## Details * Title:: [[I Want You To Be Happy]] * Authors:: [[Jem Calder]] * Tags:: #fiction * Read:: [[2026-06-21]] * Instagram :: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ2ZBgjjv_k/?img_index=1 ## Editions - Edition:: [[Faber]], 2026, 1st UK Edition - Original Copyright:: 2026 - Pages:: 265 ## Purchase * Bookshop.org:: https://bookshop.org/a/94437/9780374620554 ## Annotations Picked this up in London a few weeks ago because it appeared all the rage at every bookshop.  This debut novel is breezily readable and entertaining in a frothy way. The two protagonists (in an age-gap situationship, smh) are frustrating. The guy (Chuck) is a loathsome, failing alcoholic writer with no redeeming arc (though he may get you to quit alcohol). The woman (Joey) is more interesting and sympathetic (with real promise as a poet), but underdeveloped. She mostly exists as an occasion to highlight Chuck’s insecurity and misogyny.  When you see it pitched as a contemporary love story for our modern, online times, what you can expect is every cliche you can think of, most of which are helpfully listed on the cover.  I want you to be happy, too, so maybe consider passing on this.  (To be fair, Sally Rooney apparently couldn’t stop reading it.)