Some Kind of Happiness

This is a wonderfully intimate story about a young girl making the difficult and delicate transition from childhood to adulthood, learning in the process that she cannot depend on adults or peers, nor can she be entirely self-sufficient. At some point we must risk opening ourselves up, acknowledging our vulnerabilities and sharing our various strengths to support each other.The opening scenes, as the protagonist meets and moves in with her estranged family members, has a sense of creepiness underlying the artificially perfect, clench-jawed smiles that suggests the stories of Shirley Jackson in some ways. But this is not a horror story, nor is it a fantasy, although there are fantasy episodes sprinkled throughout. It’s a painfully realistic account of childhood mental illness and of the emotional and physical toll withheld secrets can take on both those who keep them and those from whom they are kept.The story is beautifully paced, building up quietly but implacably to several gut-wrenching climaxes, all depicted at the deepest psychological level and without a trace of sentimentality or melodrama. It is to her credit that the author achieves a satisfying conclusion without feeling the need to tie up all the loose threads or imply that difficult, entrenched problems can be solved in a pat, fairy-tale ending. It’s a story not so much of triumph over adversity as it is one of hope, majesty, and transcendence in the midst of pain and sorrow.

This book is worthy of the highest praise for its skillful treatment of a most important topic that has been hidden in the shadows for far too long. Some Kind of Happiness is a book with an insightful look into adolescent anxiety and depression enveloped in an intriguing tale of family secrets and lies and how they shape or misshape our lives. Ms. Legrand's writing skillfully provides us with a touchstone to examine and explore this topic from which many have shied away while providing the reader with bright rays of hope for treatment and the possibilities of recovery. I can see this book becoming a platform for parents, educators, and therapists to openly discuss this often misunderstood and debilitating illness with adolescents and adults alike. For this reader, the fun part of the book was Ms. Legrand's elegant word pictures woven throughout the story; word pictures of days gone by that brought back fond and cherished memories of my own childhood. A great read for all.

To keep it simple, if you're interested in trying this book: Think "Bridge to Terabithia", then add a surprisingly large, equally loveable and hateable cast(in a good way), a great big mystery, and subtract BtT's incredibly depressing ending, and you get a general idea of what this book is like. Would reccomend.

I bought this for my 12 yr old niece who is struggling with depression. I read it first to make sure it’d be a good fit for her, and found myself completely immersed. What a fantastic way to present mental health issues. The plot is creative, the MC is relatable, and the ending is just right. Thank you, Claire Legrand, for writing a story that sheds light on such a tough topic. Loved every second! Can’t wait to see what my niece thinks!

This book is like a fairy tale mixed with escapism and psychology. The depth of the characters is truly exciting. Definitely one to read and then read again.

I just started to read the story and its already seems interesting. Easy to read and understand the main view. I like this kind of stories about the dreamer girl, personal thoughs and imagination. Can't wait to know how it goes. And the cover art is perfect!!!

I don’t know how this managed to tackle depression and anxiety in such a wholesome way, but it did. This book reminds me of we were liars (a book I didn’t like at all) if it was done a lot more justice. It’s so sad and so heart wrenching. Seriously, read it.

I just finished reading this book and found it stunningly problematic. Although well written and compelling on the face of it, a deeper and more thoughtful examination of the story raised quite a few troubling questions for me.Eleven-year-old Finley has never met her father’s family because he has been estranged from them since before she was born. But now, due to her parents having marital problems, Finley finds herself at her grandparents’ house for the entire summer so that her parent’s can work things out.Finley, a child graced with a rich imagination and burdened by depression and anxiety, finds herself in a house with grandparents, cousins, and aunts that she has not only never met, but up until now, knew nothing about.The house is grand, the grounds are beautiful and wild, her blonde family members are attractive and self-assured, and Finley is quite certain that she does not belong – but she really wants to.However, as much as Finley wants to be a Hart, to be hugged, to be loved and accepted, she simply can’t ignore that in addition to feeling the heaviness of her depression, she is ever aware of the creeping weight of dark secrets, things unsaid, things that do not match the Hart family's façade of perfection.For instance, why is she not allowed to play with the Bailey boys that live on the other side of the river, why are they not allowed in the woods, what happened at the house that is a partially burned out shell in the forest, what bad things did the Bailey father do when he was young, why is her father estranged from the family?Many of the answers are not provided until very close to the end of the book and I read steadily to get to that moment of enlightenment only to be so disheartened once I did.The reasons for just about everything has to do with several heinous criminal acts committed by the family – everyone was complicit. But because the family is respected, because they have money, because they have influence, they were able to get away with it. A family (father, mother, and child) died because of what happened and the Hart family never went forward with what they had done. The family that died was poor/working class and the person who has been vilified by the Harts all these years was, as well (“trash” according to the grandmother), but the Hart family members continued their lives as upstanding citizens, generous to those less fortunate, beyond reproach, appearing to be hard working despite their privilege and feeling self-righteously justified to pass judgment on others though they were, in actuality, liars, murderers, and cowards.And if the story had gone in a direction where the reader was forced to uncomfortably grapple with how this “good and respectable” family could actually be so duplicitous, hypocritical, classist, and criminal, then the book could have been quite powerful. But instead, the story ends on an almost hopeful note, a sense that we are not perfect and nor are our families, that we can get through things together. It almost seems to reinforce the idea that the wealthy and powerful, even when morally and ethically compromised and corrupt, are ultimately good and should be above the law. I am sorry, but the family did something heinous and this book handles the situation so blithely and ends the story on such a warm note, that I think it is irresponsible.

This was a great book. Emotional, funny and sweet. It’s a book that deals with depression and anxiety but handled extremely well by the Author. A book for young adults who might struggle with the same and can’t seem to find out what’s wrong with them.It’s the story about a girl named Finley who needs to stay and her grandparents house near the woods while her parents go through a divorce. Finley doesn’t really know her grandparents or her cousins who also live there. But they soon all become really good friends. Still Finley feels extremely lost and sad and anxious and can’t understand or talk about her emotions because she always thinks there is something wrong with her. In order to escape her thoughts and deal with all the emotions she escapes into a magic forest called the Everwood. A very wholesome story about building friendships and a true family relationship.

I'm a 23yo female, and I love this book. There were parts where I cried, because the author made me feel like I was this young girl again, going through what the character was experiencing, and I felt so much love. This is a lovely book for any age, as we have all been children once.I also found the fairytale side of this really exciting. Now I want to go and get my grown ass friends and play in the woods. 😁

Finley has been sent by her parents to get to know her father’s family. There is some sort of secret dispute between her father and his family and this might be an attempt to heal the breach But maybe her parents have some other reason - Finley is not sure. Finley is a story writer and has an amazing imagination so when she arrives she convinces her cousins, Gretchen, Kennedy, Ruth, and Dex that the woods around them are the kingdom of Everwood, filled with trolls and other monsters and the source of great excitement. The oldest cousin, Avery is not part of the exploring group. Finley’s imagination attracts the interest of a family of boys, Jack, Bennet, and Cole Bailey, who are totally despised and mistrusted by Finley’s grandmother and grandfather, her father’s parents. Finley is diligently trying to understand the reason for this distrust but when her grandparents find out that they are playing together Finley decides she must unravel these mysteries. Her discoveries explain the interrelationships of all the characters dating back to her father’s youth. This is a great book and highly recommended. An enlightening study of family relationships

Una historia conmovedora donde se explora la depresión desde una mente infantil.

This book is without a doubt the best book I’ve read in years, absolutely love every single second of reading this and didn’t want it to end.So well written and such a great story, chance to escape realism and imagineI can not recommended this book enough I will re read this for certain