Happy Happy Happy

Nicola Masters' debut novel, Happy, Happy, Happy, follows the journey of Charlie Trewin as she navigates self-doubt and generational trauma when she's forced to return to her hometown after the untimely death of her father. It's an introspective piece that I believe will be hit and miss for the reader depending on the experiences of the reader themselves.

After the death of her mother when Charlie was a young girl, Charlie began emotionally shutting herself off from the world, purposefully growing distant from her father and everyone else in her hometown. She escapes to college in London, hoping for a glamorous, busy, semi-anonymous life; a choice that will resonate with many readers who have or hope to do the same as young adults. Masters does a fantastic job delving into Charlie's train of thought as Charlie continues to wish for closeness and intimacy while continuing to shut herself off from the world so much that she finds herself without friends and is completely unenthusiastic about her upcoming marriage to her fiance, James. Early on in the plot, Charlie remembers something her mother told her before she died: "You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anybody else." As Charlie returns to her hometown, convinced that everyone has forgotten about her and that she's merely back to deal with her father's estate before making a quick escape back to London, she projects a stony exterior to the outside world, internally chanting, "I'm happy, happy, happy,"--especially when she clearly is not.

Readers who have dealt with extensive self-doubt and emotional trauma may identify with Charlie. A common phrase for people struggling emotionally is "Fake it until you make it," but Charlie's journey shows that lying to yourself doesn't fix underlying issues. Her mother's words ring true, but it takes work to love yourself, and this can be an incredible struggle for many. Charlie's inner turmoil can frustrate the reader, but I believe this was an intentional choice by Masters. Even if someone knows what they need to address in order to begin healing, that first step can be the absolute hardest of all. Perhaps Masters' exploration of Charlie's journey will help some readers who are themselves struggling with self-doubt and self-love. Even if you've convinced yourself otherwise, you are never truly alone in this world.

Perhaps Charlie Trewin will be a love/hate character, depending on the reader. I loved her, and saw a great deal of myself in her. Yup, flaws and all. This author writes with a strong, authentic voice and I truly believed Charlie and rooted for her happiness. Her real happiness not her 'I'm happy, happy, happy' mantra that she doesn't mean. A mantra I often mutter to myself with as much falsehood. A great read, especially if you need a reminder that you should live the life you want, not the one expected of you. I loved it, a full 5 star read, possibly my favourite of the year so far.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the eARC.
This book was unfortunately not for me. I didn't like the protagonist at all. She was so self involved, so unfair to her fiance that it really bothered me. It took the whole book for her to make the decision she should have made in the first place. Sorry!

Happy Happy Happy is a story of a woman, Charlie, dealing with grief, self-doubt, and insecurity while convincing herself that she is content. I enjoyed the premise of the story, the location, and, in particular, the relationship between Charlie and her father’s girlfriend, Pauline. However, I didn’t quite connect with the writing style and characterization of Charlie at times. Still, I recommend this to readers who like complex characters who aren’t always self-aware or act in their own best interests and stories set in charming Cornwall!

This was a fantastic story of acceptance, growth, grief, and self reflection.

Our MC pulled away from everyone in her hometown and moved away hoping to be happy and successful. We’ve all been there right? Buuut she continues the pattern of putting on a front in which she appear happy on the outside but has never truly acknowledged or handled the inner turmoil to reach a level of true happiness.

I would highly recommend if you struggle with self love, self doubt, being open to others and accepting that we cannot handle everything alone nor are we meant to always be happy.

“I am happy. I am happy. I am happy…”
If we tell ourselves this enough will it become reality? I read this book in one setting, although there was not much plot the intricacies of the Charlie’s inner world are quite wonderful and reminiscent of Fredrik Backman. It addresses the questions of escaping one’s past and what does it mean to be happy?
I found this book to be warm yet complicated as it explores one’s one sense of happiness and the implications of settling. Overall, it felt a bit like a psychological conversation with oneself in all the best ways. I would recommend this to reader’s who are character driven and enjoy inner monologues and personal growth.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by a cover, but sometimes they grab you... The cover and title caught my attention. I can see how some may have a love/hate relationship with this, but so far I'm loving this book. I rated it while reading and will update my review.

I loved this one! I found Charlie to be very relatable in that she is struggling to figure out if the idea of happiness is a fairy tale or is worth the risk of upsetting the status quo and ending up with nothing. Sometimes it is so easy to taken
the path of least resistance in your life choices and tell yourself you are content enough. At some point, we all have to figure it out and following Charlie's journey towards her own realization is heart-warming.

The story is partially told through flashbacks to scenes with her parents, which shows how her current mindset evolved. I loved how she reconnects with other people from her past and rediscovers herself in the process. And of course, any book set in a cozy English seaside town is what I live for.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Amazon Publishing UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Navigating through grief, self-doubt, reflection, acceptance of oneself, a tale of how to make it work.

Thank you so much Amazon Publishing and Lake Union. Oh and NetGalley!

I loved, loved, loved this book. Charlie escaped her small town for London but returns to deal with her father's death. She has not told her fiancee about her past, and he shows up for the funeral. Lots of things come up for Charlie as she tries to figure out where she belongs.

The characters and small town location are all treasures. Some people will probably find Charlie annoying and the treatment of her fiancee annoying, but I think that is the point. She has put everyone else first because she thinks she is supposed to. I thought her fiancee was annoying at times, but he also doesn't know the real Charlie. Charlie doesn't even know the real Charlie. I also appreciated the ending because it seemed the most real.

This book was really solid. At first I was really frustrated with how Charlie never told a soul how unhappy she really was, but then I thought about my own experiences with grief, anxiety, and depression. Her reactions and miscommunications are so realistic. If the traditional rom-com take on going back home isn’t really your thing, this would be a good alternative. I really enjoyed how it all played out.

This book was very well-written and fascinating! I loved the format of the book, and how we saw flashbacks of Charlie's life to understand her experiences and what she went through. It handles intense topics of emotional trauma and I loved reading about Charlie's journey as she works to deal with her struggles and issues.

This book was okay. If I could do half stars it really would be a 3.5. The overall story was good I really enjoyed the 'young woman discovers her true self after overcoming the obstacles life has thrown at her'. However, the main character really annoyed me. She developed slow and so the next to last two chapters is her really coming into her own so I feel it didn't wrap up as well as I'd like. Also the fiancé was supposed to be the "bad guy" I think and part of me felt sorry for him for how she treated him and the other part of me couldn't stand him.

After leaving her small hometown and never looking back Charlie just went with the flow of life. She spends a lot of time convincing herself she’s happy with the direction of her life.

Then she gets a sudden phone call that her father is dying. She runs out on her life in London and sinks into a state of existing without really living in her childhood home.

Now she’s facing the daunting tasks of grieving her father, cleaning up his home, facing the community and dealing with her fiancé.

Can she find her way to happy?

Brilliant... Marvelous... STUNNING! Where does one begin to describe how much I fell in love with this book. Everyone. And I mean EVERYONE needs to read it!

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. On the plus side, Masters' writing is often funny and fresh, occasionally reminding me of Maria Semple or Gail Honeyman.

However, several aspects of the book were challenging. First, the incorporation of backstory is disruptive. Backstory comes in italicized chunks, with no lead in, no hint at the time/place we're being dropped into- and often, the backstory was used to further illustrate a point that the present-day story had just made. I often found myself glazing over at those sections.

Second, I have no problems with an unlikeable protagonist, but I didn't buy this MC's arc.
<spoiler>She goes through the book, not learning the lesson she needs to, until 97% of the way through, when suddenly, she realizes she can't go through with it? Author doesn't even give us a good reason why. "I don't know what it is about this moment, but it is something about this moment.... And suddenly I know that I'm just not leaving." To make matters worse, her fiancé accepts this, they hug, and he drives off? For real? </spoiler>>

A solid debut that some readers will enjoy, but I found myself more frustrated with the book than excited by it.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free advance reader's copy in exchange for this honest review.

This is a book that is really well written, it has lots of sensitive subjects in it that are all written about in a really sensitive wonderful way. I really liked the main character as she reminds everyone not to judge a book by the cover and that everyone has inner struggles, depth and things going on. So it's always best to be kind and to take time to know people before you judge them.

Happy Happy Happy is about a young woman named Charlie, who left her village in order to escape from the tragic loss of her mother and unspoken emotions between her and her father. Charlie decided to run away from her past and live a new life in London determined to forget about everything. She had a new life, had a stable job, she found herself a fiance telling herself that she had indeed found her happiness... until her father died and she needed to go back to their village and face her past again. She was now finding herself asking whether she was indeed truly happy.

"You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anybody else." - Happy Happy Happy, Nicola Masters

I have never had such a love and hate relationship with a book, but this book.. argh! I honestly don't know how to feel about this one. This book is so sad, sad, sad and it was such a drag to be reading Charlie's thoughts. Charlie is such a sad girl and doesn't know what she really wants in her life. She usually just follows where life takes her and does not think about what really matters to her and would assume that she is happy just because she thinks it's a good thing.

Nicola made sure readers see Charlie's struggle to make peace with her dad and past. At first, I could never understand why some people are ungrateful to their parents. Charlie is a hateful female who disregards everything around her, not to mention how she treats her fiancé.

She just loves to push everyone away.

She hasn't gotten over her mom's death, and she expects her dad to do the same. She actually has the balls to feel infuriated when she learned he found someone new when she just ignores him whenever he tries to reach out to her. I almost DNF this book because I hated how she treated her Dad until the very end, and how she closed herself to the people in her village.

This was until Pauline came, her supposed-to-be stepmom was so awesome that I knew she would be a key to Charlie's acceptance of whatever she was battling with. Alongside Lowenna, I loved how they build friendships over time.

As I read further, I love how Nicola made Charlie so unlikeable in the beginning and slowly pave the way for her character's growth and transition. I love how she drops snippets of Charlie's past in every chapter making you understand why she is the way she is. I understood that she was never ungrateful, she did not disregard people, when was just so...sad, sad, sad.

Understanding her back story, I am glad I didn't give up on this book. I've learned that it's easy to judge people especially if you're only seeing what they want you to see. This book has reminded me that every one of us has different struggles in life, and how you see life even after the darkness is important.

Always know that you are not alone, and there will always be people ready to support you along the way... just find the right one and know what it really feels like to be happy.

As always, I jumped into this book blind. It was an ARC I was approved for by @netgalley and it did not disappoint!

Happy, Happy, Happy follows Charlie as she finds out in the middle of a work day that her dad was actively dying. She had been estranged from her father since she left their seaside town for college in London a decade prior.

Being back in her hometown opens up old traumas and forces her to face the fact that she may not in fact be happy, happy, happy.
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While reading this book it was easy to see how, not just in my life but also others , to just take life as it throws you with no regard if it’s actually what you want or not. Just going through the motions. I highly recommend this book!

I would highly recommend this book to… anyone and everyone! This book will stay with you long after you've finished it, and in the most fabulous way!

Right book, wrong reader. Happy, Happy, Happy is one of those novels about lonely oddballs with personality disorders/mental health problems, that have become so popular since Eleanor Oliphant became a sensation. I’ve read and enjoyed my share of them, but they are now becoming quite samey.
I don’t always need to like a protagonist, but they do need to have some redeeming features, and Charlie’s unrelenting self-absorption and selfishness spoiled for me what could’ve been a charming read.

After hearing that her father is dying, Charlie Trewin has raced back to the small Cornish village she escaped from thirteen years earlier. Her mother’s suicide when she was twelve left them both traumatised - he became a hoarder, while she moved to London and settled into a monotonous but safe life with a fiancé she tolerates and a job she hates, convincing herself that happiness is overrated. Now forced to clear out the house and face the past, Charlie must decide for herself what kind of life she wants.

This is a contemporary story set (and I assume written) prior to the Covid pandemic, as there’s no mention of it. It’s well written with believable dialogue and some insight into the impact of parental suicide - Charlie’s chronic dysthymia felt realistic - it’s just a shame she’s such a cow; the author does deserve some kudos for not going down the “love cures all psychological problems” route.
Charlie’s treatment of James is appalling - sure, he’s not the ideal romantic lead, but none of her situation is his fault, he loves her and he tries hard. Acknowledging to yourself that you’re a b1tch and carrying on regardless is not the way to win this reader over. There are some fun support characters like Charlie’s take-no-nonsense ninety something year old neighbour Lowenna and kind would-be stepmother Pauline, and I loved the cover image. The ending is entirely predictable, in a feelgood sort of way, and appropriate for this sort of book. Overall this is a good effort for a first time author, which I think readers more keen on this genre will like better than I did. 3.5 rounded down for the first person present narration.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Happy, Happy, Happy is published on May 19th.

We meet Charlie, a rather different type of character, she goes through loss twice, losing her mom and recently losing her dad, she has to come back home because he had just passed away, and she had to take care of his estate. Going back home after spending years trying to get away from it was hard for Charlie and hard for me to read. Charlie has what she thinks she wants in life, a great job, a man that actually cares for her, and she lives as far away from her childhood memories as possible. Even though I felt bad for her because everyone handles loss differently, it was so hard for me to really like her as a character. Maybe she wasn't for me to like, but the way she treated her own father, her fiancé and the people in her old hometown who have always shown love and support, was so bothersome to me. I love how she was able to rediscover herself, got to know her dad a little more even after his death, and set her priorities straight for once, and also see that even though her she has no actual family, she has people that really love her.

Thank you net galley and the publisher's for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Charlie's been telling herself she's happy for years but she isn't and she hasn't been. Now she's forced to face herself as she wades through the piles and piles of things her father left behind when he died. She left their village for London and built a life of sorts but she never faced her grief about the death of her mother or her complicated relationship with her father. She's working through it when her fiance, James. turns up. Is that the relationship for her? This is really about a woman coming into her own, not a romance, so some might not be pleased with how Charlie and James interact. It's realistic though. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

“I’m happy. I’m happy. I’m happy.”

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY by @nicolamasterss

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

Happy Happy Happy 😊 is a book I didn’t know I needed until I finished it! Completely relatable with all the real life messiness! Charlie was someone I absolutely loved and could see myself being real life friends with! I wish there was a little more of Adam in the book but I understand why he wasn’t in the book more.

When Charlie’s dad passes away, she finds herself going to her hometown to clean out his house and make funeral arrangements. But the more she’s there, the more she realizes that the life she’s living back in London isn’t making her happy at all. But what is being happy really? She finds out pretty quickly with all the wonderful people she meets.

This book was fun 🤩 and witty to read! I love the dry humor Charlie has and the side characters, specifically Lowenna, were pretty amazing! Definitely one to add to your TBR!

Thank you to @netgalley and @nicolamasterss for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! This book hits shelves May 19th!

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! Not your typical book but for me? That's one of the things I enjoyed most! I enjoyed the main character's journey. There were a few parts that made me a tad bit emotional but also parts that brought different (good different) kinds of emotions. Would recommend!

From beginning to end, this book had me. I felt all the emotions; I was happy, sad, and shocked; I even cried a few times. I loved the characters and the overall everything! I will be purchasing this book once it comes out. This brought a storyline I have never experienced before and let me tell you it's an emotional one.

A really lovely and engaging read. It was refreshing to have a flawed but ultimately well-meaning protagonist in Charlie and a delight to be on her journey of discovering what is it in life she actually wants. A well-written study on self-doubt and self-acceptance set in a beautifully drawn seaside town.

First off i would like to that NetGalley and Amazon Publishing for providing me with this ARC. What is something that everyone wants to be? Happy, I would assume. But the main character, Charlie, is not and has a habit of not being happy. After the devastating loss of her mother, Charlie escaped her village to start a new life in London. She had a new life, stable and fiancé. Is Charlie finally happy? But then she had to move back to her village to face her past when her father died. So was she trying to convince herself that she was happy? I think she was. Charlie is a very sad girl and is clueless about what she wants in life. She just takes the path life gives her and thinks that is happiness because she’s on a good path. She puts up a wall and disregards the emotions of her dad and fiancé. She is very detestable at first and needs to get over her mother’s death and her feelings towards her dad. But then her saving grace enters the picture: Pauline, her stepmom. Along with the help of Lowenna, they lead Charlie towards development and transformation. Every so often, the author tells the reader why Charlie is the way she is. I was very grateful for this because people are so quick to judge others for how they are without knowing their past. This is something that needs to change because judgement hurts people more than you know. I judged Charlie in the beginning but I ended up loving her because she became a strong, respectful and HAPPY young lady.

This was really a 3.5 star for me. The story was quite slow and not something I would normally pick up.

I personally was not a big fan of Charlie. Her neighbor however, yes!

Charlie returns home to deal with death of her father and her fiancé shows up, not knowing anything about her past. When things start to unravel, she wonders where she truly belongs.

I liked the story but sadly Charlie fell flat for me. She kept issues of her life hidden and really how can you keep that from the person you’re going to marry. It’s a story about struggling with grief and dealing with hardships.

Charlie returns to her hometown following the death of her father. She begins to realise that the life she has been living in London - career in HR, fiance James - might not be making her happy after alll, and that the town she was so desperate to leave has a lot going for it, not least her father's next door neighbour Lowenna, his partner Pauline.and her ex Adam.

I loved this book so much. The author did a wonderful job with the story and especially the character of Charlie - I wondered if Charlie is neurodivergent (takes one to know one!) - and dealt with so many issues in a meaningful way. Read the whole book in practically one sitting and was cheering Charlie on all the way. Loved the characters of Lowenna and Pauline too. Very highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Happy Happy Happy was well written and timely for me. I feel as women, oftentimes we are expected to put on a brave front and pretend to be constantly content, regardless of circumstance. We tell ourselves that we are fine and really start to believe it. The storyline was grim at times and the hoarding made it even more of a struggle to feel like things would be okay.

I enjoyed this book very much and I was felt compelled to keep reading. It gave me a lot of 'Sweet Home Alabama' vibes but UK edition. I felt the characters where very realistic and really wasn't very keen on James, he was a bit selfish at times.

I loved the relationship between Charlie, Lowenna and Pauline. Makes me which I lived in a small town like Carncarrow.

I received a copy of Happy, Happy, Happy via NetGalley to read and review.

To be completely honest I’m torn on my feelings of this book. Was I kept engaged in the book throughout? Yes. Is the main character likeable? Not really. She is very self centered, she picks up and leaves town without really telling anyone. She only comes back when her dad passes away (her mother died years earlier). While I think a lot of her issues stem from her mothers death she decides leaving is the only option instead of talking to someone.

While Charlie isn’t likable her story is still intriguing and while she deals with cleaning her childhood home, which is a lot since her dad refused to throw anything away, we do see slow growth of character. She starts to open up and realize that the place she ran away from isn’t all that bad.

It takes almost the entire book to really see Charlie’s growth. I was able to read the entire book but there were a lot of times that dealing with Charlie’s inner musings was hard to get through.

The premise you must first be happy with yourself is such a good premise but it takes the whole book to find it. Charles has beaten down herself because of her mother's suicide, dad's death and his hoarding, and a poor relationship with her fiance. Nearly stopped reading in the middle of the book because it seems like a 31 year old could have handled things better. I was so frustrated with Charlie not having any backbone. To me it was not a very happy story.

I really enjoyed “Happy, Happy, Happy”. There is a sense of belonging with this book, as I am certain we have all pushed ourselves into believing we were “happy” when we weren’t.

Having lost my father, I really felt what Charlie was going through. The community felt like home and the characters seemed to have a sense of familiarity.

Charlie Trewin is happy with her fiancé, her job, and her life in London. Happy, happy, happy. Or so she tells herself.

Returning to her hometown of Carncarrow after her father’s death, Charlie finds that it is the same old small village she fled more than a decade ago. Coming home to the house where her mother committed suicide and her father’s death has left her to deal with his massive hoarding habit, Charlie becomes overwhelmed with panic. The unexpected and unwelcome arrival of her fiancé James only serve to add to her growing sense of panic. Along the way, Charlie meets up with some old friends and makes some new ones who help her come to terms with her past trauma and realize she deserves to be happy, and that she truly does belong in Carncarrow.

The characters in this book were unbelievable. The author wrote them in a way that you either loved or hated them (sometimes both). Charlie was a hot mess. Her unresolved childhood trauma led her to a life of seeking safety and certainty, not happiness. From a dull job to an even duller relationship, she strived for security rather than happiness. It made me want to shake her! In the end, she finally realized where she was meant to be, and that she really could be happy, happy, happy.
I LOVED Pauline and Lowenna. They were both there for Charlie (Pauline in a motherly way, Lowenna as more like an eccentric grandmother), and helped guide her through her father’s funeral and coming into her own.

I give this book 3 stars.

This book was okay, I liked how they told us her thoughts and how she coped with everything that happened in her life BUT I was so frustrated with Charlie throughout the whole book. The writing from Nicola (the author) was amazing but the story sadly wasn’t as good. I’m looking forward to reading other books of hers.

Charlie is a character who is hard to like for most of the book. She sees everything from her own point of view with very little regard for others. However, the other characters around her, other than her boyfriend, are amazing, I love the town and as things progress you can't help but feel sorry for someone who keeps telling herself she feels happy.
This book takes you through a range of emotions which is always a good thing, and it's an easy read.

Charlie comes back to the town she grew up in and tried desperately to forget when her dad passes away. As hard as she tried to forget the town, it didn’t forget her. A great story of coming home and friends who become family.

This is a wonderful book about family and learning what it actually means to be happy. We follow Charlie as she discovers who she is and what makes her happy. She has spent much of her life trying to force her happiness and to settle for stable so she could avoid being like her parents. Once her father dies, who she hasn’t seen in 15 years her reality and her dreams war in her mind. She rediscovers a live for her hometown and just how many people do love and care for her. This book was such a wonderful read and it was hard to put down. I wanted more as I finished the book and also felt at peace with the ending at the same time.

“I am happy. I am happy. I am happy…”

This is a story of a young woman who discovers her true self after overcoming the obstacles life has thrown at her.
Charlie has escaped her small town for London but now has to return to deal with her father's death.
She wants to keep her two worlds separate so she has not told her fiancée about her past. He arrives to comfort her at the funeral and is now face to face with Charlie's past.

A beautifully moving story about a woman who goes back to her hometown after her Dad passes away. Whilst there she questions if she's really happy with her life, and struggles to cope with that on top of dealing with grief. Whilst some of her actions in this are questionable and flawed, she's still a loveable protagonist.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Nicola Masters and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

So many good characters, they are very well written and as in any real life situation they are multi dimensional so you agree and disagree with all of them at various times. Set in a small Cornish village what's not to like.

While reading this book it was easy to see how, not just in my life but also others , to just take life as it throws you with no regard if it’s actually what you want or not. Just going through the motions.

I highly recommend this book!

This story takes us how it is to be happy while also battling grief and sadness, where contentment feels too far away. The book made me feel a lot of emotions (as books always did and this one is not an exception). There are times I was irritated with Charlie, with how she treated her fiancee and friends but I guess it's realistic.

When someone is going through something, sometimes it turns out to be all about them and forgets everyone. This book is about moving on and how happiness equates to feeling good about yourself.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.

Thank you thank you to Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC!

The plot was okay but some sections made the protagonist seem like a child. I found it hard to believe that two grown men would behave the way they did. The way that James was written tells me that the author wanted us to hate him and want her to go back to her ex. It was an okay story, with unlikable characters but the grief felt so real. There were sections that were repetitive that I feel could've been cut to made the story more enjoyable, but I did not hate it.

While this book took on some very heavy topics, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through Charlie’s mindset as she grappled with how her life had taken a turn and she had a lot of unexpected events to take care of. While there was some redundancy, Hearing Charlie’s thoughts almost as if it was a stream of consciousness felt much more relatable.

Title: Happy Happy Happy
Author: Nicola Masters
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

It’s been more than a decade since Charlie Trewin left her sleepy Cornish fishing village for the dazzling lights of London, vowing never to return. But when shocking news of her father’s death forces her back to Carncarrow, she’s confronted with everything she thought she’d left behind: the tragic loss of her mother, her father’s obsessive hoarding—and her own unresolved emotions about them both.

At first Carncarrow seems like the same stuck-in-the-past, dead-end village Charlie escaped years ago. Nothing like London, where she’s built a wonderful new life: solid job, loving fiancé, and endless, boundless happiness. But as she sorts through her father’s stockpiled mementoes, she begins to rediscover the place she once called home—and realises that her life in London may not be as happy, happy, happy as she keeps telling herself.

When her fiancé unexpectedly shows up in Carncarrow, her two complicated worlds collide. With the past and the present competing for her attention, can Charlie finally make her peace with her memories? And can she find a way to be truly happy on her own terms?

I both liked and didn’t like Charlie: she was pretty selfish and willfully nearsighted about…everything. I did like her snark and wittiness; I didn’t like how mean and rude she was to James. It was like she stopped maturing when her mother died yet was surprised when she realized most of her memories of the past were so different from reality. I ended up enjoying this quite a bit, but I frequently wanted to smack her.

Nicola Masters grew up in London. Happy Happy Happy is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Amazon/Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 6/5.)

This looked like just the book for me but I could not get past the continuity errors. The neighbor tells Charlie that her dad didn’t look good when he was taken out of the house, but then when Charlie opens the door with her key, she couldn’t get the door open as there was junk behind it. The next day, Reg show up and Charlie looks for the key to let him in the back door key for him to just walk in because her dad never locks the door and she hadn’t ever needed to use a key until she moved away. What? I tried to get past that but I could not. Typos happen, I get it, but if there is no attention to detail on those things, how will the story hold up?

I liked the start of this book and eagerly awaited the storyline emerging but it never really did. It felt like the main story could have been the back story and more was needed to make it a really enthralling read. Struggled to get to the end.

An extraordinary book that explores generational trauma and the way people try to fáke their happiness to seem normal. Loved how The author showed us the growth of the mc

I really enjoyed how this author managed to tackle some serious social issues whilst still adding some witty humour. Highly recommended 5 stars from me.

Overall, this book was a decent read. I got a little annoyed with the main character and how she was reacting to everything plus the boyfriend’s antics seemed to be a little over the top. It took me awhile to read, but a large part of that was due to the ebook formatting.

Here we get out of everything I've read before with Netgalley, that is to say that romance, marshmallows ... here we are on a book of type comptemporains and also I think it is a work of fiction.

I really liked this novel in general, not a favorite but a very good discovery and very eager to see what this author has written.

Here, I liked how this book was written. The way in which we told the story of Charlie and everything that was happening in his life. A life certainly not easy, but I found that this book gave us a story of hope and hang on.

had to dnf this one.
the start was a bit too slow and i was coming off of a reading slump, so it was more to do with my mood than the contents of the book. i think if i give myself a little time, i'll come back to this book.
for now, it's a 3 stars, because what i did read, wasn't bad at all.

“If and when you go out with somebody, you have to remember it’s a nice thing, but it’s not the most important thing.”

“You have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anybody else.’”

I would rate this book for a 2.5, but I hate down rating books, as a lot of effort and hard-work goes into writing, publishing etc. of a book. But frankly, it went a bit slow for me. Nevertheless, there is a lesson to learn in every little thing we read.

I had a hard time reading this book and I think the cover was a little deceptive. I was expecting more of a light contemporary romance, and the sadness kinda of threw me off. I didn’t really like how the breaks into the past we’re incorporated and I felt like it pulled me out of the story. Overall this just wasn’t the right book for me right now, but I might try it again in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Interesting novel, I liked it.

The main protagonist of the book, Charlie Trewin, felt incredibly real and humane to me. You may love or loathe her depending on relatability but I admire such a well-rounded character with flaws, vulnerabilities and impulses, much like any of us.
I love books that are all about life in the big city, and coming back home as they resonate deeply with my personal experiences!
Loved this one and would recommend!

unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. i expected to enjoy this book, but i couldn’t really get into the story

Self-doubt, self-reflection, generational trauma. I really wish this title wrapped me up and took me away the way I hoped it would. Perhaps it's just another case of right book, wrong reader. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right headspace to read this story when I did.

Thank you Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with the opportunity to read an ARC of this title via Netgalley, in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This looked a lot like in the lines of Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine so I dived into this book head first. The writing is extremely easy to get into, but the character not so much. We follow Charlie who hates her job, barely tolerates her fiance must now move out of her London apartment, face her past and with her mindset that happiness is overrated, have to grab all her ducks and try and get them in a row and decide what is the type of life she wants for herself.

I unfortunately couldn’t tolerate Charlie. I note that parental suicide played a pick role in her personality, but she is incredibly selfish, rude and treats James horribly. How he stayed just boggles my mind. I basically only continued reading in hopes for some massive character development, and the side-characters also were very sweet. The ending was not exactly what I had in mind, but was written well in a feel-good way.
Great book, wrong person I guess.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Such a great book. Grief navigated with poignant humour and a strong authorial voice. Also, nice to see Cornwall portrayed in an authentic way, rather than as a picturesque backdrop to holidays. I can't wait to read what Nicola Masters writes next.

Charlie left her hometown, a sleepy Cornish fishing village, more than decade ago. She moved to London and never looked back. The sudden death of her father however, forces her to return home and face her past.

This book was not what I was expecting, then again, I am not sure what I expected. The main character, Charlie, is definitely not happy in her current (London) life. She clearly has been going through the motions of life (job, engagement etc) and telling herself her life is great cos she escaped her childhood. However, she actively avoids her fiance's phone calls, doesn't even call him as soon as she finds out her dad has died, just vanishes home and forgets to tell him. Does she even love him regularly crossed my mind. I appreciate she is shocked by her dad's death but just felt weird. She came across throughout as a incredibly self absorbed and selfish as a result.

Charlie clearly has been emotionally protecting herself since her mother's death when she was a child. As we see her come face to face with memories from the past and explore her father's home, we are hit with her (suppressed) emotions. She craves closeness but pushes everybody away / holds them at arms length. As a reader, I did however struggle to feel empathy for her. I wanted to love her more and ride the emotions with her but she was just built a little too cold for me. I did enjoy the exploration of coming face to face with a past you tried to escape.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

I am all for a book that deals with mental health, heck, that’s why I requested this! But Charlie was different. I felt like throughout the whole book she just complained. And complained. And complained some more. She was like able for the first 20%, but after that.. shoot me please. She just had no development. No growth. No personality of her own. I felt like some characters were just over played and given too much of a crummy personality. For instance, Charlie’s fiancé. Man the horribleness of that and how incredibly pumped up it was. Just made for a very over the top book and very fantasized and unbelievable.

Honestly, I really thought I would love this book. But it wasn't for me, I couldn't connect with the main character and I didn't like her voice. Even though the story itself is good and it touches important issues, I just couldn't stand the main character

Nicola Masters has written this so well. I like the competing ideas of two worlds and which person would you like to be. I enjoyed the insights to understand her thoughts. She was so frustrating also but I get that's the polarising aspect