This book feels familiar. Not because I've ever lived in New York (I haven't), but because I've drifted around wondering what the hell I'm going to do with my life and how I'm supposed to pay the bills. It was like looking at myself a few years ago, moving from country to country and starting beautiful, intense friendships with people even though I knew I'd soon be leaving. It captures a moment in time so perfectly, one which I don't think I'll ever get to live again as I am buried under increasing responsibilities. And yet I was given the gift of being able to go back to those days through this novel.

There's no specific plot to this novel, it is more the story of a summer, and I know that will drive some people crazy, but I enjoyed it, it's actually the reason why I loved it so much. The writing is really engaging and I found I could relate to a lot of it. I wanted to know what Isa and Gala would do next and who they would meet. It also captured the strain of living with friends really well, and how you start off having a carefree summer, but as responsibilities build you can go from being friends to almost hating one another.

This is a book about being young, about drifting and talking and living. It is a story of summers where you drink too much and say things you shouldn't and go home with far too many people. And maybe not everyone will like that or relate to it, but I did. I was captivated by the writing.

Overall this was such a satisfying book to read and I'll definitely be recommending it. All of the talk about the different food available in New York made me so hungry. Especially because I'm back in England and I'm starved for any Latin American food, which Isa can get easily there. The only problem I had with this book was the arc I got was difficult to read because letters were missing here and there. This could be my device, so I'm not lowering the rating for that.

Marlowe Granados' HAPPY HOUR is a hard book to write about. On the one hand, I blitzed through this book in a couple of sittings feeling as easy and breezy as the main characters, Isa and Gala. There is something so carefree that is fun to read, knowing that wherever Isa and Gala end up, it will all be ok,

However, the style of writing is so simple and almost too easy. The diary form allows a colloquial, confessional style but there were few times I was actually impressed with how it was written. I longed for a more immersive world like that of SOCIAL CREATURE or for a character to change her perception or grow even a little. Isa and Gala are young and having a fun summer and...what?

Thanks to Marlowe Granados, Veso Books and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this novel didn't land for me. There's a lot of good here. The writing is crisp and snappy. The sense of place is strong - i felt like I was in NYC in the summer. The characters seem fresh. I just need more plot, more growth, more depth. I've seen the book described as refreshing as a gin fizz. I don't disagree, but I need a steak with my cocktail.

This book was enjoyable despite my not really caring for the writing style. As someone who moved to NYC at 25, in the summer of 2011, very broke, I found it extremely relatable, observant and realistic. I found myself chuckling at so many of the observations about the New York social scene, and that made it fun. It felt like an inside joke between the author, the narrator and I. But in terms of being a great piece of literature or profound in any way, not so much. If youre looking for a light read and specifically if you are or ever have been a 20-something New Yorker, I think you’ll get a kick out of this quick read.

Very fun and interesting read. Personally for me, I didn't get connected to the story but I can see other readers really enjoying this!

I really liked this book, and found myself reading it with great interest. While there were many characters introduced, I felt like I got a pretty good sense of who they were and their role in Gala and Isa's lives. I loved the carefree-ness of the story and how adventurous it was. I envied the people who crossed paths with them and envied their ability to enjoy the present, meet and bond with new people, and their sense of priorities. This book challenged the narrative that young twenty-somethings need to be in post-secondary creating a career and life path, and instead suggests that it is okay to go day by day - things will still be okay. I also loved the author's style, there were many lines and sections that I found myself underlining and rereading because they were so beautiful, which I rarely do when I read fiction. The only aspect that troubled me was that at times it felt a bit unrealistic - the way the girls continued to run into people they had met across the world, or that they would manage to always get the attention or support of wealthier/well connected people. These were very fun aspects of the story that kept it exciting, but sometimes I thought "there's just no way!". Being from outside of the country and without income is very challenging and while those challenges were acknowledged throughout the story, I have to presume it won't always work out so smoothly.
Thank you for the chance to read this wonderful book!

thanks to netgalley for the arc.

this was an enjoyable read! the writing was pretty okay and the story as well. it just had something missing. maybe because it’s been a while since i read a contemporary, but i did enjoy it enough for what it was.

I was interested instantly but as the story continued I got bored has potential though. Great writing style.

An absolutely sublime read, following the two twenty something charming grifters Isa and Gala through the oppressive heat and immense opportunities of NYC in summer. Although there’s no typical plot, the wry and compelling writing makes you feel as though you are there, feeling their freedom and the untold possibilities for a bright young thing in a big city. For an older reader there’s something so deliciously carefree reading about young women with all the opportunities and advantages of a big city at thirty feet. Whilst it without a doubt romanticizes the abject grimness of being broke in NYC, you become carried away with the story, all the time rooting for the next party or contact or job that come their way. The characters were well developed, all flawed but each had enough vulnerability or charm to give them depth and complexity. I’ll be buying this for my girlfriends to enjoy.

Happy Hour was a fun enjoyable read about being young in the city! It brought me back to my college days, and this will be a great summer read.

Oh boy... reading this made me feel like I was 23 again! Two young women in New York City, it's the perfect backdrop for this story. These two women work through personal and financial trouble while learning so much in the process. Great read!

Isa is in New York. Why? She just is.

Happy Hour takes place from May to September, telling of the summer best friends Isa and Gala move to New York City just because. They're nearly broke and always struggling to find ways to make money (their immigrant status severely limits their options), but with enough beauty, charm, and social connections they manage to stay afloat in New York's social scene.

There isn't much of a plot. The novel is written in first-person, diary-style from the point of view of Isa as she describes interesting moments from the summer and the coming-and-going various people. The book was not mind blowing but still charming and highly enjoyable. It is a quick read and Isa is a fairly likable character. You'll float through this novel as care-freely as Isa and Gala in their New York Summer.

As I write this, we are going on a year spent at home due to COVID-19 so the idea of spending months in a new city and mostly just going out and having fun sounds rather enjoyable. This ride through New York City nightlife was a nice escape that transports you to a different, yet not so along, time in the world and stage in life. While mostly just pure fun, there are also some additional themes and layers here that can make you ponder, as well as times where it seems the fun may run out. Overall, it's a solid debut that is a particular nice respite in our current times.

What a wonderful book! A coming of age story that brings to mi d Sex in the City Mets Two Broke Girls. A colorful cast of characters led by lovely Isa and Gala, drive a tale of a couple friends living on the edge one summer in New York City. The city itself becomes a supporting character! A joy to read!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to rate this book a bit higher, but unfortunately I feel like I just didn’t quite ‘get’ it. I just found the narrative tone of Isa a bit too cool and aloof to properly feel like I understood her as a character. I did like her, and I thought there were some really interesting moments dealing with her mixed heritage and grief about loss of her mother, but overall I struggled to really know what she was thinking most of the time, even though I was reading from her perspective.

I did like Granados’ writing, I thought the descriptions were lovely and illustrated a world of glamorous partying well, however there was no real plot. I thought that the book was going to go somewhere in the second half, and then it just kind of didn’t? I guess this is Granados capturing the transient nature of the girls’ lives, but it just left me feeling a bit like something was lacking.

I found the central characters of Isa and Gala quite hard to relate to in the party-girl nature of their lives. They are clearly both attractive, thin and enigmatic enough for people they have just met to become entranced by them, even when Gala was often quite rude to these people. Whilst it was fascinating to be swept up in their lifestyle, and I was glad this was contrasted with elements of struggle so I wasn’t just reading about rich people living it up, overall I came away feeling they were both quite pretentious.

Very interesting before Instagram book about two friends that move to New York City from London. They move into a brownstone right in the midst of their landlord having a house party. People keep barging into their room thinking it is the bathroom with no idea that someone actually lives there. For me this is a fun rom-com beach read.

I actually really liked this book - definitely way more than I initially thought I would. I struggled to get past the first 10%, and as a result I put off reading it for a couple of days; I thought I was going to DNF it. But, once I picked it up again, and realized that the characters were perhaps not even meant to be likeable in the first place, I actually read it fairly easily.

I think that this is one of the key aspects of the book, however: I'm still not entirely convinced we are supposed to like the characters. Isa, our narrator, is fascinating, and being inside her head and seeing the world, New York, and early 20s through her eyes was a mesmerizing experience. Of course, precisely because she is so young and navigating so much, she is not an entirely reliable narrator, but more of a subjective one. I don't think that we, as readers, are meant to take everything she says or the way she interprets people and events at face value. Once I realized - or decided - this, it became far easier for me to enjoy the book and let it take me to New York.

As you may know, I've had a strange fascination with New York ever since I was in my early teens (yes, I was obsessed with Gossip Girl, how did you know?!), so a book set in New York will always be slightly more enjoyable for me than if it were set anywhere else. I think this one in particular made really good use of the city's landscape, and its people, the way urban landscape plays into and shapes one's experiences in the city. In that way, it kind of reminded me of Friends & Dark Shapes , which I absolutely adored, so that was another element of the book I really enjoyed.

My main complaints about the book are that, a) it felt way longer than 280 pages, and b) the secondary cast of characters was a bit too big for my taste; eventually many characters ended up blurring into one, and I would often forget if we've seen them before, and what exactly did they do up until that point. Apart from that, it was a pretty enjoyable book and a very interesting study of a fascinating girl's even more fascinating inner world.

** An ARC was provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. **

Happy Hour by by Marlowe Granados, published by Verso Books (US) is a book that is hard to review. I kind of liked the storyline. I definitelly liked the writing, but I couldn't connect with the characters.
All in all an ok read, There were some formatting issues that made it hard to get into the story, I assume these will be fixed til release day.

This is not just a book, it's the story of a whole summer. I have felt really related to it and had a great fun reading it.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granad0s is about two women, best friends but who go through life as sisters. They move to New York on a whim with no plan whatsoever and are taking every day by the ear. The title reflects the book, we see these women, their personalities, how they look at life and what drives their characters with their interactions with others only through the Happy Hour an always with a drink in hand. These are 21-year-olds who are just trying to figure out life, and how to be an adult all the while being nudged to be self-aware about what they're running from.

The story is told through our narrator Isa's diary, so if that style isn't for you then it would not be a good idea to pick this up. BUT if you're looking for fun, just find yourself ever relating to people who just want to figure out how to get their next meal this book is for you. Although, I must say there isn't a plot to this book. It just details the summer of two women who have moved to New York, that's it. I suppose it is meant to be that simple. Marlowe is a really good writer for talking about the way women have been belittled especially women of colour since the protagonist is one. Definitely would recommend this as an airy read that you get through in a couple of days.

Thank you Verso Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I could read Granados (via her protagonist, Isa) characterize human beings for an hour straight. There is something diabolically enjoyable about the ability to capture and then fillet an archetype in just a few lines. It reminds me of Hemingway, honestly, in the Parisian novels where artistic twenty-somethings take turn fashioning their own insecurities into a lashing for those around them.

The voice is authentic, barbed, a delicate balance between striking observations about the world (and its expectations for her) and the naïveté you must possess to think you can make it in NYC with only a few dollars to your name.

It is entertaining to follow these two twenty-one-year-old women as they hustle their way to socialite status, flitting in and out of the NYC party scene. As poor immigrants without proper documentation, the hustling is a form of survival for them, partying their way to a free meal and cab fare. They can sense the aching want of the men in these circles and deftly manipulate and charm them, although it never seems cruel. The men, most often, are outclassed in their own games.

And it better be damn entertaining, because it is 90% of the book. If I was lucky enough to find myself in their entourage for the weekend, I would be waving them off by 2am. "No, you go ahead, I'm going to crash for the night. I need some water." The book runs it course in 100 pages, and because we are not invested in the emotional arc of these girls (because there is no arc, only the present), the second half is exhausting. I found myself skimming, searching for any scene that didn't involve aperitifs or a boring artist trying to justify his solipsistic ramblings.

Near the end, we get into the emotional detritus left by Isa's mother dying and the fallout of fighting with her best friend. Even then, it seems as if the novel, much like Isa, wants to return to the party, afraid that a lack of attention is a small death itself.

Listen to full reviews at: https://bookclubbed.buzzsprout.com/

Engrossing characters and I totally imagined them like the Gossip girls characters after they leave school. Around half way through the book, I got tired of the diary style and the characters' "I don't care" attitude. It feels like a glamourous world but I'm not sure it's one I would want to be part of.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados follows best friends Isa and Gala on an epic summer adventure in New York City. They're always up to something and the book is filled their adventures and exploits. While the book only spans a few months, both central characters see a lifetime of experiences in the Big Apple and experience meaningful growth. Perfect for fans of the tv show Girls.

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados was a book I was really looking forward to reading. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to hold my attention. I will pick this up against a later time hoping I will enjoy it more.

Fresh, infectious, and a joy to read. I enjoyed the diary-style of writing and the characters of Isla and Gala were real and relatable and hilarious at times. I would definitely recommend this to my book club as a great read.

What a joyous read! Told through diary entries over the course of one summer, the novel tells the story of Isa and Gala, two best friends visiting New York from London. We see them hop from one social situation to the next, meeting caricature after caricature, all the while hustling and trying to make ends meet. It's a sharp novel, which renders the social landscape of the contemporary art world, and lit world, and media more broadly, in addition to the protagonists' specific milieu, exceedingly well. Though Granados certainly pokes fun at all types of people, there's also something terrifying realistic to their portrayals--this isn't satire, despite its humorous edge. Her prose, too, is both effervescent and laugh-out-loud funny. And I both find the novel to be incredibly contemporary (I thought a lot of Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times) and also reminiscent of something straight out of the 1930s, something by Jean Rhys. But above all, Granados has written a beautiful portrait of friendship and intimacy, I think this is where she truly shines. What a feat.

Marlowe Granados' Happy Hour was a fresh and fun read. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Granados' writing was exciting and flowed nicely — keeping me wanting more and more as I continued reading about Isa and Gala.

The novel focuses on Isa and Gala's summer in New York. Their adventures are described in such a spectacular way that I felt like I was experiencing them, too. The writing and adventures all felt familiar, but not because I'd ever even been to New York, but because it took me back to my own time in college in my late teens and early 20s. It reminded me so much of the fun I had with my own best friend.

Isa's character was lovely to continue learning about throughout the novel, though I could've done without Gala. Her character was, quite honestly, a little annoying and empty. But maybe the characters aren't exactly supposed to be completely likable? It still works for this book either way.

While overall I enjoyed this book, there are certainly things that could've added to it in a positive way. There wasn't an actual plot to the story, but I guess that's what you get with a diary-style book. I would've also enjoyed more of a backstory to each of the characters. We got peeks into their lives prior to Isa and Gala's time in New York, but nothing substantial. I was itching for more on that front.

Thanks to NetGalley and Verso Books for this ARC.

I am not sure what I expected of this book; whatever it was, it was unexpected. The characters had me wondering what will they end up doing or being when the book ends. I don't want to give the book away, but I have a pretty good feeling you will be wondering the same thing when you read this book.

I'd give Happy Hour a 3.5. I didn't find it irritating that there wasn't a plot as such, and I'm normally very much a plot person, but for me the sense of time, place and character really carried it.

Set during a sweltering summer in New York City, Happy Hour follows best friends Isa and Gala as they navigate the Big City, their relationships, and what it means to be a 20-something year old, doing odd jobs to pay the rent and somehow still not having enough money to buy a proper meal. From being foot models for a day to going on dates before making a run for it as the check comes, the two friends find ingenious (and sometimes borderline criminal) ways of making money (or at least not spending as much).

Written in the style of a diary, we experience their lives through the lens of the witty and observant Isa whose characterizations of the people she meets are one of the most entertaining aspects of the book. It makes you wonder how, were you ever to meet her, she would describe you. The story is fresh and breezy for the most part which is a welcome escape in a time where life has almost come to a standstill and going out every night seems like a memory from a previous lifetime. That being said, Happy Hour does not shy away from tackling some more serious issues, like growing up, losing your parents, or falling for the wrong guys, just to name a few. One sentence I found particularly striking is when Isa observes: “When we were younger, everything for the first time always felt the best, or at least the Most, and sometimes getting older feels like striking the same chord and it sounding different.”

I don’t have a lot of quarrels with this book, the only things I would like to mention is that it took me a while to really get settled in to the book but after the first 10% or so, I felt really immersed and wanted to keep reading to see what would happen next and who they would meet. Another thing is that this book has quite the ensemble cast and a lot of minor characters which I difficult to follow but fortunately, Granados does a fine job in reminding the reader who this person was and how they relate to our two main characters.

All in all, a really fun reading experience, especially if you’re longing to travel and to HAVE THINGS HAPPEN again.

First, I love the cover and the sentiment behind this novel. It's fresh, fun, and sharp like eating tangy fruit, full of adventures our main character Isa and her best friend Gala embark on in New York City. These range from tapas and drinks to arrogant artists and socialites. I usually hesitate at stream of consciousness texts (except Catcher in the Rye) but this one worked well, even without a standard steadfast plot. It reminds me a lot of a spontaneous meal you don't expect to love because it was thrown together with the ingredients at the last minute, but yet...you do!

A light yet enjoyable read for anyone who wants to detach for a bit and set foot into another world unlike their own. Marlowe Granados sets a scene you feel you know intimately.

I am not sure what I expected of this novel going into it; "Happy Hour" is definitely well-written, the prose was delicate, descriptive, flowing and absolutely to my liking. Although it fell a bit short characterwise, Granado's "Happy Hour" is full of engaging observations and sharp commentary on life and people.

Granados is a writer to watch. Happy Hour is a beautiful snapshot of a summer in New York City - full of vacuous, brilliant, bizarre, beautiful, kind, and cruel New Yorkers and wealthy nomads who drift in and out of the City. A must-read for fans of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Cat Marnell's How to Murder Your Life.

Bravo! A star is born!!

There is something incredibly vulnerable about writing a book and putting it out into the world to be judged. It is like putting oneself out into the world to be judged. This is all the more true when the "fiction" book is a barely veiled telling of the author's own life. Is this what they mean by "autofiction"? Whatever it is called, I find it incredibly brave. And, what's more, a privilege to have been allowed to read.

Isa/Marlowe is a completely different person than I am. She sees and interacts with the world in entirely different ways than me. She has a self assurance and ability to trust her own judgements that I did not have at her age. "I am highly educated in true sorrow, so I don't succumb to silly criticism." She writes as a woman in the world, but also a woman who does not live in fear of the world. With Happy Hour we are given the chance to see her perspective and learn from it. And this is a gift to be respected.

And yet despite our tremendous differences the author and I have shared so many similar experiences. She writes unabashedly about her ability to capture a room, at being yelled at by men driving by in cars, about being constantly exoticised by white people desperate to fetishise her "mix." "'Are you asking why I'm so pretty? If you are, just ask me that.' Did you know you can push back without anyone even noticing?" One cannot normally speak of these things without being perceived as bragging or arrogant, but they are not so. They are facts. I know, because I have suffered them, too. (Although in my case it is girls cat-calling me from passing cars). There is a crushing directness of so many societal truths laid bare in this novel that is joyfully refreshing.

Along with Sally Rooney, Granados also speaks to my experiences of interacting across the Atlantic and across the wide range of social classes I have also easily had access to. Both authors speak to the ease with which poor and incredibly wealthy mix nowadays, and how some are able to gracefully manage the class tension without compromising mutual respect or human connection - and how others are negligent, self-serving, or even exploitative. It is here that the author's personality and mine definitively overlap: we both have a keen eye for whether people are respectful, and the judgement to not always enforce respect even though one could.

Some goodreads reviewers have complained that there is no plot or character development in Happy Hour. To this I can only respond: that's the point! And she reminds us of this repeatedly in the book itself! At one point, to choose one example, Isa says she is reading A Rebours, "it's decadent and goes nowhere. You'll like it!" I mean, you really have to be a careless reader to miss it. And it really is unfair to judge a book for failing in something it deliberately seeks to avoid doing.

But it would be inaccurate to day Happy Hour goes nowhere. While this review is slightly serious, Granados is downright funny. Happy Hour is chock full of wisdom delivered eith such entertaining style that an unthinking person could pass it by. She writes so incredibly well, J.D. Salinger style, and is full of so many side splitting one-liners that Happy Hour is kind of like a literary Legally Blonde: a reminder not to underestimate the intelligence, capability or ethics of the fun ones - as they could easily be miles ahead of you.

No. What matters about Happy Hour is not that the protagonist enjoys character development. The protagonist is obviously unabashedly millennial. She has grown up with the internet at her fingertips and knows more about how things are than an equivalently aged person from previous generations. She knows deeply class mobility no longer exists and so money that comes into one's life might as well be spent on little pleasures, because life is short and there is no hope for us. No. What matters is not character development - she has that already - but that the protagonist finds her way. And if she can, then perhaps we can, too.

Review:
Plot: "Happy Hour" is the proof that books don't need extreme and elaborate plots to succeed in telling a story. This novel could be about me, someone I know, or any women in her early 20s eager to find adventure without having the means to do so. Isa and Gala arrive in NYC without much money, only the dream of a well spent summer. Not having much of a plan, they end up becoming a kind of entertainment for richer people. The result is a book about a hazy summer, thick with anxiety and hope.
Writing: Granado's writing style reminded me of Sally Rooney's "Conversations with Friends" in a way that it is real, raw and relatable. As much as the plot of this book is not complex, I found myself highlighting quotes and reflecting on them all the time. The book might seem superficial at first but is full of deeper meaning. The one reason why I`m not giving this book a five stars rating is that I wish the side characters had connected more. Often I felt like every time a new person was introduced, the previous one was completely erased from the story.
Characters: Gala can seem quite naïve at times, but she has great moments of feminist discusses. Isa (the MC), on the other hand, was crafted to be a smart, wit and down-to-earth woman that, at many times, I could relate to. Everyone else (with few exceptions) seemed to just be using the two girls for their own enjoyment and I am not a fan of that.
Verdict: Think of Elizabeth Gilbert's "City of Girls", minus the historical background plus the deep conversations of Sally Rooney's "Conversation with Friends" and that's what you get from Happy Hour. I recommend it!

Favorite quote: "The less time spent in public, the safer girls feels. That's not incidental, the world was built this way."
Soundtrack: I Am Not a Robot, by MARINA

REVIEW WILL BE POSTED ON INSTAGRAM ON SEPTEMBER 1ST

Happy Hour follows Isa and her best friend Gala, as they hit the streets of New York City for a summer of fun. They're broke, they're young, and they'll do anything to keep living the good life. From penny-pinching to contemplating whether or not they should sell their feet pics for money (who hasn't been there, honestly) - the girls navigate summer in the city, galavanting from odd jobs to evenings full of different neighborhoods, and plenty of shiny, wealthy people. But as the summer progresses, the girls are strapped - and they need to turn their newfound love of the city life into something a little more sustainable.

A fun read about the possibilities, perils, and pitfalls, that living the (seemingly) glamorous life can hold.

Thank you to NetGalley and Verso for advance access to this title!

I expected to like the novel a lot more than I did. The topics and the characters would normally interest me, but the writing style feels almost too light and lacking depth. The characters are all dynamic and captivating. Similarly, the New York scene is one I'm usually a sucker for. However, for some reason, I had a hard time getting started and staying engaged. While I enjoyed the novel, It likely wouldn't be one I would spend 25 dollars on for a hardback version.

A very quick and easy read. Made me miss New York more than ever, however, I just felt like I couldn't fully connect. However, it made me miss my early twenties and wishing I spent my summer in New York just being carefree. An easy summer read for sure!

A quick afternoon read about being young and living in NYC. Overall, a fairly entertaining read, but (perhaps because of the pandemic) this feels vapid and frivilous in a way that it might not otherwise. Although, it certainly is basically an escapist read.

Ok WOW.
This book was infinitely better than I ever expected! The book's summary doesn't do the magnitude of this story justice but I'm not sure there are words to truly describe it well enough. This is a book you need to read to understand the experience it carries.

Happy Hour is a story of two friends in their early 20s surviving New York City for a summer - in any way they can - as scrappy, beautiful young women who deal in the currency of social capital, as they penny-pinch their way through the city. Told through the eyes of the main character, Isa, through her diary entries, this is a story of aspiration and aimlessness with equal parts relatable and unrelatable.

Isa is dry, stoic, and uses her personality and hard, impenetrable exterior as armor. Her recollections will read light and carefree, having you think she is vapid or "cocky", until all of a sudden she slaps you in the face with a line or paragraph that is extremely vulnerable and deep that reminds you she is human and that sometimes personalities are merely a mask. Everything and everyone is deeper than you think - something we often forget in the internet age.

I, quite literally, highlighted at least one line, if not more, of every single page in my Kindle. The prose is beautifully written and woven through and I will absolutely be buying a physical copy for my library.

This book has an authentic feeling that can truly only come from stories that have actually happened, in some way or another, and regardless of who you are, I'm confident you will find something relatable about Isa Epley. Happy Hour transported me back to when I was 19 and my early 20s, scraping by with similar stories, using my youth in the only way I knew how.

TY to NetGalley for the ARC ahead of the USA release date!

I highly, highly recommend this read!

Review links below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTdARDL6vD/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPd37DtrPE1/

This is an oddly beautiful book but one so worth reading. I would highly recommend you immersing yourself in this well told well written story.

I feel like I’ve read several similar novels to Happy Hour but still found much to admire in Granados’s writing and the female friendships and the hardships of your early twenties on a shoestring. The depiction of summertime New York really stood out too.

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be YA but it sort read like that with the breezy conversational style. I whipped through it but I don't know if Isa and Gala. will really stay with me. It read sort of like an alt-Gossip Girl which isn't bad in and of itself but I was expecting a little more depth.

This novel follows the main character Isa in the format of her Diary. Through the entries we see her move to New York from Europe. She moves into an apartment with her friend Gala and we follow these two as they struggle to thrive (and sometimes struggle to even eat) in New York. They are not living in the United States legally so working and earning income is a constant struggle for the two. This is more of a stream of consciousness writing than it is a story that is strictly based in a plot., which is always something that I enjoy. I particularly felt as though this novel did a great job conveying the struggle it is to live in NYC without a large income. Few books truly are able to capture poverty the same way this novel was able to. The writing was so beautiful in my opinion and it really captured the thoughts and personality of the main character. I do not typically enjoy diary entry books but this felt so raw and authentic that it was hard to hate the set up. The novel also felt very much so gatsby-like because Gala and Isa were constantly going to extravagant parties where they met rich men who had a sense of old money. In all this was a beautifully written book that was edged in tragedy and struggle.

I liked the diary format of the main character in this book about NYC in 2013 but there was not much of a plot or anything else going on. Yes, this was a bright and easy read and I liked the stream of consciousness but again, nothing else happened. It was kind of a struggle to read with no much happening but I can understand why another reader would enjoy this.

IMO just an ok read and kind of sort of recommended this but it did not blow me away, Again, not for me but other people will like this.

Thanks to Netgalley, Marlowe Granados and Verso Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 9/7/21

This was is definitely fun and I would highly recommend for a whirlwind of a read! I got through it in one day and enjoyed it!

Happy Hour is an easy, casual read sprinkled with observant musings that prove Isa is set on learning as much she can about the world simply by living in it.

“I do wonder whether my memories should stay only mine, or have they ever been?”

This book was delightful and refreshing and not really at all what I expected. Isa and her best friend, Gala, are spending their summer in NYC. They sell clothes in a market stall by day to make barely enough to pay the rent for their room and feed themselves bodega meals and happy hour cocktails. I expected heavy plot-driving youthful drama a la Gossip Girl meets the financial insecurity of inconsistent work. Instead, the events that happen merely become content for Isa’s journaling, providing sincere reflection and commentary that is not unlike Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar (but a more light-hearted version).

This novel shines because of Isa’s insight. She’s got the gift of youth and a keen eye for detail, which makes the instability of the summer that much more fun to read. This book reminded me how quickly we can lose the go-with-the-flow attitude in our adult lives, and it was interesting how often I found myself worrying about Isa and Gala and how they were going to get by. NYC is a lovely backdrop with its assortment of company, specialty cocktails, delectable eats, and intriguing conversations. It’s one of those books that feels like it has a hidden, overarching story, which was my favorite part.

I’d recommend especially for fans of The Bell Jar and Sweetbitter!

Before I began reading it, I expected "Happy Hour" to be a cross between Ottessa Moshfegh's "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" and Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", two renowned novels that portray the experiences of young women living in New York City. However, this novel was so much more enjoyable to me. I felt hypnotized by the story, and I already miss the indulgent feeling of reading it for the first time.

"Happy Hour" is a plotless literary fiction novel chronicling a young woman's hedonistic, glamourous adventures in NYC from May to August of 2013. Written in the style of a journal, Granados' debut novel perfectly captures the lazy, humid, aimless essence of the urban summer. The narrator, Isa, is such an interesting and intelligent figure. Her confidence is so unwavering that some might consider it arrogance, but that's part of her charm. Though she has no long-term plans to support her extravagant lifestyle, Isa never truly seems to doubt her ability to get ahead. She lives entirely in the present, a feat that is both enviable and somewhat concerning. I loved her witty observations and her ability to see right through people's bullshit. For example, it was so fun to witness her inner thoughts during her conversations with self-absorbed, pretentious men at parties.

It's a perfect, thought-provoking summer read. The author's talent shines through, and I can't wait to read more of her work. I'll be recommending this to everyone I know.