Like Happiness is an unflinching portrayal of a toxic relationship between a literature-loving young Latina woman and an older author whom she idolizes intellectually and, at times, romantically. Tatum and Mateo connect when she impulsively writes him a letter after being moved by his writing, sparking a messy, sweeping decade marked by admiration, obsession, and an imbalance of power. When a young woman accuses Mateo of sexual assault, Tatum is compelled to reexamine the nature of her own relationship with Mateo.

I was captivated by this beautifully written coming of age story that touches on tough topics like grooming, gender, sexuality, racism, and power dynamics. Although it has echoes of My Dark Vanessa, the power differential between Tatum and Mateo is more understated, as he has no “real” power over her (i.e., he’s not her professor or boss) but he grooms and subtly manipulates her all the same. Tatum is young and naïve when they meet, a lonely and isolated college student who is ripe to be sucked in by Mateo’s attentions. The author does a masterful job of depicting the insidious way Mateo controls the power dynamic and blurs the lines between them.


This book is ideal for book clubs and sure to inspire a rich discussion! Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This book sure got me thinking and making lists.

The story follows a young woman named Tatum and her relationship with Mateo, a famous author who befriends her after she sends him a fan letter.

She examines the complexities and emotional consequences of their decade-long "friendship" —from the moment they first met to the night when everything fell apart —after she finds out he's been accused of assaulting a woman. Was their relationship real? Did he groom her? Did he care for her?

It sure got me thinking about power dynamics in relationships, how women can be exploited and manipulated for emotional support, sex, etc.

Plus, I really connected with Tatum, her introverted, independent personality, her love of books and art (double major in art history and English), the courage she regularly showed, her naivety, and watching her grow.

I could relate (as I'm sure a lot of us can) to looking back on life and finally seeing the big picture and having a better understanding of situations.

I adored all of the books, authors, and artists mentioned and how they tied into the story.

Did I start making a list as I read? Umm, yes, I sure did! (I've included it in the comments if you're curious, although I may have missed some.)

I plan to add some of Tatum's authors to my TBR. Like, I've always planned to read Sylvia Plath, but now I REALLY want to read Sylvia Plath. Many were well known, but there were lots that were also new to me to explore.

The only complaint is that I found the ending to be quite abrupt. I wanted more. But perhaps it's significant as is? Maybe it represents her finally being done with the relationship?

Overall, there are many themes explored: power dynamics, fame and exploitation, LGBTQ identity, coming of age, the challenges faced by a young Latina in the US and minorities not being represented in literature, movies, TV.

I highly recommend this read. Maybe one of my faves this year? We'll see.

You can get your hands on this one March 26, 2024.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me.

A big thanks to @celadonbooks for the #gifted copy to read and review.

Excellent narration. Written like a memoir - Tatum looks back over her life, after being contacted by a reporter. Her longest friendship, the author of a best selling book has been accused of abusing a young woman. The reporter is desperate for Tatum's story - a prompt for Tatum's reflection and forcing an honesty she has avoided for decades.
A tough read at times - definite themes of grooming. Abuse comes in many forms - making it so difficult to define. As a survivor of years of mental and emotional abuse, this book really spoke to me. Well done and gorgeous.

This novel had me hooked from the first line. Like Happiness puts the actions of a powerful (and abusive) man under a microscope, and shows how misogyny and internalized cultural shame are replicated over and over again. It was also honestly refreshing to read a literary novel whose protagonist is from San Antonio! The dichotomies between the East Coast and Texas, and the US and Chile was another interesting exploration in this book.
The reader feels all the pain and excitement and humiliation and exhilaration of Tatum as she's groomed by legendary Latino writer M Dominguez. I found myself moved nearly to tears in a few different moments. Details are everything in Like Happiness-- even the journalist uncovering M's pattern of abuse has misogynistic tendencies. The signs of M's lack of care are there the whole time, as well as his refusal to engage with other Latine writers. Ultimately, Like Happiness asks important questions about what we owe each other, the lines between fiction and reality, and celebrity within particular cultures, in this case Latinidad.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC! I can't wait to read more from Villarreal-Moura.

Like Happiness is a book about power dynamics, marginalization, and reclaiming your story. The story is told in two timelines. In 2015 in Chile, Tatum Vega receives a phone call from a journalist who is planning to run a story on abuse accusations levelled against a famous writer, Mateo Dominguez, Tatum had previously had a relationship with. It then shifts to a series of letters written by Tatum to Mateo where she details the entire story of their relationship and all the ways in which he had hurt her, while periodically jumping back to 2015 Chile as she attempts to decide how much to share with this journalist.

I’ll start with what I did like about this book. I think it was a really interesting exploration of power dynamics in completely legal relationships and the ways in which powerful people can prey on vulnerable people. It was easy to see how Mateo picked up on specifics about Tatum, and other women that he was involved with, particularly the way she was ostracized as the only Latina at her college, her lack of close relationships, to work his way into her life and build a sense of trust and intimacy with her. He validated her feelings and although his actions often left her upset or angry, he did just enough to have her convinced that he was a good person and association with him gave her a sort of feeling of power and worthiness that she craved and kept her around.

Unfortunately, the writing often felt very stilted and forced to me. It lacked flow, particularly in the first half. It seemed to settle later on, or I just got used to it, I’m not sure. I did generally think the dialogue was well done, though. It seemed quite natural. Other than that, I also didn’t like the way the format of being letters to Mateo was used. While I understand that this was her way of taking back and reclaiming her story and the story of their relationship after he betrayed her and an attempt to gain closure over that period of her life, this format just made it really hard to connect with her in the present day. There was no real exploration of how this relationship had affected her and continued to affect her or even why this call from the journalist was her apparent tipping point, when the way the letter was written seemed to imply that she was already perfectly aware of all the ways in which Mateo had been awful to her specifically. I needed more from her in the present to fully grasp the lasting impacts of this relationship.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc!

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura

A rousing debut that had me on the edge of my seat with suspense.

As a young college student, Tatum, writes a fan letter to the author of her favourite book. When the elusive M writes back Tatum is both parts starstruck and determined to form a relationship with him. After several online exchanges they meet sparking a ten year friendship of obsession, desire, need, and devotion.

As the story circles and orbits around Tatums relationship with M we learn slowly and deliberately what brought on its demise. The narrative is told mostly in letter format, Tatum writing to M after years of estrangement about her experience during their decade long entanglement. Flashes of the present day show M is in hot water as an exposé is about too be published about his misconduct with several woman. These present terms have Tatum ruminating on the past and leading us down a propulsive and dynamic path.

By looking at power dynamics, gender, age, tokenism, loyalty, victimhood, you name it there is so much grey area, that even I struggled with my own perceptions and judgements on Tatum’s character. Villarreal-Moura does an exceptional job at building, suspense and provoking thought, as the story crescendoed to its final tell, the anger and emotion of Tatum was palpable.

This book felt similar to My Dark Vanessa without the explicitness, I am still thinking about Tatum and her justifications and M and his motivations. This is an excellent book for bookclub discussions and I loved discussing it with a group of women.

Thank you @celadon for the advanced readers copy look for this one March 25.

*Includes minor spoilers*

I've had to sit with my thoughts on this one for a bit. I want to start by saying that this book may be triggering for some, so I would definitely recommend checking content warnings prior to going in. Tatum's relationship with Mateo was hard to read, but her character growth throughout the entire book was brilliant. One thing that I thought was done exceptionally well, was how Tatum reacted about the allegations surrounding Mateo. She acknowledged and believed the stories of his accusers while also stating that her experience with him was different. BUT, it didn't end there. She eventually grows to see her relationship with him in a new light and realizes that it was toxic.

This was hands down a 5 star read for me especially based on the character growth and the beautiful/incredible writing. I did have 2 minor things that to mention to be fully transparent. At first, the jump between timelines didn't flow, but it didn't take away from the story and once I got well into it, it wasn't a big deal. I also felt that the ending was a bit abrupt compared to the rest of the story. While I was happy with Tatum's conclusion to her relationship with Mateo, I was waiting for a bit more.

Overall, I think this is going to be a top read of the year and highly recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for an e-arc. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for sending this ARC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I don’t always love character stories, sometimes they struggle to keep my attention, but that was not the case with Like Happiness. It was beautifully written and full of emotion. She did a good job of weaving together the past and present through the letter and interviews. Tatum is forced to reexamine her long, complicated relationship with a popular writer. I think the last sentence of the blurb really sums it up nicely. “Like Happiness explores the nuances of a complicated and imbalanced relationship, catalyzing a reckoning with gender, celebrity, memory, Latinx identity, and power dynamics.”

It was hard for me to fully relate to the main character, Tatum, who seemed too naïve at times. She meets her idol, the author of her favourite book, and starts a friendship with him. The path of that friendship, and Tatum’s choices, made me feel a sense of dread, and the tension kept me reading until the conclusion. I loved the writing style and the voice of this debut author. Some aspects of the narrative reminded me of My Brilliant Friend, others made me think of Yellowface. I know for sure that I’ll read more by this author as this is my favourite book of 2024 to date.

I highly recommend this one. It would make a great book club discussion!

Loved this.

A wonderfully paced unraveling of a personal relationship between a young woman and an established, older writer. A book that asks big questions through detailed and glimmering character work. I've never seen a novel manage such a perfect balance between narrative recounting, emotional depth, and pace all while wrestling with what we owe other women and ourselves.

I loved this very much. I liked the characters and the plot. I found myself highlighting a good amount of the book. I’d recommend.

The novel Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura follows the protagonist, Tatum Vega, a Chicana museum worker living in Chile in 2015 with her partner, Vera. Tatum confronts moments in her past that range from her years as an undergraduate student in a predominantly white institution to her young adult years living in New York while focusing on her toxic relationship with famous Puerto Rican writer M. Domínguez. Tatum carefully examines her memories of Domínguez as an investigation comes to light of him assaulting and abusing a Latina woman.

I really enjoyed this novel and appreciated how the author portrayed Tatum with so much vulnerability and strength. As I read Villarreal-Moura’s words, I was always rooting for Tatum and had so much empathy for her. While this story examines the harm that comes from unbalanced relationships and power dynamics, it also makes space for healing and resilience, which is essential for any narrative that explores abuse. This novel also handles with care themes related to representation (mainly as it deals with the Latine community), racism, gender and sexuality, loneliness, and ultimately finding one’s self. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to Ursula Villarreal-Moura’s future work.

This novel is told in a dual narrative recounting the decade that Tatum Vega spent in New York city with the famous author, M. Dominguez. A reporter contacts Tatum for background of her time with the author who has recently been accused of assault and she is forced to examine this time in her life.

I think for a debut novel, the author did a wonderful job. As the reader learns about Tatum’s life and the toxic relationships that she had with Dominguez, she blooms into a fully realized character. I think it is a beautifully written novel and I really enjoyed reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Celadon for a review copy.

I really liked this-- it was really well-written and I love literature about literature. It got to be a little slow at times but I still overall liked it a lot. I love the BIPOC queer representation as well.

A beautifully written novel that follows the all-consuming, toxic relationship between a writer and his young protege, Tatum, this book is deeply impactful. With nods to classic coming of age novels, LIKE HAPPINESS manages to find the balance between the ominous undertones of the unhealthy dynamic between its central characters while still maintaining a level of hopefulness for Tatum’s prospects. The writing is lyrical and captivating. It feels suspenseful in so many ways despite being contemporary fiction, not a thriller. The storyteller matters here, and the fact that we read this through Tatum’s perspective is purposeful and makes it mean that much more. What happens between Tatum and this successful author that has defined who she is for most of her young life? That’s up to you to discover after your own read of this brilliant book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the advance readers copy. All opinions are my own.

Great story about how people in power can manipulate and confuse you. This was a great story about finding yourself in this position and losing who you are in the process. Great debut novel!

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬
𝐁𝐲 𝐔𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟑.𝟐𝟔.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑜𝑜𝑛!


I liked how this is formatted as a sort of hindsight view, as we walk in on Tatum Vega in 2015, now living in Chile with her girlfriend. She is contacted by a journalist who wants to know about her relationship with the writer M. Dominguez, who has been accused of sexual misconduct. Tatum tells the journalist that, no, Dominguez has never mistreated her.

The book shifts to Tatum’s memories of her time with M. or Mateo as she has come to know him, from the fan letter she wrote to him when she was a college student and the strange friendship that blossomed from it.

But now, with the memories replaying, questions begin to plague Tatum as she looks back - was it a friendship? Had she been obsessed? Did he take advantage of her? She realized it was not sexual abuse, but something was off. All she believed, or wanted to believe about her old friend and mentor was starting to feel twisted.

There is a lot you could unpack: power struggles, heritage, betrayal, sexual identity, and I even felt there was a bit of academic snobbery going on. I just need more from the characters to balance the weight of the themes at play.

A thought-provoking debut.

Thank you @celadonbooks for the gifted digital ARC.
Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this copy of "Like Happiness."

Tatum Vega is writing a final letter to famous author Mateo Dominguez to analyze the toxic relationship she had with him for 10 years.

She now wants to tell the story from her point of view and what she learned about herself and about him over the course of their friendship.

I took so many notes while reading this book - I had to record the phrases that were very powerful and meaningful to Tatum's analysis and understanding of herself.

She talks about finally using her voice instead of being a quiet observer in the shadows. She doesn't want to cower in silence any longer.

Tatum is happily living an expat life in Chile when a reporter contacts her to ask questions about an old friend. The ensuing interview drags up 10 years worth of history Tatum has tried to forget.

I loved this book. It was compulsively readable. I just wanted to get through the end to see what M had done to her.

I wouldn’t say that Tatum was a particularly like-able character, but I often found myself wanting to protect her from what was to come. I loved that the book was written as though Tatum was writing it all down in a letter to M, so we really go a deep dive into that relationship and how she was feeling after reflecting on it for years.

The betrayal at the end was definitely unexpected and I felt so heartbroken for young Tatum.

I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC!

What a book! I thoroughly enjoyed this account of a young woman’s experience with her relationship with an older, successful author. The characters were so well-written and the prose was tight and clean. Despite the book focusing on heavy topics and covering over a decade of time, this book reads so easily. I couldn’t put it down.

Tatum was such an interesting character and I wish the book had been longer to cover more of her story. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading, but this was an outstanding book! Smart and literary, but universal and interesting. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the opportunity to read this e galley!