I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done an amazing job at creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

On the day of her one year anniversary of getting divorced, Alex is supposed to be celebrating. But she just found out that she has a benign brain tumor. It still needs surgery though, but she is in denial that there is a problem. When there is trouble at her job, she decides to go on the vacation her later sister was never able to take. Eventually, she has to face up to her problem and the surgery.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think I just really didn't connect with or like the main character. I appreciate the growth she went through, but this book was not my favorite.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book to read by this author but I cannot wait to read more by them! This is such a uniquely written story that you will find yourself thinking about long after you finish it. Highly recommend!!

Alex Martinez is a high-powered marketing executive celebrating the one-year anniversary of her death. Overall she is doing fairly well until she is blindsided by a brain tumor diagnosis. She is scared to tell her two mothers, since one of them completely fell apart when her younger sister died from leukemia. She is also scared to undergo surgery and decides to first have one (potentially) last vacation using a bucket list of places she and her sister had created together.

The trip helps her evaluate her life, both her past with the death of her sister and her relationships with her mothers, and her present with her friendships and her employment situation. The trip fortifies her to move forward with her surgery and most of all to ask for and accept help from those who lover her. This message particularly resonated with me since I too find it very hard to let other people help me, even when they are begging to let them bring over dinner when I am recovering from surgery etc.

This book should be somewhat of a downer given the heaviness of the topics, but I found it inspirational.

Realistic fiction at its finest!!!! Great character development and I love love how the author incorporates Spanish, but gives you enough context clues so you don’t have to stop reading and use Google translate. This wasn’t the typical happy ending or the husband realizes his errors and comes back. This was an awesome book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Book review : Happyish by Jeanette Escudero is an unique story of a woman who want to be happy despite all her issues.

The story is of Alex Martinez who wants to celebrate her divorceversary but to her surprise she is diagnosed of a brain tumor which she can't even pronounce.

Alex has seen how her mother and family suffered when her sister died of leukemia in a young age. That impact has broken her from within that when she is told of her disease she relates everything to it and has no courage to face it.

Going from blissful to blindsided in one afternoon, Alex has other plans: to be impulsive and embark on an adventure she’ll never forget. Expected destinations: the Grand Canyon, Puerto Rico, and zip-lining through Costa Rica. Unexpected companion: a hiker named David who’s found a woman after his own heart. But no matter how enriching the journey, how long can Alex keep running?

The author has done an incredible job in depicting the mindset of over stressed , emotionally hurt , fighting to be happy and looking for peace in friends and within Alex who instead of facing the situation runs from it .

Every person wishes to be happy but God's will that leads him/her to trivial circumstances. Are these conditions for us to face it or suffer its bad effects if not handled carefully at the right time.

I loved reading this book. It's beginner friendly and illustrations of different places rejunevates the reader with different aspects of life. I recommend this book to all fiction lovers.

I am thankful to netgalley and lake union publishing for giving me this book in return of an honest review.
Happy Reading!

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This book was really sad at first and I really felt for Alex as I too am divorced. The way she was written and how she handled it felt so very real and I felt so very bad for her, but she held on and toughed it out and celebrated her divorceversary. (I loved that idea) Alex is a very strong woman who was raised by two very strong women.

There are also some very joyful moments in the book and I loved the spectrum of emotions I felt reading it. The traveling parts were so much fun and I loved being with Alex on her adventure to do her deceased sister's travel wish list. I really appreciate it when I book can make me feel like I am on a journey with a character and it takes me on location.

There are some heavy issues dealt with in this story and they were so relatable, especially the old boy's network at Alex's place of employment. Alex also has to learn to let people take care of her for a change as she learns to take care of herself. I loved watching her evolve.

At times hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, Happyish has the perfect title for a book that is an emotional punch to the heart.

Happyish is a feel good story. Alex Martinez gets an unwelcome diagnosis.. a brain tumor. After her sister died young of leukemia, one of her mothers fell apart. She spent her life trying to be good and healthy so they wouldn’t have to worry about her. She decided not to tell them and goes on a pre surgery vacation to places she and her state hopped to travel someday. In Arizona she meets David on a four day hike. They have a connection and both feel it. But she continues her trip, ultimately getting more ill by the end. Things grow complicated after her surgery.

I loved the story and the evolution of the plot. Alex felt real. Her emotions were real. I cheered for her and David! It felt almost like a cooking of age story. Although Alex is grown and divorced, it feels like she does a lot of maturing and soul searching during the story. She realizes the importance of living and being loved by others and letting people care about you. Support is crucial. Great read!

Whew....grab your kleenex and sit down for this one! If a book about a brain tumor could be humorous and light hearted, then Happyish does just that, but also hits you right in the feels.
I tend to gravitate away from books I know will likely make me cry, but everything about these tears were just what my heart needed. A beautiful story of survival, of learning to ask for and accept help and of never giving up the dream of happiness.

I read this book on airplane, where i was happyish to be flying back home to Texas after visiting with friends and family in PA. The title was very fitting and ultimately led me to this book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for being able to read this early.

Alex is going through a divorce and on her “divorcary” or anniversary of her divorce, she is going out to celebrate with friends when she learns she has a brain tumor. Although probably not cancerous, she would still need surgery. The book takes us through past relationships, grieving her lost sister, forming new relationships and trying to maintain her current friends and relationships all while navigating the news of her tumor. At times i was getting angry at Alex for not seeking medical treatment quicker, but also understood why she did the things she did throughout the book. I enjoyed going on this journey with Alex to find hope, healing and her happy (ish). This is 100% a book that I will recommend to friends.

This is first book I have read from Jeanette Escudero. I felt Happyish was abit slow at the beginning but the more I got onto it got lot better and I really was interested in what Alex was going to do. The story about Alex who celebrating her year anniversary of divorce and bless her things start to go wrong for her. She goes to the doctors about headaches and found out she has a tumour which is about to change her life. You see Alex changing from this really strong person who does not need anyone to realise who she truly is and it’s ok to need people and help. I loved the other characters especially silver and Mini. I feel this book is about founding your true self, loss relationships and mum and daughter bond. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

This book started off a bit slow, but I really started to get into it in the second half. The main character, Alex, was totally relatable to me. I can see myself going into denial if faced with a big health decision. Running away from decisions never works, but I can understand the need to, especially if you don't feel like you have lived life to the fullest yet.

I loved how Alex connects with the different experiences (both good and bad) and finds new friends through them. The focus is on Alex's relationship with her mothers, although the romance storyline was still pretty sweet.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lake Union Press.

Alex is celebrating the year anniversary of her divorce when she learns she has a brain tumor. She needs to have surgery, but instead, she goes on a trip to figure things out.

What I appreciated about this book was how real it was. Alex's life wasn't perfect and she does not have all the answers. She struggles with what her life is going to look like in the future (if she is going to survive). I loved all the characters in the book, and Alex was someone I was fighting for as she discovered what her life meant.

Amazing feel-good, inspirational story, based on a young woman, Alex, getting a serious medical diagnosis. It may sound like a lot of doom and gloom, but it really isn't. It's a beautiful story, filled of supportive friendships and inspirational hope.

To take a break and come to terms (hopefully!) with her medical condition, Alex embarks on an impulsive journey using a bucket list she created with her younger sister many years ago. Once back from the trip a few weeks later, she is ready to face reality, surrounded by her family, friends and colleagues (who are more like friends) and a new found love.

Highly recommended; this is a fantastic book for escaping the world for a few hours.

I wanted to love this one baed on the synopsis and the cover of the book. I got about 25% in and just didn't want to read it at all. The main character was infuriating.

Never was a book title more appropriate! Well done Jeanette Escudero! I laughed out loud, many times and I also shed a few tears, maybe more than a few. Without risking spoilers, this one has sooooo much going on. It's a medical journey, it's relationship with mother, it's career pondering and wonderful travelling adventures from her deceased sisters bucket list (I know that sounds morbid but I promise, it's not) with descriptions so vivid you'll feel the wind off the ocean.

I would highly recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and #LakeUnion for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Happy(ish) is a deceptively "light" read with enough depth and emotion to make it really worth your time. This book is a beach read that will make you not even care that you're at the beach because you feel too invested in Alex's story.

The plot is fairly straightforward but that helps keep it tight and very well paced. Alex finds out that she has a brain tumor and figures she can run away from it...emotionally and literally. That works out about as well as one would expect (not very).

My favorite aspect of this book was the character development. At first I found myself rolling my eyes at Alex's seemingly irresponsible decisions, but as the story unfolded I was able to sympathize with her more. The pacing of her development and of the plot overall was very believable and well done.

I also want to mention that I appreciated the thoughtful yet casual inclusion of same-sex relationships (Alex's mother's), Latino and Black characters, and disabled characters. These elements of the characters' identities are seamlessly folded into the story in a way that may make readers who share those identities feel seen.

For this to be a five star read for me, I would have needed more from the descriptions of the beautiful views Alex experienced on her travels. Instead the focus was more on Alex's thoughts and internal experience. I usually enjoy first person narratives, especially from character-driven books like this one, but at some points the setting felt a little too glossed over and I didn't feel as immersed as I could have been.

Ultimately this was a fun read that went down like a smoothie for me - small sips at first but once I got over halfway done I just wanted to chug it and couldn't stop reading! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary, character-focused novels with light-hearted elements.

Possible content warnings include medical content/medical trauma, discussion of cancer, grief, death of a child/family member, and brief mention of a car accident.

Absolutely loved this book! It made me smile and it made me think.

Alex Martinez is finally coming out of a bad couple of years when she is diagnosed with a brain tumor and needs surgery. She decides to take a trip in honor of her sister. There she meets a hunky tour guide and two traveling cousins who open her up to new experiences and causes her to learn things about herself.

The characters are relatable and interesting. Happyish made me definitely happy!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this gem of a book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️- {HAPPYISH - Jeanette Escudero}

Alex Martinez is looking forward to celebrating her one-year divorce-aversary over margaritas with her best friends. She finally feels happy(ish) with where shes at in her life, works going ok and besides some pesky migraines every now and then shes feeling optimistic about the road ahead. Unfortunately what has been masquerading as migraines turns out to be a brain tumor that requires extensive surgery and is accompanied by a rather bleak post operative recovery. But Alex isn’t ready to let a brain tumor stop her from experiencing life to the fullest! She decides to embark on an impromptu, weeks long adventure in case shes never able to travel again.

The books synopsis hints at exiting trips to the Grand Canyon, Puerto Rico, and zip-lining through Costa Rica. We are promised an intriguing mountain man named David and some real significant life changing moments……um….where were they!

I wanted to like this book but I found the whole thing lackluster. She spent way to much time repeating things about her ex husband, or what happened to her sister and mothers in the past, that it didn’t allow for enough development elsewhere in the book. The vacations she went on lacked any real excitement and were so uninspiring and brief. Even the promise of romance was dull (I mean come on…one measly kiss!) Everything lacked depth and the ability to move me to feel anything like real enjoyment out of the book. The cover is pretty cool though

I like reading medical thrillers and medical stories, and I liked the story of the main character in this novel from diagnosis right through to recovery. What a fascinating journey.
In places I laughed out loud and in places I felt very emotional and close to tears reading this fabulous book. It took me to a lovely adventure to Grand Canyon, Costa Rico and Puerto Rico. I loved travelling with the main character and the descriptions of the various locations felt real.
I would be interested in reading more books by this author as I love her writing style, character development and the story. I recommend this book, and gave it 4 stars.