Insight Book Teenage Kicks There is an unfair prejudice against teenage fiction, with it often lampooned for its emphasis on wish-fulfilment narratives. Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not turns this convention on its head by having the protagonist wish for something most rational people would baulk at. Aaron Soto is gay, but doesn’t want to be. Living in poverty and encountering violence on a daily basis, life is hard enough without the added burden of his nascent sexuality. In an act of self-preservation, he seeks the help of The Leteo Institute, a body whose procedures claim to allow “all memories…to be targeted and altered with molecular precision”. Although the novel’s premise echoes genre benchmarks such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Total Recall, the story is nevertheless grounded in the here-and-now. There are strong parallels to very real organisations offering ‘gay conversion’ therapies, and Aaron’s resulting emotional fallout serves as a powerful warning for those who argue morality is intertwined with positioning on the Kinsey scale. However, unlike gay conversion therapies, the work of the Leteo Institute is portrayed in a far more neutral manner. Instead of a marauding monster desperate to assimilate the population, the author keenly emphasises the technology’s capacity for good and ill. Indeed, one scene presents the organisation’s leanings towards the former, with Aaron shocked to discover the ethical bureaucracy in place to remove unsuitable patients. Far from the instant gratification promised, a Leteo procedure requires a long wait for a consultation, followed by many appointments www.thelancet.com/psychiatry Vol 2 December 2015 to ascertain the patient’s motives and suitability, and ultimately to make an ethical decision regarding treatment. Through this, the author makes an articulate and moving point: the tragedy is not that Aaron can suppress his sexuality, but that he feels he needs to. This is particularly poignant given that Aaron is an intrinsically likeable character. It is hard not to root for someone who struggles so much, and who also displays a relatable passion for all things geek. A recurring homage to a certain boy wizard is one many tongue-in-cheek references to the novel’s sci-fi and fantasy DNA, which show that Silvera has drawn heavily on his knowledge and personality to create Aaron. As such, the character’s resolution to “kill that part of me that’s ruined everything” is all the more heartbreaking. As such, More Happy Than Not is a moving portrait of what it’s like to grow up gay. Because of his sexuality, Aaron is beaten up, let down, and pushed to breaking point by the world around him. Thankfully, in our own world, organisations like Stonewall and the It Gets Better Project are working to make life safer for LGBT teens. However, with websites like Facebook and Twitter increasingly encourage us to edit the mundane and depressing from our lives, the pressure to be happy all the time is crushing. The technology that Silvera describes might be the stuff of fiction, but what we already have is dangerous, and encourages us to redefine ‘happy’ in relation to others’ expectations—something many gay people already know the perils of. More Happy Than Not Adam Silvera Soho Teen, 2015 Pp 304. $18.99 (£12·52) ISBN 9781616955601 For more on Stonewall’s antibullying in school campaigns see http://www.stonewall.org. uk/at_school/ For more on the It Gets Better Project see http://www. itgetsbetter.org/pages/about-itgets-better-project/ Andrew Bianchi e37
