4.5🌟

"The True Happiness Company: How a Girl Like Me Falls for a Cult Like That" is Veena Dinavahi's deeply personal memoir, detailing how struggles with mental health from an early age made it easy for her to slowly fall prey to Bob Lyon and his "self-improvement" cult.

This book was incredible. It's so raw and emotional. Veena shows how easy it can be, under the right circumstances, for someone to have you completely doubting your sanity. Throughout the book, I was so frustrated with her parents and her husband, Charlie. Charlie didn't seem to take any accountability in the end. I appreciate that she was willing to bare her soul like this. I can't imagine how painful it would have been to write this all down.

Recommended for anyone interested in cults and how they operate.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi

This was an unflinching memoir that was structured in a way that allowed the reader to experience how easily anyone could be susceptible to cults. This memoir strived to challenge the “it couldn’t happen to me” mentality and it succeeded through its descriptions, explanations, and structure.

I was uncomfortable the entire time reading this because I knew where it was headed given the blurb. From mental health struggles to cult-related incidents, this book was not an easy read. But the dark humor sprinkled throughout brought moments of levity to an overall dark read. The addition of psychology at the very end rounded out the story.

Fans of dark, unflinching memoirs, books exploring cults, and well-written reads will enjoy this one.

I’m so grateful for the chance to read this outstanding memoir. My full review has been published on BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/5013/the-true-happiness-company

In this riveting memoir, Veena Dinavahi recounts her slow immersion into the cult known as The True Happiness Company. With a child struggling with suicidal ideation as she was surrounded by multiple peers who tragically died by suicide, Dinavahi’s parents were desperate for a way to help their daughter. They turned to Bob Lyon, the leader of The True Happiness Company, who promised to guide Dinavahi to a better life. What follows is an insidious and harrowing descent into a cult, filled with unimaginable trauma and brainwashing.

To say this book had me glued to the edge of my seat is an understatement. I was heartbroken, infuriated, hopeful, and inspired. Some moments had my jaw hitting the floor, and more than a few times I had to stop reading to just try to absorb what the author went through.

I identified with Dinavahi on a deep level, having struggled with mental health myself. This only made her writing more visceral, and I found myself truly understanding how someone could fall under the spell of Bob Lyon. It is hard to put into words the immense joy I felt as Dinavahi broke free of the abusive environment and people she was captive to for so many years. Her transformation is inspiring and impactful. The fact that she is now using her voice to help others feel seen in a way she never did is one of the most beautiful full-circle moments I’ve ever read about.

What a debut. Everyone should read this memoir.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the gifted eARC!

Dinavahi has written an important and thoughtful look at how a young woman can fall through the rabbit hole of a cult and then come back out alive. She survived Bob Lyon and True Happiness with self awareness and insight that she shares with others. Her parents thought they were doing the right thing when they brought Lyon into her life and his influence over her grew slowly. She details it in just that way-as it happened-and the reader will want to tell her to just turn away more than once. That's the genius of this book. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A great read.

This was just incredible. I've read a lot of memoirs, and a lot of cult memoirs at that, but True Happiness Company is now easily one of my favorites of all time. Dinavahi is a talented author with not just a great sense of humor, but a captivating and emotional way of retelling the dark parts of her past. I feel like this is an example of a person who is truly ready to write a memoir; all too often lately, I feel like I've been reading premature autobiographies from people who don't quite have the necessary introspective abilities yet, or who aren't fully comfortable letting the world in. Dinavahi's understanding of herself, her younger self, and the psychology of what she went through is wildly refreshing.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster, and it deals with so many varieties of trauma that I think pretty much everyone will have to put this down a few times and take a few laps like I did--even if only to be angry on the author's behalf. This is at times a tough read, but very worth it.

This one just really worked for me. The only real criticism I have is that I wanted more and I think the book could get away with being longer. There were simply so many different cultural, religious, and internal factors the author dealt with through this process, and so many huge life events, that I sometimes wanted to spend more time with her thoughts on certain moments. In particular, I wanted to hear more about her first two pregnancies and the births of her daughters. I think the narrative could have really benefitted from including a bit more about how she was being dismissed by doctors earlier so it's not being explained at the same time as she's talking about how she begins to advocate for herself.

I will say that even though there is very little discussion to be found about them online, it is possible to tell which group Dinavahi is referring to if you are very familiar with cults in the US, especially Mormon offshoots, which I am. I respect the author's judgment on the amount of information she chooses to share and I am trying not to be specific in this review; this is her story, and here in the United States, we're nothing if not litigious. There are many reasons, personal and legal, why someone might not divulge this stuff, and I only bring it up because I think it's important that when you are genuinely trying to anonymize something, especially that which includes very intimate details of others' lives, you are very careful. The passages are brief, but they're there, and without them, I think it would be nigh impossible to tell.

WOW - incredible memoir of a young woman who's "savior" turns out to be leading an unofficial cult. Veena is a beautiful Indian American woman who is troubled especially by the suicides in her high school. Her mom finds a therapist for her who is able to "treat" her for years, but at a huge cost to Veena's own soul. This book is the account of the damage a manipulative psychopath can impose on those who trust him. It's the story of how a cult can suck a person in without their realizing it.

This memoir is incredibly well written, and I had a hard time putting it down! I truly hope it gets made into a documentary because all of us, and especially young girls and women, need to see and understand this kind of evil, so as to distance ourselves from it. And also to warn others when we see it happening.

Thank you, Veena, for giving us a glimpse into your life and healing journey.

And thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reading this memoir.

I give the book 4.5 stars. I really like non fiction. I like stories that make me think. I have met a few people who were in cults. It has always been mind boggling to me how that happens.

I work in mental health. I see the complexities of the profession. I see the good and the bad. I have seen the labeling of some conditions.

I really like that the book told a story. It didn't share any judgement until the end. You could see the complexities of life. It let you really see the main character.

The book was easy to read. You wanted to know what the characters story was. I wondered what the people I would have done.

I hope the author keeps writing. I would really like to read her next book. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!
Officially obsessed with this book. Dinavahi is an amazing writer. She evoked so much emotion and wrote so viscerally.
Having also survived a cult (not the same one), seeing so much of her journey laid out as intimately as it was, was so, so helpful! Having left my own cult almost a decade ago, I still learned a lot from her experience.
Even if you've never been in a cult, this is such a good, well-written memoir that you'll enjoy it. And it's more than a memoir; I mean it definitely covers her life, but it's also a great exploration of the psychology of cults and coercive control.
I know this is a book I'll return to again and again. I'll be keeping an eye on Dinavahi for any writing she does in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Plenty of jaw-dropping moments, whispers of WTF on repeat and a sore neck from all the shaking back and forth while reading this contemporary memoir. Veena Dinavhai was her parents' only daughter, struggling with depression and adjusting to life in college, when her parents sought the help of Bob Lyon, a white man from Georgia. Slowly, Veena will see her life go in so many different directions that she could never imagine.

I had never heard of True Happiness or Bob Lyon, so I went into this memoir with no prior knowledge and plenty of curiosity. I still have questions, but in my reading, I felt much empathy for Veena and her entire family. Well, I am sort of on the fence about her ex-husband(lol). Hopefully, this memoir will help people who have also felt vulnerable and manipulated like Veena.

Trigger Warnings: Suicide and Sexual Abuse






#TheTrueHappinessCompany #NetGalley.
Expected Publication 20/05/25
Goodreads Review Date 28/04/25

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend who knows the author. I thought it was interesting to read about the authors experience with depression and all that her parents did to try to help her. The experience of meeting Bob and his true happiness company and all that happened to Veena was a little vague. I felt like she left out so much from the experiences that it was hard to know just how he brainwashed her. I also felt like the book jumped around quite a bit which made it confusing and hard to follow. What happened to Veena and those who were under Bob's influence was truly awful and I really hope he is in prison and no longer able to prey on innocent victims.

5.0 stars
HIGHLY recommend

This is a very well-done memoir about a specific Mormon-adjacent cult. However, as someone who grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, another cult, it is so very similar. Both are very difficult to leave, even with support!

Veena is a normal teenager with all the angst and worries. However, her high school has a very high number of deaths by suicide. So Veena attempts death by suicide herself, and it gets so awful from there.

This memoir worked for me, but it's a dark and difficult subject matter. Thankfully, I broke free in college, and Veena did eventually. I hope this book helps many other kids in cults like Veena and me!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7101579957 - posted 4/22/2025
The StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/19f6bf80-6b48-468d-8904-0d0100602ec4?redirect=true - posted 4/22/2025
booksbydorothea Blog: https://booksbydorothea.blogspot.com/2025/04/review-true-happiness-company-earcebook.html - posted 4/22/2025

This memoir was a lot to process, but so powerful. I was literally screaming "don't do it!" at the book on multiple occasions. I was so invested. A good portion of the book was so painful to read, but it made it all the more satisfying when Veena did find her voice and break free from the cult and find her way back to the life she actually wanted. As someone who grew up Mormon, it was really interesting to read about her experience converting to it, especially doing so through this guy who was Mormon but had a totally separate/adjacent self-help cult going on. I was definitely sucked in and thought it was a great, inspiring read.

I loved this book - the author’s upbringing felt so close to mine, and the descent into cult blindness felt so visceral and uncanny. I felt deeply for the author, and grateful to her for sharing her darkest chapter with us.

“Skepticism is a commodity only the complacent can afford”

This memoir is biting, raw, and jarring for an adult reader to consume, and yet the experiences that Dinavahi begins to share are those of a teenager. Veena throws readers immediately into the deep end, providing a visceral experience of the turbulent environment herself and her classmates grew up in.

Beginning with a schooling environment where classmates are succumbing to suicide left and right, her insights afford readers the rare opportunity to peer into the oft elusive lives of real highschoolers, and to experience a taste of the turmoil that her classmates were grappling with daily.

“Some sadistic God had lined up Severna Park students like suicidal dominoes. I didn't know who sparked this chain reaction, because I couldn't figure out how far back the pattern extended.”

Attempting to process such heavy emotions and grief while still trying to figure out your place in the world would leave anyone vulnerable, and the perfect storm of adolescent struggle and unfortunate outside circumstances lead to Veena’s family falling prey to what she ultimately deduces to be a predatory religious cult. This shifts our author from one to another unusually bizarre environments.

Despite so many circumstances seemingly rallying against her, Dinavahi shares so many moments of hope and dark hilarity that personally lit a fire under my ass. She so beautifully captured the experience of growing up and realizing the value in things that your younger self may insist on rejecting.

She shares moments of witnessed self hatred in her half white young daughter, and her culture running through her fingers like water, as well as the transition to a predominantly white environment in the woods of Connecticut as a child of Indian immigrants.

Having the pleasure of knowing the patient and insightful young women that came out of the other side of this story, this memoir left me inspired and reinvigorated. Her deeply personal and unapologetic recounting of moments of pure confusion, doubt, hopelessness, and then eventually self advocacy, made it so clear to me the need to prioritize representation for the next generation.

Particularly in the current climate, we need as adults to intentionally cultivate safe spaces and to unashamedly celebrate and shine light on different heritages. We need to have culture ready and waiting for kids when they hit the age where they are curious to finally explore and potentially embrace it.

Especially in spaces like the predominantly white woods of Connecticut, we need to consistently celebrate diversity for little ones who might not be encouraged to do so by anyone outside of their immediate homes, and expose those who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed at all.

Veena Dinavahi’s writing is really something special, and her experiences range from wildly unique to universal. Her memoir offers a bold look into her life from high school to her thirties, from the beginning to the end of her first marriage, through multiple suicide attempts and then to creating a successful family and life for herself.

She so eloquently shares “I still haven't figured out how to hold space for my own emotions in light of others' suffering.”

Readers can come away from this armed with the knowledge that togetherness, patience, and grace are so vital to suicide prevention. They all contribute to avoiding leaving children susceptible to coercion and vulnerable to harmful outside forces.

If anything, I came away with a reminder that we desperately need to continue sharing our stories openly and without stigma or shame to come out better than the generations before us.

With so many quotes and passages throughout to leave you thinking and circling back to, I can’t recommend picking up this book enough. My jaw was on the floor more than once, and I greatly look forward to devouring anything else that Ms. Dinavahi puts out going forward.

I have always been fascinated by cults so I am always interested in reading about them. The True Happiness Company by Verna Dinavahi was a very interesting read. Her time spent in a cult and how she ended up there was really interesting to read. Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.

incredibly well-written memoir. Veena recounts her story and her slow descent into becoming part of the True Happiness Company cult. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

:') oof
I have read many a cult memoir and, though I'd like to think that I always approach the subject matter and authors with empathy, I'd be lying if I said I didn't usually leave with an irrepressible, smug satisfaction that "I would never fall for that"
I totally would've fallen for this
Veena's writing style so deftly places you in her young headspace—one that I already deeply related to—and walks you through the years of manipulation and doubt and harm she faced. The things she went through were unbelievable, but you also totally see how they happened.
I found myself wanting to highlight things Mr. Lyon was saying, even knowing where the story was headed!!
above all though, this feels like a story of family and what love really looks like. and as parasocial as it is, I love reading memoirs in the era where you can follow authors on Instagram and see them thrive. veena's a wonderful writer and I hope in her reclaimed life she gets to tell all the stories she wants!!

After multiple attempts on her own young life and her parents cycling through every avenue possible to help, Veena finds herself in the presence of Bob Lyon, leader of the True Happiness Company, who makes one sweeping declaration to her: “I know something you don’t. I know how to be happy... You’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.”

The high-achieving daughter of Indian immigrants, eager to please and impress, depressed and direction-less in her life, Dinavahi finds herself sucked in to Lyon’s world and the community that he has created. What starts as a comfort grows in to a manipulative, gaslighting hell that Veena knows she must escape. In The True Happiness Company, Dinavahi takes readers through her tumultuous journey from an amiable but confused young girl—attending “Suicide High” and the children’s psych ward—to her reclamation of life, post cult presence.


When my partner or I are feeling sad, we will often joke to each other, “Have you tried just not feeling sad?” It usually gets a laugh by the one who is afflicted, followed by a much more serious attempt at understanding by the other. In the case of Dinavahi, the sad reality of many of her experiences with attempting to open up about her depression to others was faced with that same question (minus the joking aspect); her concerns often times being dismissed—intentionally or not—by those around her.

Reading through Dinavahi’s experiences were touching, heartbreaking, infuriating—the doctor saying they needed to “open up the bed for someone who actually needs it”, I SCREAM—eye-opening, often times relatable, and agonizing to face; her life dotted with so much suicide its hard to fathom.

The True Happiness Company is a memoir filled with unflinching honesty, tenderness, and remarkable wit—“Never underestimate the power of good eating and sleeping habits, he said, as if a brisk jog and a plate of steamed broccoli would settle my questions about life and death”—that explores themes of mental health, self-assurance, identity, and, of course, what it means to be “happy”, ultimately teaching readers that happiness is never a one-size-fits-all solution.

A striking debut that needs to be on your list for 2025.

Thank you Random House for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Available May 20 2025. *Quotes are pulled from an advanced reader copy and are subject to change prior to publication*

Whoa, what an interesting read. I’m a big fan of books like this, along the lines of “Dinner for Vampires” or “Glass Castle”. Veena told the story in such an unflinching and honest way. I felt like it made sense how she slowly became part of something treacherous, one tiny choice (and manipulation) at a time. Highly recommend for anyone interested in memoirs, cults, and culture.