I read 38% of this book and I am unwilling to give it additional time. The writing style in unappealing to me. It is impossible to connect with the protagonist patient or her therapist or her only friend, if he is a friend or her inability to deal with a breakup because, as you can see, I'm breaking up with her too. I don't have to like a character to love some books. But in this case, I can find nothing to justify continuing with Happiness forever. I just cannot. I kept thinking since it is relatively short, I would wrap it up, but my ongoing avoidance meant that it had fallen, good intentions or not, into the DNF file. The best thing about it was the cover and the concept. It is rare for me to DNF any book, especially a NetGalley book. Sorry!

The pathetic and lackluster stepsister to Big Swiss. For a book made out to be about obsession, there was a massive gap where the visceral depth and disgust and enticement of fixation should be. And fine, I get it, a majority (if not all) of obsession can be watered down to pure projection. But when writing about one's obsession, shouldn't we make our point of interest be somewhat interesting at the very least???

The novel's tenor remained unmoving and left me unmoved. I'm all for a character study, but there has to be something to grab onto. Otherwise, it becomes a farce of a protagonist whose stream of consciousness runs dry for any gleam of self-reflection. I found Happiness Forever to be intolerably and uselessly overwrought. It doesn't even matter that I don't understand Sylvie's plights; it's that I don't care to know them at all.

Anyway, there are other books about queer obsession that are so much more fleshed out and enjoyable. Highly recommend Milk Fed, The Adult, and We Do What We Do In the Dark for an actually satiating read.

so, it turns out for all those novels that i hate where a woman obsesses over a completely unworthy man, the solution was to have a woman obsess over a woman instead.

this kind of reminded me a touch of pizza girl or big swiss, if you're a fan.

sylvie is in love with her therapist. she's not just in love, she's counting down the time they get to spend with each other to the minute. for whatever reason, the therapist engages with this. one thing that i loved is that this book is very Sylvie; we're not privy to what the therapist was thinking at all. this is an obsessive connection to someone that offers sylvie the expectation of healing or perhaps the possibility of an improved life altogether.

i got sylvie. i mean, i don't obsess over a therapist, but there were times her headvoice felt slightly familiar, but then she would veer off course - telling her therapist that she wished her husband would beat sylvie up so that her obsession could end. it felt very obvious that sylvie was out of control and wanted someone else to make choices for her.

all of this culminates in sylvie's therapist telling her that their time is coming to an end. she won't say if she's decided to move. she won't tell her if she's setting up practice elsewhere. they're done, finito. sylvie starts to grasp that she's going to have to function in life without all of their shared hours and what that means for her going forward.

a weird, fast little read.

this is definitely for the neurotic, sad girl litfic lovers.

[1 star]

I think I missed the point of this one. Happiness Forever introduces us to Sylvie. She’s 30 years old, recently out of an abusive, over-controlling relationship with a man, had done a good amount of drugs as a teen but has stayed sober since, and is starting therapy for the first time. And, she's completely obsessed with her 60-something year old unnamed therapist.

Okay, I have not read Big Swiss or any of those other grand obsession stories that other reviews are lamenting this to have not been like. I do agree, though, that nothing insane or random happens in this book. There is no grand twist where Sylvie kidnaps her therapist or kills her husband or anything of that sort. This is more of a “sit and experience life with this woman during a time of healing” book. We meet a new friend with Sylvie, talk to an old one, go to therapy, and get coffee. It’s comfortable, in a way, with just a backdrop of obsession.

There are a lot of little recurring details that I think are supposed to come together as this grand showcase of symbolism. Her love of Pierrot the clown since childhood, her brain-damaged dog that she thinks might hold her dead dad’s spirit, her detailing of every outfit the therapist wears for each of their sessions, the numerous books and movies brought up (that I recognized none of and am not sure if they are fictional or not), and Sylvie’s obsession with the idea that people live in different worlds (particularly the successful and unsuccessful world). These just name a few. Other than a few obvious ones, Pierrot’s story of unrequited love mirror’s Sylvie’s own obsession with her therapist (this one is essentially spelt out, though), I could not link them together into some grand idea. Maybe I would have liked this book much better if I was able to understand (if there is something to connect), but as of now they seem like needless details of Sylvie that the author stuck in from her own life.

The majority of the book takes place within Sylvie’s weekly therapy sessions. Here, we get the dialogue between her and her therapist, as well as Sylvie’s thoughts. There are some funny details within these scenes, Sylvie’s irritation at her therapist needing to stifle a yawn being one of them, but otherwise they are just standard talk-therapy sessions. There is not some grand juxtapose between what Sylvie is saying and thinking in terms of her obsession. She says a few out of pocket things at times related to her obsession, but the therapist remains professional and either ignores or helps her rationalize it. It’s so basic and general that there’s nothing to latch onto. Sylvie is fine, but not interesting enough of a character to have me hanging off of every word. I also already hate how therapists talk, so I was constantly eye-rolling at the therapist’s dialogue. Genuinely a problem as I am the one who picked up a book about a woman being obsessed with her therapist and I should give props at how the author collected every single stock therapist response into one novel. Beyond that, though, none of Sylvie’s tales about her ex-boyfriends, her job, her father, or any of her other escapades are interesting enough to hold my attention, even without the therapist's comments irritating me.

Near the start of the novel, Sylvie makes friends with a woman named Chloe. I do not like or understand Chloe at all. The thing with Chloe is that she is somehow so similar to Sylvie. They had the same childhood love of Pierrot, they like the same books and movies, they have a real similar sense of humor, on and on. Again, I don’t understand the significance of this detail of Chloe’s character. At times, she seems to have this vision of who Sylvie could be if she was in the “successful world”, as she calls it, but Sylvie doesn’t seem to be that much more well-off than Sylvie? Sylvie acts like she is so poor and unsuccessful, but she has a house, a car, a dog, can afford weekly therapy sessions (UK healthcare, I suppose), and works a full time job as a vet-tech (who admittedly don’t make a lot). I just don’t follow how Sylvie constantly acts like she is some grand unsuccessful failure. Yes, coming out of an abusive relationship affects how a person views themselves, but we don’t really get to see any sign of that with Sylvie.

Anyways, Chloe speaks very similarly to Sylvie. I listened to the audiobook where the narrator made no attempts to distinguish her voice between characters. Coupled with the lack of dialogue tags, I was constantly getting mixed up on who was talking at times. Chloe and Sylvie’s conversations were the main culprit of this, as they speak so similarly. It gets boring after a point. On top of this, almost every conversation with Chloe feels like a slightly more casual therapy conversation. A few near the end break this pattern and get better, but why are there two friends only ever talking about Sylvie’s problems? It’s a shorter book, yes, but surely some variation could have occurred. I’m bored. There’s nothing poignant or revealing enough in these conversations to warrant their frequency or length. There are times where you can tell that the author believes that she has written some grand, beautiful, life-changing line, but, in reality, it is either extremely basic or just cringe. I don’t think any of the writing has left some grand impact on me.

Continuing with Chloe, I don’t understand if I am supposed to like her. I found her to be constantly enabling Sylvie’s obsession with her therapist. She is constantly joking along with or genuinely listening to Sylvie’s obsession. Like, this is concerning even if Chloe assumes she’s harmless. Why is it treated like a normal thing by Chloe? At least Sylvie’s other friend, Conrad (who shows up like three short times over text) tells her to knock it off. Near the end, Chloe says that she is worried about Sylvie’s obsession, but, like, you’ve been joking with her and egging her on this whole time? But, then, she goes back to normal and never brings up her concern again by their next conversation. Chloe takes up so much page time that her behavior becomes distracting.

All together, I did not enjoy much of my time with this novel. The writing itself, the prose and dialogue, are written well enough. It is not a juvenile attempt at a novel and Sylvie feel’s like a real-enough person. I also especially like how the therapist remains unnamed to use and is just a plot device for Sylvie to bounce her thoughts off of. But, as it is, I felt nothing but either boredom or slight irritation while reading this.

This was a fast and easy read, and I listened to it all in one sitting. At first, I was very engaged with the story and intrigued by the main character, Sylvie. Her budding obsession with her therapist was hard to look away from, and I was eager to see how far the author would take it. It felt like we were slowly building towards some major event, but unfortunately, that event never came.

I couldn’t quite figure Sylvie out. I think the author was going for quirky and misunderstood, but she fell flat; it was like the author didn’t fully commit to making Sylvie the weird girl I think she was meant to be. Sylvie has experienced several traumas in her life, but these backstories felt glossed over and served mainly to justify her need for therapy and her resulting obsession with her therapist. I would have liked for her background to be better developed. In fact, I think all of the characters needed more depth.

Sylvie’s obsession doesn’t go further than her thinking and talking about her therapist (aside from one event at the end, which felt pretty minor to me). She has two friends, and both primarily serve as outlets for her to talk more about her therapist. I was waiting for this to cause some interpersonal issues, but it didn’t.

This story should have made me feel something, but in the end, the only thing I’m feeling is underwhelmed. I’d describe this as a “no plots, just vibes” book. I typically enjoy those, but still need to feel like they have a purpose. Unfortunately, the vibes alone weren’t enough to sustain my enjoyment this time.

As for the narrator, I really enjoyed her performance. Her voice was soft and pleasant, making it easy to immerse myself in the story. I think she embodied Sylvie well; her insecurities and overall melancholic demeanor came through in her narration. Her pacing was great, and she injected a lot of life into this story that it might have lacked if I had read it in print.

Book Review: Happiness, Forever by Adelaide Faith
Rating: 3.5 stars
Format: Audiobook (ALC)

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance listening copy of Happiness, Forever!

I really enjoyed the writing in this one—it felt weirdly relatable at times, almost like the author had tapped into thoughts I’ve had but never said out loud. The main character, Sylvie, felt incredibly real. She’s someone who struggles with understanding herself and carries a lot of inner turmoil, and I saw a lot of myself in her journey. That rawness made her story especially compelling.

That said, the book did feel a little somber and a bit repetitive in places, which made the pacing drag here and there. Still, the narration was great and added a lot to the overall experience. I’d definitely be interested in reading more from Adelaide Faith in the future!

Overall, Happiness, Forever was an enjoyable listen and very easy to binge as well.

Oh to be in therapy and have so many issues that you get so attached and fall in love with your therapist. This book was so comedic and heart warming. I loved it so much. The narration also was spot on. Love when there is a good narrator with a voice to match the MC.

An intriguing debut about a British woman who falls for her therapist and the way that relationship plays out. I thought the mental health and therapy rep was really well done, I liked the main character and the narrator did a good job. I would definitely pick up another book by this author and recommend it to others. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

When I initially saw this book, the synopsis reminded me a lot of Big Swiss, which I loved. While listening to Happiness Forever, I saw a lot of similar themes, obviously a neurotic obsessive person, queer elements, being in therapy, etc., but I didn't find the same level of enjoyment that I got from Big Swiss.

Sylvie was obsessed with her therapist in a way that was highly alarming, but it kind of felt like nothing really happened from start to finish. I almost was waiting for a big event, and when that didn't come, I was just left with really nothing. All of the character development lied in Sylvie, which unfortunately, I did not like her. I wanted to get to more of her friends, therapist, and even her job to see the perspectives of others shown onto Sylvie, because if she is able to have that type of social standing with so many people, then her internal monologue must not be as scary as her external presence.

Overall, I thought this one was okay. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it, I was just seeking more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ALC.

Loved this. It was uncomfortable and intimate and I couldn't put it down. I finished it in one sitting.

On paper, Happiness, Forever seemed like it would be right up my alley. I really enjoyed Big Swiss and expected something equally strange, sharp, and queer. Unfortunately, by the 50% mark, nothing had happened to keep my interest, and I genuinely didn’t care to continue.

The book gives off the impression that it’s queer-centered, but the main character’s behavior doesn’t really reflect that compellingly or authentically. Instead of feeling layered or subversive, she just comes across as boring and vaguely unhinged, not in a fun, chaotic way, but in a flat, aimless one.

She’s also supposedly obsessed with her therapist, but the obsession feels hollow. If someone were truly fixated, there’d be rich detail, like remembering the exact scent of their perfume or the way their voice drops when they say something serious. Instead, the attachment feels vague and underdeveloped, which makes it hard to buy into the premise.

This book will definitely resonate with some readers, especially those drawn to quiet, internal narratives, but it just wasn’t for me.


Thank you to Macmillan for the early copy of the audio!

Sweet neurotic unfiltered Sylvie is a character that you'll want to root for. The story is heavily dialogue based as each chapter focuses on conversation between. Sylvie and friend or Sylvie and Therapist. The book is not paced quickly as it's really a character driven novel with the only plot being Sylvie trying to figure herself out, life out, and how she firs into the big picture of her own life. I enjoyed the read and would give it a solid 3 1)2 stars. Since that is not allowed I'm rounding up to four.

Happiness Forever is a stunning character study that pulls you in and doesn't let go. Sylvie , a young woman in therapy, believes she is falling in love with her therapist. She's a vulnerable, complex, narrator who feels like an actor in her own life. Adelaide Faith writes with precision, empathy, and emotional insight. This is a fabulous debut, and I can't wait to see what she gives us next. 4.5

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my opinion.

I don't really know how to pin down this book. It's not quite tragic but it's also not funny. Its not quite weird enough to fit into the weird girl genre. Overall this book is best described as messy and complicated which is exactly what I think Faith was going for. This book reads like you feel when you are going through an emotional spiral. One minute this is funny and the next its tragic and then it's a bit uncomfortable. Everything about this feel like life. It took a little bit for this book to sink in but once it did I really enjoyed it.

By no fault of its own, I was under the impression Happiness Forever would be a lot weirder than it turned out to be. I could have just set myself up for failure? Idk where I got the idea it'd be super strange. But the combo of that disappointment and my struggle to get into this one in the first place make it tough for me to have a good time w Happiness Forever. Admittedly, it could be a "me" thing. I listened to this in the midst of a weird funk—both reading and personal—so I wouldn't put my money on this review being very helpful.

That sucks to say, but I'd rather just be honest and take the personal L than to put it on the book.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into it at first but I really grew fond of Sylvie as she grew throughout the book. We really see her reflect on her life and relationships as the story went on. Really loved exploring that side and character growth!

Audiobook Review
Title: Happiness Forever
Author: Adelaide Faith
Format: Audiobook (NetGalley ARC)
Rating: 4.5/5

I loved this audiobook so much. I found Sylvie to be a very interesting and quite endearing character. She reflects on previous relationships with her therapist, who she feels like she would die without. I was so into it that I pre-ordered the hard copy halfway through the book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this ARC.

Sylvie, our 30-year-old protagonist, attends therapy to process significant events in her life: her relationship with her parents before they died, the feelings of inferiority to her attractive peers in grade school, the loss of a boyfriend in her early 20s from a heroin overdose, and her controlling and emotionally abusive partner, Owen. On the surface, her toxic relationship with Owen requires immediate attention in therapy; Sylvie needs to relearn how to make meaningful connections. As with solidified problems that bubble over in adulthood, Sylvie must reach farther back into her childhood to consider the festering antecedents. An additional problem is her fervent attachment to her therapist, whom she sees once a week and lives in her mind rent-free. The therapist—what she wears, how she presents herself, where she lives, what she thinks about Sylvie—preoccupies Sylvie’s life.

Much of Happiness Forever takes place within Sylvie’s therapy sessions. In time, she increasingly dialogues with her new book club gal pal, Chloe, who works as a visual artist. The two women discover their shared appreciation for Pierrot since adolescence. For Sylvie, the pantomime character symbolizes her pining obsession for her therapist, suffering alone and voyeuristically observing others in the “successful world” from a distance. If Sylvie can maintain an independent lifestyle absent from disappointment and endings, she may preserve a sense of control and certainty. But she recognizes the life she wants to live inevitably requires levels of risk; she wants to open herself up to others and find acceptance. The therapist, Chloe, her dog Curtain, and her job slowly help her recalibrate to a healthier understanding of a stable and safe normalcy, yet include space for sadness.

I unintentionally read Happiness Forever in conjunction with Didion’s Notes to John. This odd parallel could have negatively affected my experience of Faith’s debut. What stands out most is this: Didion engages in lucid, two-way dialogues with her therapist; Faith’s severely emotionally stunted main character’s voice carries throughout the therapy sessions. The therapist’s counsel isn’t recorded, likely due to their differing therapy techniques and the clients’ respective challenges. That said, the symbolism in Happiness Forever could shine through more clearly if Faith (a) further developed the ideas or (b) dropped some. Sylvie’s fixation on her therapist, care for Curtain and animals at work, enjoyment of books, and early obsession with Pierrot all muddle together, making it unclear what Faith wanted to highlight. I don’t mind exclusively hearing Sylvie’s interior life (I enjoy a character-led story that lacks movement just fine) as I do the underdeveloped array of symbolic messages. Since this is Faith’s debut, I round up and rate Happiness Forever 1.5 stars.

My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an ARC. I shared this review on GoodReads on April 2, 2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7527549032).

A character driven book about Sylvie, an awkward young woman who is only happy in therapy, in no small part because she's in love with her therapist. A little weird, a little awkward, a little queer, this is a great read for anyone who likes introspective character-driven books centering people trying to figure out how to survive being alive. Not a lot happens, but there's a lot to feel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. Happiness Forever is out May 13th.

Happiness Forever is a hilarious and witty slow-paced novel that tackles complex themes like obsession, abuse, longing, and grief with brilliant insight. The narrator is perfect for the story, I highly recommend an audio listen. Happiness Forever is charming and original. I look forward to reading Adelaide Faith’s next book!