Wow this was very good, I really enjoyed it, absolutely fantastic premise with unique elements. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc

Shiny Happy People is YA body horror at its finest. I believe this is the first YA work from Clay McLeod Chapman and if so, he's tapped into something because he's sooo good at it. Is anyone surprised given how amazing his other work is? I'm not.

Kyra, the main character, is likeable and relatable, in that she often feels like an outsider. She once again becomes an outsider to those around her as she refuses to try the brand-new drug that everyone is raving about after seeing how it is affecting everyone's personalities. Those around her all seem like they're shells of themselves. Kyra finds one other person who refuses to partake in this new drug, Logan, and together they navigate the horrors around them (and high school) and try to figure out just what in the hell is going on and how to stop it.

I'm so excited for YA readers, and everyone else, to read this book. It's well written and fast paced and is a page turner you won't want to put down. Fans of Talk to Me will definitely want to read this.

actually ate this up without realizing the story was almost done???

absolutely PHENOMENAL of a read. i'm in canada traveling around, thankful for the privilege of reading in the backseat. SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE came in with a punch. was not expecting anything when i opened this up. but this absolutely devastated me with the ability to capture my attention, keep me at the edge of my seat, and stun me with an extremely wild drug that i feel fits right between bath salts and fentanyl.

My pod people heart LOVED this.

✅ 90s vibes
✅ Reminiscent of The Faculty mixed with Invasion of the Body Snatchers
✅Unreliable narrator - at times we're never quite sure if it IS in her head
✅ Realistic interpretation of an adopted kids emotions with the flipping between mom/dad and then adoptive parent names. Emotions. Want for family.

Spoiler ahead



✅ And my favorite - the amazing everything doesn't work out ending...or does it?

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this book. The premise is fairly simple, and you know where it's going, and it was still so good. Clay McLeod Chapman has become a must read author for me, and this is another great book. Highly recommended.

Whenever people ask me what my favorite book is, I always struggle with the answer.  I love many books but my favorites are the ones that stick with me, the ones that I still think about and come back to in my head. It's only been a few days since I finished Shiny Happy People, but I am still thinking about it.  It's so relatable, it's so fast and it's so something that could totally (probably) happen. To an extent. And perhaps already has.  I mean what are all these influences are that keeps them so energized and focused...
But besides that, this is Chapman's first YA and I think he nailed it.  I don't search out YA books, but I certainly have no problem reading the ones that appeal to  me.  This book was a quick, enjoyable and disturbing read.  That's right,  I am keeping it vague because you should all go out and read it for yourself.   It's heartbreaking too. And the ending.  CHAPMAN! How dare. but also, thank you. I'll take some more please. 
Also Logan & Kyra were giving me serious JD and Veronica vibes for a bit.

“Look for our scar tissue. That’s what makes us humans I guess… our imperfections. Our wounds. Mannequins don’t have scars, only humans do.”

I was so ecstatic when I saw that I was able to get the ARC of this book. This was my third book of Clay McLeod Chapman’s and I further realize that I just need to read everything he’s released. His stories flow so well. They’re easy to read and yet there’s a poetry about it and the way his words flow together on the pages. My first descriptor of this book was that it was comparable to The Faculty. Which, I was in immediately because that is one of my top favorites that I still watch at least annually to this day. But it definitely had its own uniquely weird and wonderfully gross way.

I will certainly snatch this book up as soon as it’s physically out. And I look forward to hopefully so much more from this author.

Shiny Happy People kicks off with one heckuva sucker punch of a first chapter. The last image in the chapter is chilling and sets up the story with such a scary premise. Set in a modern setting, the characters feel as real as your friends and neighbors and your family, complete with all the friendly bickering and daily struggles, wants, and desires.

And that’s where things literally get bad. The facades come down. The story progresses quickly. I read it very quickly. Loved it.

I love any and everything Clay writes. He has a way with storytelling and this book is no exception.

3.5 stars

Shiny happy people is about a girl just trying to get through high school and she’s determined to not end up like her birth mother. Kyra starts to realize something strange is going on revolving around a new drug that’s being passed around her school. First her brother is acting weird, then it’s her best friend. She decides to team up with the new kid to try and figure out what’s going on before it’s too late.

I really enjoyed the horror elements of this book. It was creepy and gross. However, I’ve noticed that this author gets really repetitive when it comes to dialogue. Like we get it, you don’t have to tell us the same thing over and over again.

The ending was interesting. It felt like we switched genres though. It went from a creepy, botanical horror to a sci-fi dystopian book. I definitely wasn’t expecting it. The twist at the very end reminded me of another book by this author. So that was kinda disappointing.

All in all it was pretty good and I would recommend it if you’re in YA horror. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

This story starts off with an eerie, creeping atmosphere that had me hooked right away. The “something is wrong in this town” tension was strong, and the plant-like horror elements gave it a deliciously unsettling vibe. 🌿👀

But as the book unfolded, the tone shifted into more of a dystopian sci-fi, and while ambitious, the transition felt a little jarring—like two different horror subgenres colliding. Both concepts were intriguing, but I think the novel would’ve been stronger if it had fully committed to one lane.

There were also sections of dialogue that felt repetitive, circling around the same points long after I’d gotten the message. At times, it slowed the pacing enough that I was tempted to skim. That said, Chapman’s prose is immersive, and the emotional depth of Kyra’s story kept me invested to the end.

Final Thoughts:
A bold mix of horror and sci-fi that doesn’t always gel together smoothly, but still delivers plenty of eerie atmosphere and unsettling twists. A solid three-star read for me—worth picking up if you like your YA horror messy, ambitious, and genre-bending.

Damn, I loved this take on the whole "body snatchers" trope. I'm a sucker for a good YA horror and this one didn't disappoint. Though it has a stronger back half, I fully enjoyed the build up and Chapman's writing style. Some of the visuals and body horror were really memorable which is always something I love about Chapman's horror books and I was glad it wasn't lessened due to it being YA. My only cons were it felt a bit repetitive in the first half but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story which I'd definitely recommend to anything looking for an eerie, nightmarish read.

It definitely felt like a claustrophobic episode of The Twilight Zone. 😮

Ummmm excuse me, this was beyond fantastic.

Kyra is a successful student, great friend, a wonderful daughter, and she’s on the fast track to an amazing future, but she deals with creeping anxiety from her past and nightmares that pill her back into a life before things were good. Kyra was adopted by a family when she was 4 because her drug addict mother abandoned her, and she was left to fend for herself in a run down apartment with no food, no water, and all the creepy crawly horrible things you can imagine. Kyra knows one thing to be absolutely true, she will not become her mother. She avoids parties, drugs, alcohol, and any substance she feels she could be addicted to, and she has friends that understand her feel the same way. Halley, her best friend, knows everything about her, and makes Kyra feel whole in a school full of people and parties she just can’t be a part of. When Kyra’s unbirthday l- the day she’s picked to be her birthday because no one knows hers- comes around, Halley tries to get her to go to a party, but Kyra stays home instead- and the next day Halley isn’t at school, isn’t answering her texts, and there’s a video of kids taking something and seizing- and people just watch this happen. Kyra is worried, she searches for Halley only to find she’s different, not the girl she knew- and that drug everyone is taking is changing them, and she has to figure out who she can trust, what’s going on, and what’s in those capsules before everything and everyone she loves is gone.

So this was absolutely fantastic! Think The Last of Us as it pops off, but the fungus is sentient and hive minded. Absolutely fantastic premise and it’s fantastically written. I usually read Chapman’s adult horror and this was like that, but definitely on a YA level- but it didn’t take from his artfully crafted ability to write horror. This is a gripping story, fast paced, and extremely suspenseful.

Side note : I also adore the named chapters.

Wow! This book was absolutely wild. We follow high school student, Kyra, as a new fad drug starts making it's rounds in the school. She begins to notice everyone is changing, or is she changing?

I see this as middle grade/YA novel, the first by this author. I definitely believe this is NOT middle grade. There are some pretty complex themes. This book very much felt like a mash up of Soylent Green x The Walking Dead x Xenogenesis Series. (Sorry, I've never seen Body Snatchers).

Anyway, this would have been a five star read for me, except I really, really dislike the adoption trauma. Especially if this book is geared towards a younger audience. I get it, it's horror, but adoption is trauma and having an adopted child, we always want to keep that a protected space. Kids can hate their parents bio or otherwise! Also, again geared toward a younger audience, don't ever... EVER lock yourself in a refrigerator. You will suffocate and die.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

"Shiny Happy People"
Releases November 11, 2025

Immediately upon completion, this was a 4-4.5 ⭐ for me. However, the more I think about this book and how I felt while reading it and how it has stuck in my mind, and then remembering that ending, I have to bump this up and call it a 5⭐ Read.

This was an absolute WINNER from Clay McLeod Chapman!
A fast-paced, easy-to-read, edge-of-your-seat shocker that will have you neglecting all other responsibilities until you're finished reading.

I enjoyed every page from top to bottom. Loved Kyra's inner dialog and her banter with Logan. Really enjoyed how it felt more like I was being told a story (or someone recounting events to you) instead of reading a story. It's difficult to explain that, it's just something you pick up on, ya know?
This was so vividly descriptive that I felt like I was personally experiencing these events.
It got pretty gory, and I applaud the lack of sensorship there.
The emotions were palpable. The plot was thought-provoking.
This is a YA Horror with a Sci-Fi feel, giving off "Black Mirror" vibes. You can take it at face value and just enjoy the ride, or you can overanalyze it and find the real-world parallels, which will make this more real and that much scarier. Almost bleeding into Speculative Fiction.

This is my second book by this author, and I think I might be a fan. His Horror feels REAL.

I would recommend this to pretty much everyone (13+), regardless of your preference of genres. It's a YA that didn't feel YA, so the older readers have nothing to fear =)

Thank you so much, NetGalley & Delacorte Press, for the eARC

After reading the preface to this book, I was excited to dive right in and get lost in this unique story. I admit, the storyline had me emotional at some points and gripping my chair in others, but as a whole, I feel this book fell short of my expectations. I was not happy with how some of the relationships panned out and I felt the ending was just thrown together.

An effective and well developed narrative. The adventure within these pages very much reminded me of The Faculty, that 90s movie with Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this creepy little book! Opinions are my own.

Shiny Happy People is a tale that takes a classic sci-fi trope and rewrites it for the modern world and a YA audience.

Kyra is a teenage girl just trying to make it through high school while dealing with great expectations... and extreme anxiety.

Enter Spore, the lovely little pill that will erase all your worries, fears, and anxieties instantly.

Kyra watches in confusion and then horror as her friends fall prey to the pills' addictive lure, but what IS Spore? Where did it come from? Just how dangerous is it... and how nice would it be for Kyra to pop a pill and stop worrying about the whole thing?

Also, what is that smell... and what's in all those industrial-strength garbage bags?

This story asks the question: just how happy do we, as a society, want to be, and how much of ourselves are we willing to give up to attain that happiness?

A well-done, well-written (as always), fast-paced sci-fi horror from modern horror master, Clay McLeod Chapman.

Chapman’s YA debut is a true page turner with lots of twists that will also appeal to his adult fans, albeit a little differently.

Our main character notices a sudden link between a new popular drug and drastic personality changes of everyone around her. At first it seems no one believes her, and very quickly, it seems like maybe everyone was in on it, or at risk for sudden change by taking the drug. This is somewhat reminiscent of Chapman’s novel Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, but this takes a different turn for sure!

The action is non stop- I read this book in one sitting. The imagery is spooky and vivid and I would recommend going in pretty blind to this one.

Thank you so much to the publisher and the author for the eArc!

When I find out that one of my favorite horror authors wrote a middle grade/YA book, I snap it up from NetGalley.

This is the second beloved horror author to recently venture into middle grade books (after Paul Tremblay) and I whole-heartedly support this effort. Even if I’m not the intended audience, you better believe I want to see how these authors can scare a younger audience, not to mention subtly emotionally-destroy them.

Kyra’s friends are changing. Is it the new drug making its way around the school? And what link does it have to the Big Pharma company that basically runs the town?

Again, I’m not the intended audience, and certainly to me it was derivative of other books and movies. But if you’re unfamiliar with those you might like it even more.

It’s about fitting in and being human and having emotions and anxiety. The end is cool, and fits right in line with what I expected from this author. It wasn’t all that scary/horrific for me, but maybe for the target audience it would be.