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1-Page Summary of More Happy Than Not

Overall Summary

Adam Silvera’s book, More Happy Than Not, is a young adult novel about Aaron Soto, a 16-year-old Puerto Rican boy who lives in the Bronx. The story begins with his father attempting suicide and then studying at an experimental therapy center to help him cope with his depression. However, this treatment has some unexpected side effects that bring up many questions for the reader.

The story opens with the main character, Aaron, thinking about a local business that promises to erase memories. He originally thought it was impossible but then his friend Brendan tells him that another kid from the projects had the procedure done in order to forget his twin brother Kenneth getting shot. This made Aaron think about how sad Family Day will be without Kenneth there.

Aaron’s home life is pretty rough. He lives in a small apartment with his family and has lots of comic books and an epic fantasy series about a boy wizard called Scorpius Hawthorne. His father committed suicide, so Aaron attempted to do the same thing but failed because he was too scared to cut deep enough.

Aaron and Genevieve go on a date where they plan to learn about each other’s interests. He reveals that she asked him out in the first place, which was unusual because his friends are traditional and close-minded. Aaron tries to use a gift card at the comic book store but finds out it has no money left on it. Genevieve tells him her father is going away for a few days so they can have sex for the first time.

Aaron wants to know what he can do better when he has sex with Genevieve. He asks his friends and his brother for advice, but they don’t have any useful suggestions. Aaron goes over to Genevieve’s house and they end up having sex.

At Family Day, Aaron and his friends play manhunt. His friends are revealed to be homophobic when they tell him that he’s a fag for playing with Thomas, a new kid in the neighborhood. Genevieve informs Aaron that she has signed up for an art camp and will be gone for several weeks.

After Genevieve leaves for summer camp, Aaron and Thomas begin spending a lot of time together. Aaron really likes Thomas, but he’s worried that the other kids will think they’re gay if they spend so much time together. He also begins to wonder if he is homosexual because of his feelings for Thomas. His friends start thinking along those lines as well, and one day when Brendan corners him after school, he comes out to them all by saying that yes, he’s gay.

When Genevieve comes back from camp, Aaron admits to cheating on her with Thomas. She is upset but seems to already know that he’s gay. He confesses that he always knew on some level and used Genevieve as cover because he was afraid of the abuse and beatings if people found out about his sexuality.

Aaron has a hard time accepting his homosexuality and the way it affects his life. He thinks that he might be able to go back to pretending to be straight if he got rid of all memories of Thomas, which is why he goes to Leteo.

Aaron went to the Leteo Institute, which is where he found out that he had undergone a procedure before. He also discovered that his father committed suicide when Aaron came out as gay and tried to commit suicide himself. Genevieve knew about this and still let him have sex with her because she was trying to make sure that her parents didn’t find out about their relationship.

Aaron learns that the procedure has left him with memory issues, and he will not be able to remember new things for long periods of time. He is also unreliable at times because of this brain damage.

Silvera’s unreliable narration allows him to play with reader expectations and assumptions about sexuality. He further interrogates the nature of happiness, what it means to be “happy” as well as what it means to have identity, and how much of who we are is our experiences.