Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for a free audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. And thank you to @celadonbooks for sending me a hard copy of the book, too.

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura is a captivating coming-of-age story that unflinchingly portrays a toxic relationship. It explores complex themes like grooming, gender, sexuality, racism, and power dynamics. Tatum, a young Latina literature lover, impulsively writes to Mateo, an older author she admires, sparking a decade-long connection marked by admiration, obsession, and an imbalance of power. When Mateo is accused of sexual assault, Tatum is forced to re-evaluate her own relationship with him.

While reminiscent of My Dark Vanessa, the power dynamic between Tatum and Mateo is more subtle. Mateo doesn't hold traditional authority over her (he's not her professor or boss), yet he grooms and manipulates her. Tatum, young, naive, and lonely, is vulnerable to Mateo's attention. Villarreal-Moura masterfully depicts how Mateo subtly controls the power dynamic and blurs boundaries.

Reading and listening to this book simultaneously was a treat. Marisa Blake's outstanding narration perfectly captures Villarreal-Moura's gorgeous prose, bringing the story to life.

4 Stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #macmillanaudio #celadonbooks #likehappiness #ursulavillarrealmoura

This book, while engaging, was not my favourite choice. I am writing this review several months after listening to the novel and I can’t recall much about the plot or the characters. Remarkably unremarkable.

Like Happiness by Ursula Villarreal-Moura is a short story that explores the complexities of identity and self-perception through the lens of a young woman’s struggle to understand what happiness truly means. As the protagonist navigates her relationships and personal aspirations, she confronts societal pressures and internal conflicts that challenge her sense of self-worth. The story ultimately reflects on the tension between external expectations and the search for authentic fulfillment in a world that often prioritizes surface-level success. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC!

Such a thought provoking story, and timely read amidst the #metoo movement.

When MC Tatum, receives a call from a reporter to interview her on the involvement with a man at the center of controversy, themes of identity, self-discovery, and belonging are explored.

*many thanks to Celadon books, Macmillan audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

Tatum, living in Chile with her partner, receives a call from a reporter from America. The reporter wants to interview her about her long lost connection with a famous writer who is now being accused of sexual misconduct. The book follows Tatum’s reckoning with a past she tried to forget and her journey to understanding predatory behavior and abuse from her old mentor. The audacity of that man! 😡 This book very much read like a memoir and I finished it in one day. I will say I hoped for a grander revelation in the end, but I still enjoyed the book. I would definitely read more by this author.

Like Happiness was a really enjoyable read. I appreciated Urrea’s exploration of his characters, they felt relatable.

This was a really enjoyable listen, the narrator really brought the story to life in an engaging way and spoke at a good pace. Would suggest this to all.

I really enjoyed Like Happiness!

I found Tatum to be so relatable, especially considering her age range in the book. I think the author did an excellent job of capturing the soul crushing feeling of wanting to be seen, cherished and understood. I can honestly say that I did not see the twist at the end coming, because I was so interested in their overall story. It was such an excellent example of how easy it can be to be used and manipulated when the abuser is somebody you love and trust deeply.

I can't wait to see what else comes from this author!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

3.5 stars
This was a strong debut, well written. I didn’t always love the back and forth between the present day and the letter from Tatum to M. I also expected there to be more of a sapphic theme with Tatum and Vera together at the beginning. That said, I will definitely read the author’s next book!
*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook for review

Like Happiness is a reflection of complex power dynamics and toxic relationships through the lense of Latinx identity. I can't believe this is a debut! It's a really great work of literary fiction and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

What a powerful book! Big fan of the dual timeline! Also if love reading books about people who love reading books this is the one for you! Really enjoyed this audiobook!

I really wanted to love this book, especially after I loved the ending so much, but overall, it just didn't quite do it for me.

The premise intrigued me - a young, impressionable woman infatuated with a successful author that has had a marked impact on her life. The relationship between Tatum and Domínguez was at times really tough to read. There were times when I empathized with Tatum because really, what young girl hasn't found herself in an inappropriate crush situation? But as time went on and Tatum allowed herself to be marginalized and disrespected over and over again, I just felt exhausted by the whole thing.

Like Happiness is really well written and conveys a lot of powerful messages. The ending was spectacular and the storyline was great. I ended up really enjoying this book, but some parts were too drawn out and my connection with Tatum was too tenuous for me to ultimately root for her.

I listened to this novel on audio and the pacing was done well and the narrator was well cast.

Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for the copy.

In 2015 in Chile, Tatum Vega's life feels like it's finally coming together until a reporter contacts her about her past relationship with the famous author M. Dominguez.

The novel alternates between Tatum's current life and a letter she writes to Domínguez, revealing the complexities of their relationship and how it still affects her.

While the story might feel slow in parts, the character development and the way it makes you think about complicated issues made me really like it. The author explores themes like gender dynamics, Latinx identity, power struggles, betrayal, and manipulation through the eyes of a young woman and her complicated relationship with a famous author.

Thank you @celadonbooks and @macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook. The narrator Marisa Blake did a fantastic job bringing this story to life in the audiobook!

This debut novel follows the slow drama of a "fan letter that leads to a life altering relationship." I had the ability to alternately read and listen to this novel. It's told in dual timelines of past and present. The author uses the NC, Tatum, to explore the fine line between imbalanced relationships, identity, literature, and the impressions some people leave stamped on our lives.

While I enjoyed the audiobook I felt the narration was too monotone for the novel. I ended up reading the second half and liked the mental voice I crafted more. However, even with such relatable and hardcore topics, I was not able to connect with the characters the way I hoped. I found the relationship to be dry and pushing unbelievable in the level of connected I think the book was going for.

I would recommend checking out other reviews and pursuing this novel for the array of topics the author flows expertly together.

▫️Latinx
▫️Coming of Age
▫️Power Dynamics
▫️Gender
▫️Complicated/Imbalanced Relationship Dynamics
▫️Fame
▫️Accusations of Assault

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC. All thoughts are my own.
True rating 2.5/5.

Like Happiness is Ursula Villareal-Moura's debut novel. Omaiga was this exquisitely painful to read! Part coming of age, part exposé on toxic men, the story centers on the obsessive relationship between a young college student and an established, older author. Tatum wrote M Dominguez a fan letter that quickly morphed into a relationship that was sometimes friendship, sometimes mentorship but often more. As a Latinx person, she saw herself reflected in his first book and that elevated him to hero status in her eyes She falls in love and spends 10 years just waiting for him to truly see her. But he is consistently just out of reach. He runs hot and cold, disappears, and then reappears when he needs something, makes her feel special, saves her, and then goes back to being unreliable and selfish. Fast forward, M is brought up on charges of sexual misconduct and Tatum takes a long, hard look at her past. Is she also a victim? Was she groomed? Has she put to bed all those feelings and thoughts regarding M? This was unexpectedly poignant and hard to read but definitely one of my top five of 2024! I look forward to this author's future works.

Thank you @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As someone who tends not to gravitate toward coming-of-age stories, it took me awhile to get into Like Happiness - it was just so focused on Tatum's college experience at the beginning.

I stuck with it, and ultimately found it to be pretty well done. I couldn't help but wonder whether the narrative was inspired by Junot Diaz.

More than anything, this felt like a story about grooming and misogyny (and a bit on growing up, sexuality, and Latinx identity). I'd put Like Happiness in conversation with My Dark Vanessa, Notes on a Silencing, and even, I think, Jaded (which I happened to be reading at the same time).

I didn't particularly care for or dislike the narration by Marisa Blake. Sometimes her narration felt one-note, but I wondered if that was intentional (i.e., Tatum reading the letter she was writing, not letting emotion slip in).

There is so much of this book and story that I really like. One - I adore books that reference a lot of other books. Because we are focused on two people who love literature in this book, there are so many titles thrown around that I added to my TBR. Two - There was so much in this book that I could relate to. Our main character is finding who she is throughout the span on 10+ years and the decisions she made felt so real and often devastating in a way that I know I made similar decisions.
My only critique of the book is that I felt like there were moments when the narrative was contradicted itself. We would hear a detail in one section of the story that then wouldn't really make sense for something that would happen later. They were small things but it left me confused at points. Like her relationship with Hiroshi... I felt like things were going good but she never introduced him to her parents? And then his downfall was so fast and didn't seem to add up to me.
Overall I really do recommend this book and will pick up more by this author.
Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audiobook ARC.

3.0 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan audio for the arc in exchange for an honest review! I am incredibly grateful!

I wish I had more to say, but I started this book immersed and ended it staring into space while feeling like it was incomplete. It felt has if this story has missing parts or pages that I didn't get experience. Tatum's story is one I stand behind, felt for and still enjoyed overall, but I just was waiting for some moments that never came.

Trigger Warnings: Toxic Relationships, Drugs, Racism, Infidelity, Assault, Abuse, Addiction, etc.

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 • 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘧𝘪𝘤 • 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘹
𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 • 𝘓𝘎𝘉𝘛 • 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 26 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 2024

This was an enrapturing debut. On the surface it was a quick listen, where you'll want to know what is going to happen in a case of alleged sexual assault. But there are lots of layers of this onion to unpeel.

Covering topics including:
• impact of tokenism
• books about books
• representation in publishing
• gender stereotypes
• immigrant culture & expectations
• morally grey

Told up front there is some sort of betrayal between a famous Latino author M. Domínguez and his adoring fan, Tatum. The rest of the book is to show us how and what actually transpired. At first it seems innocent and then it becomes a tale of an older man leveraging power imbalances and celebrity status to use a naive younger woman who looks up to him. Will there be consequences or will this end like so many other stories of its ilk.

In this case the older man is himself of an underrepresented marginalized group and I wanted this brilliant author to be better than that 😮‍💨 Is it morally grey if he never promised her anything, if he told her he didn't want commitment, or a relationship. Is it cheating & leading on, or just playing with emotions if there was consent.

The writing was for me top notch. Hard to believe it is a debut with scenes coming to life in pretty prose. The narration by Marisa Blake was well done, easy listening.

One small letdown for me was the ending, where I wanted to know more about what happened after. It seemed to stop abruptly. Having said that I highly recommend reading Like Happiness; it will make you think and is beautifully written.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 @netgalley and @macmillanaudio 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 ALC!