“I feel like we are playing the Quiet Game. When you're tired of playing and want to shout out all the words you've been keeping inside you, but you absolutely cannot lose. So instead you sit, and bite down on everything screaming inside you, and wait” (Legrand 271). In Claire Legrand’s Some Kind of Happiness, she illustrates this idea of people hiding their real thoughts and emotions.
Some Kind of Happiness is a fantasy fiction novel written by Claire Legrand. It was originally published on May 17, 2016, by Simon & Schuster Books for Young. This book is neither a part of any series nor requires any previous books to be read to give background knowledge to the book.
Some Kind of Happiness is a story about a young girl named Finley, who suffers from mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. To escape from reality, Finley writes inside her notebook about an imaginary forest called the Everwood. When her parents are going through a divorce, she stays at her grandparent's house for the summer, whom she has never met before in her entire life. However, she discovers that the magical kingdom of Everwood actually exists in her grandparents’ backyard. Finley and her cousins go on an adventure to save the forest from dying, and also to save herself. They discover the truths behind numerous mysteries of the past as fantasy begins to intertwine with the real world.
I think that Some Kind of Happiness is a memorable book for many reasons. It teaches the reader the message of the importance of relationships, whether it be family or friends. It also teaches the reader about acceptance, learning to love themself, and being content with their imperfections. This book spreads awareness of the fact that kids can also struggle with mental health, and emphasizes the importance of taking care of oneself. Although Some Kind of Happiness contains beautiful messages, it lacks in its writing. In the middle of the book, the plot is boring and not entertaining. The book is stretched out to almost 400 pages, which causes there to be a great deal of repetition and events that are unnecessary to the plot. In addition, many of the side characters have little to no character development throughout the entire story.
In conclusion, I think Some Kind of Happiness is a mediocre book. I liked how it portrayed the issue of mental illnesses and allowed it to be relatable to some children. I also enjoyed how it explored communication, and how the lack of it could destroy relationships. This story had a lot of potential in highlighting the mental health of kids but failed to successfully spread the messages due to its writing. I would recommend this book to people who can relate to having mental health issues, especially young adults. I would rate Some Kind of Happiness as a ⅗.
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