Very few writers know how to do more with less like Lori Ostlund does. In just a few dozen pages, she manages to craft a life so complete in its simplicity, I cannot believe I have not known it all along. The language of these short stories is such that it's hard to remember that I'm not overhearing some fascinating story from a stranger whose name I'll never know. These stories are not complicated or overwrought or flowery or eccentric—they are exactly what they need to be, no more, no less. I am, historically, not the biggest fan of short stories, because I often find them lacking, or rather, find that I'm desperate to know more than was given to me. I never had this feeling while reading any of the stories in this collection, because Ostlund masterfully gives her readers precisely what they need to understand the full, rich reality of each protagonist with the most balanced of details. Not only do I understand who these people are, I know what I would say to them, what questions I'd ask, what anecdotes I'd share in return. Some stories, such as "The Stalker," felt so true and alive that I had to forcibly remind myself that this was, in fact, fiction, and not something I was told once at a party, slack-jawed and interrupting with questions. The people in these stories—to call them characters feels insufficient—each of whom could be my neighbor, my colleague, my friend, are easily some of the most realistic portrayals of humans I've ever come across, and I feel so lucky that I got to meet all of them. Each of these stories is a delight and a treat to be savored—what an unparalleled collection.

First off thank you to #NetGalley for the ability to read this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. The collection of stories in Are you happy? came to me in a time of soul searching and self-discovery. This collection of stories are moving at the same time as tragic in many ways. They are realistic to a fault in the same ways that when describing events in my own life the phrase "I can't make this up" comes to mind. The complexity of humanity is evident in all of these snapshots. Not once did one of these stories end that I was not left in a state of wondering more. There is closure yet still an opening into more of these characters lives and it is truly a snapshot of the characters experiences in these moments. The depth of these stories is not to be taken lightly and in my opinion readers may need to be in a specific space to read such as it is not a lighthearted collection.

Dark, humorous, relatable, and so good! “Are You Happy?” was way more than I was expecting. Comprised of nine stories that touch on so many different topics, I was so impressed and moved by Ostlund’s characters, their struggles, and how it all turned out. This was my introduction to her work, and I’m so interested in reading more. It’s hard for me to write a standard or lengthy review for this because I don’t want to give anything away, but I think Ostlund’s voice is so unique and poignant that everyone will love this.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a review copy of #AreYouHappy. All feedback is my unbiased opinion, not paid, and simply for the love of books.

A strange (in a good way) short story collection to crack you up while covering a variety of heavier topics. I'm impressed by Lori Ostlund's ability to merge motherhood, sex & religion, family norms & dysfunction, education, memory, language, gun safety and more without feeling like it was all over the place. Looking back on the collection I found that so-so stories I could hardly recall anything from. The highlighting in my Kindle seems to disagree, as all of the stories have quite a bit I wanted to be able to revisit.

Lori Ostlund's "Are You Happy?" is a compelling collection of short stories that delves into themes of class, desire, identity, and violence. Ostlund's writing is both evocative and restrained, offering a darkly humorous and compassionate examination of American life. It features rich characters, dark humor and insightful themes!

The pacing was a bit uneven, and the settings lacked a notch of variety to keep things interesting, but overall it was a beautiful collection.

This is a great selection of 9 short stories, some, I rated quite high such as the first, opening story which was an incredible start. And some, I rated lower, a few 3s throughout the middle and end. The lower rated stories were possibly too short and I didn’t have the time or information to really get the point or they were open-ended.
There are many similarities such as setting that made me feel like all of the stories were related and existed at the same time. And most of them contained themes around parenthood, death, health, lgbtq, religion, violence such as violence against women and gun control. Many of the stories are tragic and also come full circle. The writing is great and feels quite realistic; no situation feels over the top.

This was a really great collection of weird/ funny/ sad/ queer short stories. “The Gap Year” and “Just Another Family” were standouts for me, but I enjoyed all of them!

This was a great short story collection and normally I don't think I would have picked this up. Thanks very much for the review copy!

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories! I love when stories in collections feel interconnected with reoccurring characters and similar themes. I can say I actually enjoyed every single story in this collection, which is not always the case when reading these types of books. My only thought is that some of the stories seemed too similar and like I was reading the same thing over and over. Overall though, really enjoyable writing style!

This collection of short stories felt like opening a box of tangled emotions—messy, raw, and incredibly human. Each story dives into complex relationships and the quiet moments that define us, with writing that’s simple but cuts deep. I loved how the characters felt so real, like you could pass them on the street.

The stories explore themes of loss, identity, and connection, and while some left me with more questions than answers, I didn’t mind—it felt intentional. If you like stories that sit with you long after you’ve finished, this is definitely worth picking up.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
What a strange, beautiful collection of short stories by Lori Ostlund. Whenever I read new collections, I pay a lot of attention to the way each story flows into the next and the specific placement of each piece. I really felt like Ostlund excelled in this department. While this collection explores a variety of topics — religion, sex, anxiety, love, etc. — each of the eight stories felt like they belonged together. I really loved this collection and would be really interested in seeing what else this writer has to say!

funny stories about heavy topics and well done writing. would definitley recommend.; 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Each of these short stories is well-written technically. The plot and pacing of these stories is really good. The overall collection is very well put together. However, I found these stories lacking. They were sad for the sake of sadness, without offering a deeper commentary on their themes. I found it hard to get through this collection.

I’m not typically a lover of short stories, but I really enjoyed this collection. All nine are told with straightforward, prose, compassion, and with some dark humor thrown in. This collection tackles themes of belonging, acceptance, and how one reestablishes themselves. They also examine the specter of violence in life. I thought that the character development was done in a really smart way and I’m looking forward to reading more by the author. Thank you for the advanced copy!

Are you happy?
Lori Ostlund

The book follows a series of short stories from different people. Be warned though that this book deals with complex situations, and they can sometimes be challenging to read so go in with an open mind. It answers the question “Are you happy?” indirectly through each short story, making it a compelling read. I like how the characters in the story problem solve sometimes to see what can be causing their happiness to be wary. It was a very good read.

Eh! A little traumatic but overall beautifully written, it just wasn't the right time for me to be reading this unfortunately.

omg I adored these stories so so much. I'm not even sure what it was about them that really captivated me because at the end of the day a lot of them were not 'about' a whole lot, a handful of the stories didn't ultimately 'go anywhere', but jeez the writing was just so pleasant and sucked me right into each story easily. had all my fav themes: womanhood, family, identity, queerness, misogyny and class. definitely interested in anything else Ostlund puts out there.

my one issue w/ it was that the characters started feeling muddled together - a lot of the stories were from very similar perspectives with very similar settings so they didn't stand out against each other super clearly. still enjoyed myself v much though!

Happiness is a uniquely American preoccupation, and if you were to ask me, I feel miserable—and I say this as the highest compliment possible for this collection of short stories. These stories are so well-written that my empathic little heart ached for days after finishing each one.

Through eight short stories and a novella, we explore facets of love, fear, anxiety, childhood, and sadness in a way that is beautifully written and specially evocative.

I feel sad —but I feel something. I would rather read a book that makes me emotional or disturbed rather than a boring one. This is why I love reading, and I am starting a reading journal again.

4 stars. I highly recommend this book to someone who isn't afraid of complexity and feeling deep emotions. Definitely looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this!

If you want to feel all the feelings, sadness, fear, happyness and much more, this is the book for you. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Are You Happy? By Lori Ostlund - 3.5/5 stars ⭐
Release date: May 6, 2025.

Are You Happy? Is a collection of eight short stories and one novella that explore class, desire, identity, and the looming threat of violence, particularly that experienced by women and the LGBTQIA+ community. The stories take place in a handful of locations - Minnesota, California, New Mexico - but the characters are not connected; they may live in the same cities, but they lead wholly separate and sometimes very different lives. The characters were linked by these places and little else (though I did notice a lot of the characters were teachers), something I found myself enjoying; I like a short story collection that shows different people living separate lives within a similar geographic area.

The stories had a wandering, meandering quality to them, which worked really well in some stories. In others, however, I felt like this was taken to the extreme, making me wonder why a story had been written about a situation at all if it was going to leave out so much. When writing my review on NetGalley, I noticed a lot of people really enjoyed the short story The Stalker; however, I felt like it just didn’t contain enough for me. I felt like it could have been a bit longer, could have done a bit more to really sink us into the situation and provide a bit more time for the characters and the story. As it was, it felt like passing briefly by a window and getting a snapshot of someone’s life, rather than being able to stand for a few minutes and get a better grip on a specific situation. Maybe that’s just a me thing, and maybe I missed the point of this story in particular, but I think it does need to be mentioned, because it was one of the short stories that moved my rating from what I thought would be a 4 down to a 3.5.

This collection fell prey to what a lot of short story collections do: some stories are simply more enjoyable to the individual than others, and the stories that are less enjoyable bring down the rating of the collection overall. In the case of Are You Happy?, I found that my favourite short stories were at the beginning of the book so, as the collection went on, I found myself less invested than I was at the start. Another thing that irked me in the second half of the book (something which is likely a personal thing) was that the final story was marked as a novella when it did not feel like a novella to me. I think my brain would have enjoyed it a little bit more had it not been marked as a novella, or had I simply not noticed it in the table of contents. To me, it simply read as a short story; sure, it was a little longer than the others, but I did not find the scope wide enough for it to be considered a novella. I did enjoy this story, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit I was a little thrown off by it being labelled a novella.

As for what I really did enjoy, I was a fan of Ostlund’s writing style. Even if I did not love the storyline behind every story, I liked the way Ostlund described things, and the way she used words to make the storylines unfold. The collection also felt quite cohesive to me; sometimes when you read a short story collection, there are some stories that clearly do not belong, but this was not the case here. All the stories felt like they fit in, like the puzzle pieces aligned to make the picture they were supposed to, without any missing or odd pieces that had been slotted in but tried to make an entirely different end result. Given I’ve read a lot of short story collections where this happens, I was glad that this one was cohesive.

I did not find this to be a groundbreaking short story collection; however, I did on the whole enjoy it, and that’s more than I can say about some short story collections I’ve encountered in the past. If you’re big on reading stories with queer characters, like reading about family tensions, identity and desire, or simply want a new short story collection to pick up and take for a spin, I would recommend picking this up when it is released on May 6. It is a cohesive, overall enjoyable collection of stories, and the cover being pretty doesn’t hurt its case either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for giving me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be added to social media (Instagram) closer to the date of release.