Book Review | This Is What Happy Looks Like | Jennifer E. Smith

Title: This Is What Happy Looks Like
Author: Jennifer E. Smith (web | twitter)
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Publisher: Poppy
Release date: April 2, 2013
Source: Bought it

Summary: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 was such a huge fan of Jennifer E. Smith‘s THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, friends. It was such an adorable, emotional, perfect contemp that made me happy and excited to read all of Jennifer E. Smith’s books. THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE is another mouthful of a title of a book that is adorable and sweet, but perhaps not up to the standard that STAT PROB (sorry, I’m too lazy to spell the whole thing out again) set. Still, it’s a perfect, light summer read. Plus, the cover is YELLOW, my favorite color in the world. Bonus points.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE is the story of two crazy kids over the course of a few summer weeks in Maine. One of them, Graham, is a teenage movie star. I’m thinking Zac Efron-ish. The other, Ellie, is the only daughter of a single mother who had an affair with an up-and-coming senator when she was younger. They accidentally strike up this really cute email relationship prior to meeting. Ellie has no idea that she’s been having these great talks with a famous person, and Graham is drawn to her genuineness and the fact that she seems to get him and like him without knowing who he is. When they finally meet, there’s all kinds of shenanigans having to do with keeping secrets and friendship and family.

The one thing that I will say Jennifer E. Smith has down really well is banter. The talking. The way two people in a relationship talk to one another about anything and nothing with flirty ease. Graham and Ellie’s emails are like this, and I loved it. It takes a little while for their in-person chats to reach this level, but their compatibility is evident in their correspondence. It’s warm fuzzy lovely.

Together, Ellie and Graham are great. Not as swoony as Hadley and Oliver, but still sweet. Individually, they are even more interesting. Ellie and her mom live in a little town in Maine, where they run one of those tchotchke tourist shops. They’re super tight, even though their identities are a secret because of the scandal surrounding the relationship between her parents right before she was born. Ellie’s biggest dream in THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE is to attend a poetry summer program at Harvard that she can barely afford. I loved her determination and refusal to accept favors. I liked her bff, Quinn, as well. She could’ve been around more and I wouldn’t have complained.

Graham is a good guy, too. He and Ellie certainly come from totally different worlds, and so they battle some of those differences. Sometimes Graham comes off as a typical rich kid who has no concern for money, but even when those things happen, you can tell he’s not doing it because he’s a jerk. OPPOSITE. He does it because, to him, it isn’t a thing. It seems worse than it is, I think, because Ellie spends a good deal of time thinking about how she’s going to afford Harvard. But I liked Graham. He’s feeling a little burned out from being famous all the time, and he finds Ellie refreshing and awesome.

The romance is an important part of THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE, but it’s not the only thing that affects Ellie and Graham. Being teenagers, they of course have their own ish with the parental units. I liked very much that Ellie’s mom is a presence. They get along well and have a good relationship. I would’ve liked the whole thing with her dad to have a little more meat on it, though. It’s a thing that becomes more of a THING, but only briefly, and I felt about as let down about it as Ellie did.

I felt bad for Graham and his parents. Well, mostly I felt bad for Graham and was irritated by his weird, ambivalent, stand-offish parents. See, Graham and his family don’t come from money or celebrity, so his parents still live in the middle of nowhere California while their son is getting his famous on in LA. He wants so badly to reconnect with them, and he remembers his childhood so fondly that the fact that his parents always beg off doing things with him and are beyond awkward when they go to premiers etc., just made me heartachy for Graham.

Also, I have to give a shout out to the setting. Maine, as you may or may not know, is one of my must-read settings. Couldn’t tell you why, as I neither live there nor have I ever even visited. But it just sounds so peaceful and pretty and charming, and those things appeal to me. Jennifer E. Smith captures those qualities perfectly in THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE.

All in all, friends, THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE is an adorable read. It’s not super swoony, but it’s cute beyond words, and it’s just got that warm, sweet vibe. Like eating a cupcake. And listen, I’ll eat a cupcake (or three) just about any day of the year, so that’s no dig. I’ll certainly be reading more of Jennifer E. Smith‘s books, that’s for sure.

Check out some other reviews of This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith!

Sharon @ The Book Barbies: “This Is What Happy Looks Like was all kinds of cuteness.”

Rachel @ Hello, Chelly: “I’ve enjoyed every Jennifer E. Smith book I’ve read and this was no exception.”

Angie @ Angieville: “…THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE has all the key elements of a competent, if somewhat bland romantic comedy, but it lacks that certain spark that makes it a keeper.”