Thank-you NetGalley and Bookishfirst for the advanced copy of Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura in return for my honest review.

Like Happiness is a well-written, thought-provoking work of literary fiction. It is intense, with a melancholy vibe, but for this reader it was engaging and fascinating. The main character, Tatum Vega, confronts her younger self who was caught up in a toxic power dynamic/relationship with an older, famous author. What I especially liked about the novel was that Tatum currently is living with her partner in Chile, working a job that she loves, incredibly happy with her new life. She seemingly has moved past this critical, emotional time, but is forced to reexamine the relationship truthfully when a reporter contacts her looking for corroboration for an assault charge brought by another woman against her former lover. Woman Tatum is revisiting younger Tatum and through a letter she writes to her ex, she lays bare to the reader, and to herself, the fraught ten year relationship young Tatum experienced with this man, as reassessed by her older, more mature self. Her careful separation between her past and present disintegrates. Beautifully written. Amazingly a debut. This is an author to watch.

A powerful story of gender, ethnicity, toxic relationships and how they all effect someone's life. While certainly detailed and mostly interesting, I did find some aspects of the story to be almost over explained. Great topics for discussion and I think it would be a good book club read. Thanks #NetGallley#CeadonBooks

[arc review]
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing an arc, and to Macmillan Audio for providing an alc in exchange for an honest review.
Release date: March 26, 2024

Like Happiness explores power dynamics in a toxic relationship as well as sapiosexuality.

<i>“My circuitry for language and desire are intertwined, which made my learning experience incredibly arousing.”</I>

Tatum initiates a relationship with an author named Mateo via a fan letter when after reading his published work in college, she finds that it greatly resonates with her.
Years later after they’ve parted ways, it’s revealed that Mateo had allegedly sexually assaulted other women, and while that didn’t happen between him and Tatum, as she reflects upon their past interactions, she comes to realize that it was likely that he groomed her.

I can understand where she was coming from at first, having felt truly seen in literature for the first time as a minority race and the comforts that might come with that. But everything else, and the way she inserted herself into his life was a bit much and almost came across like she was full of herself.
I’m unsure if at the end she was able to separate the art from the artist after having built Mateo up to such great lengths, and even masturbating to the things he wrote.

I wasn’t too fond of the writing structure as there was both dual timelines and an alternation between first and second person narration.
Overall, it felt unfinished. It takes until 92% to even learn that Mateo used Tatum as his partial muse for his newest novel, which at the time was a betrayal to her. But aside from the recounting of their decade long relationship in the form of an interview/letter, there really wasn’t enough substantial commentary to the aforementioned themes in the blurb to provide the “complexities” that it’s claiming to delve into. Perhaps a pov from Mateo or the other women he allegedly assaulted would have added more dimension.

Side note: the early audio and ebook versions did differ from each other, so I’m hesitant to review too in depth as I don't know what reflects the final version.
ex.
<i>“Last name?”
“Guy pronounced a word that sounded like a torture device.”</I>
vs
<i>“Last name?”
“Jamie pronounced a name I had never heard.”</I>

An excellent but difficult book to read. The author did a superb job of capturing an abusive relationship that by outward appearances seemed friendly, sweet, and loving. When Tatum, a young adult, falls in love with a book, she writes to the middle-aged author, and a friendship begins. Tatum is infatuated with the man, M. Dominguez, and through the years their friendship is mostly platonic but sometimes includes a sexual component. The sexual relationship is at the older male’s whims and desires, and he remains oblivious to the imbalance in the relationship and the emotional damage he inflicts on Tatum. After many years, Tatum frees herself of the relationship. Years later, however, another young female comes forward with a similar story and relationship with M. Dominguez. This prompts Tatum to reexamine her early adulthood and ask herself what really happened between them. A very well-written novel about the lasting scars a relationship can leave when one person has power over the other.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was gifted to me by the publisher & Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was intrigued by this story in the beginning. We are following Tatum, who has been contacted by a media outlet to get her story on a man that she's known for the better part of her adult life. The man is an author and their relationship was sticky and complicated. Tatum finds herself questioning all of the things that she thought she knew about her friend and deciding if she really wants to tell her story when it was so different from other people's stories.

I was optimistic, but this book ended up not being my cup of tea. I found it to be boring and honestly just not what I wanted from a story like this one, it had so much potential, but fell short for me.

What a debut! I enjoyed this book a lot - I felt the way the story was told was so unique and Tatum was a fantastic main character. It's all-too relevant in today's society, where we hear about a narcissistic older man essentially grooming a younger woman, but I appreciated this fresh take on a situation all too familiar to some. The writing style was great, and I felt instantly connected to the narrative and the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a bit of a slow read that took a little while to get into. I found I was left with a few questions, particularly why it took so long for anyone to see that M was really only grooming Tatum. There were a few events that seemed unrelated or unexplained. (The colleague being fired, Hiroshi’s use of drugs, Maria Luz’s issue with M). This just needed a bit more to get me fully invested.

SPOILERS
First off, I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Whether you love it or hate it, or have any sort of complaint about it, there is no denying that this book is absolutely beautifully written. I loved all the references to various authors and books, and works of art. I immersed myself in looking up all who were unfamiliar and added several books to my TBR list. I was immediately drawn in to the letter style format- completely sucked in. There were parts that weren’t necessarily accurate, but I didn’t feel like it took away from the story in any way. There were times when I was so disappointed in Tatum, I could have screamed and times when I so hated Mateo that I could’ve done the same. Yet there were other times when I actually found myself cheering for them, as unrealistic as it was, to end up, finding some sort of happiness. My only disappointment- and this is probably a spoiler-so stop reading right now if you don’t want one… is that I would have liked a little bit more about the years post Mateo. How did Tatum get to Chile 2015. The entire book was devoted to her deep dependency on M. and his manipulation of her emotional attachment to him. When she finally broke free, I would have loved to see how she put herself back together. I also really would have liked to read the finished article.

“The tectonic plates of our relationship were shifting that night, but I had miscalculated the direction.”

Despite the word happiness in the title, first-person narrator Tatum Vega often finds that to be an elusive quality in her life. There is a sense that Tatum’s coming-of-age experience, starting in college and carrying us through her life for ten years, is one with stubborn tendrils which still choke some joy out of her life. Like so many young adults, Tatum’s romantic relationships provide mountain-top highs; however, her lows are not a gradual dulling of brilliant new love but a sudden toss into sink-hole lows. Exacerbating Tatum’s heartache is the fact that one man, an older and famous author M. (Mateo) Dominguez, has repeat appearances in her life. So those tectonic plates provide heartbreaking turbulence many times.

Tatum is a literature-loving college student in Boston. The novel is peppered with a variety of book and story titles, including those by M. Dominguez which exist only in this story. Although Tatum tries to move on and seems to have truly moved on as she follows her attraction to people of different genders and races, Dominguez holds special power over her, a complex combination of fame and the Latino heritage they share. Of course, there is physical attraction, yet this is not a novel of steamy love scenes but rather a young woman’s searing frustration, humiliation, anger with promises not kept, and the angst of ultimately feeling used.

When the novel opens in Chile 2015, Tatum is enjoying sharing a life seeped in art with her partner Vera. It is a phone call from an American journalist, investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Mateo which reopens the floodgate of memories and provides the story in flashback. The emotions felt very raw and real at times, and those moments were 5-star writing. For me, the the pacing was not always steady and occasionally caused me to reread a previous page to see how I missed a segue into the current situation. Some brief scenes with an androgynous character named Mayumi seemed more of an interruption at first but then played a part in the protagonist's ability to evaluate her emotions. I am glad I had an opportunity to read this book and think it would work well for a book club choice since there is something deserving of comment for any reader. Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read this!

This book started so strong and then unfortunately fell so flat. We follow a painfully desperate woman who is in a toxic “relationship” (if you can even call it a relationship) with an older man who is a famous writer. She writes him a fan letter when she is in college and receives an unexpected reply. She quickly becomes infatuated and obsessed with this famous, highly intellectual, older man. This behavior is understandable at her age. BUT this “relationship” continues for a decade, until she is thirty years old. She puts her life, goals, relationships, everything on hold waiting for this good for nothing, mediocre, narcissistic man-child to give her the time of day. Ladies, we must do better. Please value yourselves enough to walk away when something isn’t serving you.

A wonderfully-written, extremely compelling literary fiction debut, revolving around a woman reflecting on the toxic but formative relationship which she had with a famous writer in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against him.

This is definitely a book for the character-focused readers, as most of the plot is just the events of a life; the writing was engaging, the character voice strong and present, and the development of that central relationship was extremely well-done. My only real complaint was that I wanted more of a bridge between the well-adjusted, mature narrator who we saw in the present-day periods and the previous version of herself, stuck in her spiral with the writer, M.

All in all, definitely recommended, and I’m excited to see what the author does next! Thank you so much to Celadon books and Netgalley for the advance copy!

I enjoyed this one so much! I loved How expressive and real Tatums emotions we’re vocalized. A part of me was left aching for her and being so mad at Matteo as the story continued to unfold .

This book was a master class of literary fiction, weaving a story told in the present, intermingling with the past. Tatum didn’t have much direction in life but connected with a book called Happiness. She sought out the writer and wrote a fan letter. From there, they wrote emails and eventually talked on the phone and met in person. Their relationship developed over a period of 10 years.

My heart ached for Tatum. Mateo treated her with indifference and reverence, whichever suited him best. Called her mi vida and keeping her on a leash. I was so glad when she got her mostly happy ending and was free of him. I couldn’t believe what he did to her, putting her in the novel like that. Talk about a horrific move! The worst part is, stuff like this is common with grooming and it made me so sad to read. This was an incredible book.

This story alternates between Tatum's life in Chile in 2015, and a letter that Tatum writes to the famous author M. Dominguez about their 10 year relationship.. Tatum read Dominguez's book 'Happiness' when she was in high school and was sure that she found the person that understood what her life as a Latinx is really like. She writes him a letter, and she is stunned when he not only answers but sends her his email address. This begins a long, codependent, toxic relationship where she makes virtually all her decisions based on what is happening in his life. Even when she strikes out and has her own life, he is there, pulling her back in. When she is contacted by a reporter for her comment on the accusations of sexual assault leveled against Dominguez, Tatum finally examines their relationship.

The bulk of the story takes place in the letter that she is writing with some interspersed chapters in 2015. I love a dual timeline, but the letter did not feel like a letter all that often, but rather another first person narrative, which was not a disappointment in the end.

The is very compelling and the description of Tatum and her emotions and relationships made me feel as if I knew her, and although disappointed with her choices, could see them coming. if you like an introspective novel with complex relationships, this book is one you will enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.25⭐️

Beautifully written. I was captivated by this tale from start to finish. Tackling toxic relationships, gender dynamics, and power inequalities, Like Happiness tells the story of Tatum Vega in dual timelines. In the present, she’s settled into a contented existence when a call from a reporter forces her to work through her past relationship with a famous writer- leading us to dive into that past alongside her.

This story is brilliantly told, and there were definitely many relatable elements, but I felt increasingly frustrated by past Tatum’s choices. Many of us have found ourselves in similarly unhealthy dynamics at some point or other, but to stay in the sort of limbo she held herself for a full decade was hard to witness or fathom. Still plenty of issues to mull over long after finishing this layered read.

Thank you Ursula Villarreal-Moura, Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura dives into the narrative of a young woman who finds herself enamored with an older author. After sending a fan letter and receiving a response, we follow the next ten years of their life and how their relationship evolves and also how it doesn't. Another sad case of a time when the older gentleman should have left the lady alone, but instead drags her along with an undefined role in his life....essentially being groomed. This book was just alright for me. I really wanted to love it, but it was a bit drawn out for my liking. Although it did provide some interesting conversation for book club. It seems many of us can relate to the feeling of being dragged along and allowing ourselves to hold out hope for something that is never going to happen.

Incredible excavation of power dynamics, Latinx identity, relationships, celebrity, and the loss of self that can come through insidious but unhealthy relationships. I loved the dual narration where we get glimpses of what Tatum is doing now, how she feels, and how she is still affected interspersed with the narration of the relationship in her letter to him. We slowly learn more and more about the troubling aspects of the long relationship and ways in which she was dismissed or used at the same time as she is slowly realizing it herself, and coming to terms with how it shaped her life. I want justice for her and that letter to somehow become published because that is the reckoning we need in this world, so often. It also for me highlighted ways in which the argument that so many make about the art being separate from the person, even if a person is problematic, is so patently false.

Also, when Jamal insulter her in the interview wow was I mad. Depressing but needed reminder that just relying on someone else to tell your story and bring justice will not necessarily work, because there remain power imbalances and assumptions and lack of respect in those relationships as well. It wove into the story she is telling of the relationship so masterfully.

In this captivating read, the author masterfully weaves a narrative that is both engaging and thought-provoking. Through a blend of richly developed characters and a meticulously crafted plot, the book offers a unique exploration of its central themes, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the story's depth and complexity. The narrative is paced perfectly, balancing moments of intense action with thoughtful reflection, ensuring that readers are hooked from the first page to the last. The author's ability to evoke emotion and create a vivid, immersive world is truly remarkable, making this book a must-read for anyone looking for an exceptional literary experience.

Beyond its compelling storyline, the book stands out for its insightful commentary on the human condition, weaving philosophical questions into the fabric of its narrative. The author's skillful use of language not only enriches the text but also elevates the reader's experience, offering new perspectives on familiar themes. Whether it's the intricate dynamics of relationships, the exploration of identity, or the confrontation with ethical dilemmas, this book tackles complex issues with sensitivity and intelligence. It's a testament to the power of storytelling to illuminate the nuances of life, making it a valuable addition to any book lover's collection. Regardless of genre, this is a work that resonates on multiple levels, affirming the enduring impact of well-crafted literature.

2.5 stars rounded up.

This ranged from okay to decent for me. I love reading about relationships that are too complicated to categorize, in this case not exactly “friend” or “lover” or “mentor” or “unrequited crush,” but all of them and none of them. But I was unconvinced by where Tatum lands on their relationship when looking back on it. She feels that he “groomed” her—but they were both in their 20s when they met, and she initiated the relationship (both the friendship and the sex). She was never his student or his employee, and she never attempted to work in his industry or relied on his help to find a job, so he didn’t have that much power over her. Certainly Mateo turns out to be a bad person, no argument there—but it feels like the book tries to frame Tatum as the purely virtuous wronged party and glosses over the ways in which she’s a weird little obsessed gremlin (which, to be clear, is exactly the kind of character I want to read about).

Certain aspects of the plot felt implausible: the fact that Mateo is some huge wealthy celebrity author when his only book is a literary short story collection, and the fact that Tatum gets a cool museum job with zero relevant work experience and zero connections, solely on the basis of an undergraduate art history degree from more than a decade ago.

The book is marketed as literary fiction, but I found the prose mostly uninspiring and often cliche:
-“I still preferred books to people.”
-“It was time for me to use my voice.”
-“[S]ocietal conditioning had ensured that I beautified myself for men.”
-The word “problematic” is unironically used a few times.

Tatum’s bisexuality is a very minor element of the book, which was a bit disappointing for me, although I appreciated that even Mateo is matter-of-fact about it.

Overall, the premise sounded precisely up my alley, but the execution fell somewhat flat for me, though I did enjoy parts of it.