This Is What Happy Looks Like - YA Review by Paxton A


Reader: Paxton A.
Age: 14
Title: This Is What Happy Looks Like
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Headline
Pub Date: 04/02/13
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: This was an interesting book to read. The account of emails was a great way to begin the story and give a context to their relationship. They were also helpful later on in the book to show the characters' emotions. The dialogue sometimes didn’t seem realistic and distracted me a little when reading, but for the most part it was good. The story was intriguing, and even though it wasn't very realistic, it had good imagery and sensory details.
Memorable or Forgettable: One of the things that made this book memorable for me was the plot. It was a somewhat-cheesy-but-exciting love story and didn't make me think a lot about what I was reading, but I still read it fast. My emotions seemed to go up and down with Ellie's and that made me like the book a lot.
Cover:  I believe that the cover represents the book well. It also is intriguing with the use of just black,white and yellow and the title intrigued me a lot.
Age Range: 12 through 18 and up
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity:  4P Broad general teen appeal
Annotation:  When Ellie O'Neil starts an internet relationship with mysterious stranger GDL824@yahoo.com, she doesn't know she is actually talking to Graham Larkin, a Hollywood movie star and teen heart-throb of teenage girls everywhere. When he comes to her hometown for a movie shoot, Graham can’t wait to meet the girl he has been emailing. But will they be able to ever have a relationship in real life with his attraction of spotlight and her secret family past that needs to stay in the dark?

tags:  contemporary / romance / realistic fiction / ya lit



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