trying to create my own ways to tie up the loose ends that were left. That just speaks to the powerful world SIlver created though, and I can’t wait to read lots more about it!

A chilling debut novel for Young Adult. There is a pandemic of unhappiness and so a group of specially selected teenagers are sent to a radical retreat where the aim is that through challenges and exercises, they will become happy. Our first person narrator is Seb who feels that he isn't likeable, that his family aren't proud of him and it's through nothing that he has done. He isn't a terrible person but has been made to feel like one. On the retreat he finds himself becoming drawn to Finn who at first glance is a typical wild teen covered in tattoos and rejecting all authority. As the challenges progress there is a growing sense of unease and mistrust. The more bizarre the challenges the greater the fear that there is no escape. Alongside this there is the growing relationship between Seb and Finn. There are some great characters in this book and the growing sense that nothing is as it seems, that there is a deeper meaning to this camp makes the pages turn really quickly. It also cleverly introduces the idea of eugenics, the idea of altering society by excluding people judged to be inferior and promoting those judged to be superior. I believe that this is the first of a duology/trilogy but that wasn't apparent when I picked it up and was sort of disappointed when it came to the ending. Nevertheless, a chilling read and I will look out for part 2.

This was so good I stayed up long into the night (morning) to finish it. We follow the story of Seb and Finn as it becomes more disturbing , I can see the comparisons to the Hunger Games but I personally found this much more compelling. My granddaughter will love this book.

Unlimited stars for the wonderful book.

Asdfghjkl.

Omg.

This was everything. I had a feeling from the summary that I was going to enjoy this. Little did I realise how much 😳

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.

But it's also heart-wrenching, tense and twisty as anything- I really found myself feeling for the characters - Seb and Finn especially. Those two 😍 They were so well crafted and fitted the story so well.

This author is clearly special - everything about this was just *chefs kiss*

Some important things to note - this is not a predominantly romance book, but it does have an M/M undertone- there's no steam (please don't be put off by that) - the MCs do NOT get a HEA or even a HFN by the end. It ends on a cliffhanger and sets up a sequel well. My heart was in my mouth.

I could gush about this all day, but just do yourself a favour and give it a read. I needed book 2 yesterday 😂

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This is my honest review

There is so much hype about this book. The premise sounded right up my street!
I was hooked right from the beginning. Josh Silver's writing is just so easy to read and I sped through it.
I enjoyed the reading experience, but did have a few issues with this book.

Firstly, the more the book went on the more it got completely out of control and crazy within the plot. I also don't quite understand how the 'challenges' - especially the later ones, relate to being 'happy' and 'mental health.' It didn't really work for me. I thought the challenges were interesting and engaging, but not quite sure how it fits within the theme of 'happy' - i appreciate it's part of the whole mystery, and I know it shouldn't always be clear - but it felt so far removed from the idea of being happy by the end.
I have heard this book being described as like 'The Hunger Games' and I can certainly see the similarities, even though in this book there isn't much reasoning with how they relate to any purpose - unlike the Hunger Games.

The book ended on a cliffhanger and I'm still not sure if I will pick up a sequel - but I am still intrigued with how and where the characters end up next. Hopefully the next book would fit more into the 'happy' idea.

This YA book begins with a govt project asking the question, can we teach young people to be happier? When Seb is picked to attend the Happy Head camp he is torn between trying to embrace the idea of feeling less alone and deep suspicion of the concept. Throughout the book he struggles to decide where his allegiances lie, what he believes in and how he can find his confidence. The book is enjoyable if, at times, predictable in plotting. I can see this fitting well into a school library. There is no clear ending as it is setting up for a sequel. (Copy received from Netgalley in return for an honest review).

Seb is one of 100 young adults randomly chosen to attend a two week camp to improve their mental health. On arrival, he almost immediately falls for Finn, a troubled young man. The camp attendees are put into groups of four for the activities, and he is pleased to find Finn in the same group. The activities are quite strange to start with but not unduly worrying. The description of the whole environment gives the plot a dystopian/sci-fi feel but it proceeds at quite a gentle pace. I wasn't sure where the plot was going for the longest time, although I was still drawn on by Seb's character, who is a very likeable young man. The excitement only appeared in the last few chapters, with an ending that sets up the sequel.
The camp was completely isolated from the rest of society, both in the story and in context and the lack of wider detail left me feeling unsatisfied. That said, I would still recommend it as a light read for a young adult audience with the caveat that there is some swearing in it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Oneworld Publications and Rock the Boat for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, but I feel like it should have been advertised for what it is, which is the beginning of a duology/trilogy. This became apparent when I realised I was 94% of the way in and it would have been impossible to resolve all the open questions in the last 6% of the book. It doesn't really seem fair that people wouldn't know they are signing up for a multiple-book arc. Some people may not be into that.

Aside from that, I would agree that the story was particularly gripping even though the writing style was overly simplistic at times and I would disagree that this book would sit well alongside novels for adults. Unless of course people are going by the principle that because the main character is queer, then the younger side of the YA age bracket shouldn't be reading about it, which is not a viewpoint I personally share. I liked Seb, the main character, because he's very human, he often suffers from impostor syndrome, doesn't feel that he is likeable, doesn't feel that his family are proud of him, but that's not due to him being a bad person in any sort of way. He seems to be a completely normal person who has been convinced by the world around him he's actually terrible, and believed it.

I think it was a bold choice and literally spine chilling to make the book so openly about eugenics which is one of those topics that's often covertly talked about in the press and on social media (e.g. the lengths people go to to discuss 'preventing' autism or mental ill health...). I look forward to seeing the character dismantle this world they have been thrown into in a future installment.

Such an engaging read. Feels slightly dystopia with a cracking lead character. I thoroughly enjoyed it