The Happiness Quest focuses a lot on family, and there’s also a bit of romance that kind of sneaks up on you. Also, can I just say I was very disappointed to discover that Tillie’s counsellor is not actually a goldfish - he just looks like a goldfish. Tillie is a serious person and there are some serious topics covered in this book, from depression to school shooting, alcoholism and family breakdown. But that it’s also okay to look for the happy in life. Tillie is an interesting character and I loved the overall message of it being okay to be sad. Not a lot of dialogue and some dialogue and scenes recapped in short, punchy writing, the writing is certainly unique. Introspective and intellectual, The Happiness Quest feels very meta, and it actually takes quite a bit of concentrated reading to slip into the flow of the storytelling. And this trend of long, flowing and yet slightly disjointed sentences continues throughout the story.

The first page of The Happiness Quest has maybe two sentences. From the first page it’s easy to see that Richard Yaxley has a distinct and unique writing style. The Happiness Quest is a short novel, just 180-ish pages. As she asks her friends and family what happiness means to them, she is surprised by their responses and how, maybe, it’s starting to help her discover what happiness means to her. Until Tillie and her mum find the Happiness Clinic where Tillie is encouraged to start a quest to find out what happiness is. She’s not sure why, doesn’t really have a reason and anyone’s attempts to help - from yoga, sleeping tablets and mindfulness to ‘its time to move on and shake it off’ - aren’t really helping. Yet, ultimately, it’s hard not to like this quirky story about family, accepting yourself, and, yes, finding happiness.

The story inside - unique, slightly disjointed and searching - was not what I expected. The Happiness Quest caught my eye with its bright yellow cover.

The happiness quest richard yaxley