--- description: Find out why 'More Happy Than Not' by Adam Silvera is on TIME's list of best YA books of all time. title: 'More Happy Than Not' Is on TIME’s List of the 100 Best YA Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea8aca0a6f03d24/698a1bc8b3fce3758f0c82e2/more-happy-than-not-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 11, 2021 # More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  [Adam Silvera’s](https://time.com/5028652/top-10-young-adult-childrens-books-2017/ "undefined") debut novel takes on the delicate balancing act of covering some of life’s weightiest of topics: suicide, coming out, trauma, grief and urban poverty. _More Happy Than Not_ follows 16-year-old Aaron Soto in the wake of his father’s death, as he’s consumed by the tragedy while also working through surprising new feelings for a boy he’s recently met. Determined to shake away the attraction, the teenager looks into a mind-altering experiment that promises to erase painful memories. The novel, released in 2015, is just as much speculative fiction as it is a meditation on the relationship between hardship and happiness. Fully in control of the ambition of its plot, Silvera’s best seller marries the page-turning elements of a sci-fi narrative with incisive commentary on sexuality. —_Annabel Gutterman_ **Buy Now:** _More Happy Than Not_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781641291941 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/164129194X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=164129194X&linkId=f729d1aae26986dacb18dde034cc372e "undefined") More Happy Than Not: 100 Best YA Books of All Time ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084593/more-happy-than-not-ya-book/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084593/more-happy-than-not-ya-book/"},"headline":"More Happy Than Not","datePublished":"2021-08-11T11:36:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:52:18.940Z","description":"Find out why 'More Happy Than Not' by Adam Silvera is on TIME's list of best YA books of all time.","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084593/more-happy-than-not-ya-book/","keywords":["Books","Lists","best YA books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea8aca0a6f03d24/698a1bc8b3fce3758f0c82e2/more-happy-than-not-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea8aca0a6f03d24/698a1bc8b3fce3758f0c82e2/more-happy-than-not-best-YA.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-best-ya-books/6084593/more-happy-than-not-ya-book/","name":"More Happy Than Not"}}]}] ```