Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Published: April 2nd, 2013 (Headline)
Pages: 416
Source: gift from Daisy
Series: NA
Buy the book: Bookdepository
Rating: ★★★★☆


If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

I must admit that when I started reading this, I was a bit nervous. I hadn't seen many good reviews beforehand, instead seeing a lot of low ratings and less than favourable reviews. Eek. But every time I went into a Dutch bookstore, I somehow ended up with the Dutch edition of this book in my hands. It starts off with a random email conversation about someone asking someone else to walk their pet pig, except they send it to the wrong person. Everything takes from there, because even though it was sent to the wrong person, they strike up conversation. It just looked so adorable! So when Daisy gave me this book for our book club's Secret Santa, I couldn't wait to dig in. I started and finished it in the first week I had it, which is a rarity for me. Especially when you consider that I was already in the middle of four books.. I regret nothing.

So. This book. It's fluffy. It's all kinds of cute and adorable and the story isn't original or groundbreaking but Graham and Ellie are just so ADORABLE together that nothing else matters. If you're looking for a contemporary with a lot of depth, this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a cute book, something that will make you smile, and most of all something fluffy, this is the book for you. It's a must read. It made me smile and go "AWWWW!" several times and overall I pretty much adored this book.

Yes, this is a gushfest. Deal with it. I'm not sorry.

I loved the idea of two people striking up a conversation when one accidentally emails the other. It leads to fun conversations even though they don't even know eachothers names. And that's fine. You are thrown right into the story and the romance, but it doesn't feel like instalove at all, even though you didn't see the months of conversation they had before this actually takes place. You get the feeling they've known eachother for a very long time and I loved that. They had a connection and built from there.

The story arc isn't revolutionary but I loved seeing the dual narrative and seeing their relationship blossom even though they have some eh, bumps in the road along the way. Their chemistry was awesome and I adored their conversations.

Jennifer E. Smith is quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary authors. I'm glad I decided not to listen to all the negative things that went around for this book, otherwise I would never have read this story that's bound to cheer you up and put a smile on your face as you read it.