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By: HAMIL 062
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2025-06-05 15:26:38 |
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Well-written with some powerful descriptions, which were sometimes confronting to read. The main characters were well portrayed as kind, decent and likeable people. There was a lovely comradeship with the other mainly immigrant characters. Some of us found it too detailed and complicated with too many themes, while others thought the threads were woven together skilfully and it all worked. The font was too small, and italics particularly tiring to read. We also didn't think the title of 'Happiness' matched the story. |
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By: CHCH 447
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2025-05-22 09:51:24 |
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This book was beautifully written; it generated much discussion ranging across themes of community connectedness, urban wildlife, and of course, the meaning of happiness. |
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By: CHCH 449
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2024-11-10 14:08:31 |
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3 stars is a stretch. No one really enjoyed this book as there were too many story lines and the characters lacked depth and cohesion. Some gave up before the ending or didn't read at all. Interesting discussion, though, on aspects of the story we found interesting, if not likely or probable. |
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By: WHANG 008
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2024-04-29 09:51:29 |
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A beautiful merging of the animals and humans sharing their lives in a large city. It also gave an insight into the traumas experienced by many people, and their survival. We all enjoyed this book. |
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By: NELS 056
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2024-04-29 09:49:57 |
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Our group was split over this one. Some really enjoyed it for its interesting characters, its descriptive language of inner city life, and the secrets that happen all around us without us noticing. Others found it lacked direction, had a disjointed storyline and there was no flow. |
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By: DUNED 015
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2024-04-29 09:47:38 |
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Great discussion about 'Happiness' - so much to unpack in the novel. We all identified with the 'trauma does not equal destiny' discussion. Resilience and hope are important. |
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By: BALCL 001
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2024-04-29 09:45:35 |
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A powerful and moving novel with many inter-connecting stories. Created great discussion and the sharing of some members' own life stories of hardships and challenges. Well worthwhile. |
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By: KAUKA 001
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2024-01-11 09:30:31 |
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We loved this book - it was well-written and well observed. We did not like the print font, it was too small and the the italics hard to read - but this did not detract from our score. Some members asked what was the point of the Rose character. |
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By: WHAKA 002
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2023-11-02 14:25:35 |
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Much admired by the majority. |
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By: AUCK 389
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2022-09-01 10:18:27 |
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A really enjoyable book. Really enjoyed the narrative of urban foxes and migrants all woven into a love story, and human suffering. |
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By: AUCK 038
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2022-08-01 12:29:13 |
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Loved this book. Very thought provoking and a somewhat different consideration on what makes us human. |
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By: OPOTI 001
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2022-06-27 09:57:08 |
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Some loved this book - others found it hard going. Our discussion about our own view of happiness was great though! |
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By: CHCH 299
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2022-05-02 17:43:04 |
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The club enjoyed the book. Some found the animal/fox parts intriguing, while others enjoyed the London part of the story especially the African characters. Well-written and a bit different. |
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By: WELL 057
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2022-05-02 10:47:23 |
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Our group has just read Happiness by Aminatta Forna. As with all good book clubs there was a range of opinions on the book, but we all enjoyed the quality of her writing and her descriptions of the different London communities, the influx of nature into the urban environment and the conflict it brings. Some felt that there were too many characters, but they were all moving ahead with their lives, in particular the two main characters who were likable and interesting. I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to them, and the ending was satisfying. |
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By: ASHB 022
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2022-04-22 14:18:07 |
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Very well-written and descriptive book. A complex story of interwoven lives between a woman researching urban foxes, and a psychiatrist working with war victims. Was enjoyed by most of our group. |
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By: WHAKA 003
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2022-03-30 16:03:45 |
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Everyone loved this book. Beautiful writing with unusual twists in the plot. Several members now reading other titles by this author. A favourite book for our group. |
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By: DUNED 061
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2022-03-07 10:30:57 |
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We all loved this book. Such a gem! |
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By: AUCK 271
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2022-02-28 14:20:31 |
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This was a polarising book for our group, half of us enjoyed it but some found it depressing. It stimulated a lively discussion over the definition of happiness. It was a dense and complicated book with many layers and such interesting characters. |
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By: WAIHEK 002
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2021-11-05 12:43:44 |
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We loved this gentle telling of this story - characters seemed believable and realistic. A great read. |
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By: AUCK 014
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2021-10-11 11:26:54 |
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Astonishing how she drew the 'threads' together. very real. A lot to learn from it. Beautiful and clever writing. |
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By: NGON 002
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2021-09-29 13:10:44 |
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A beautifully written book that explores many sides of several questions. Urban animals and the destruction of habitat, immigrants, human interaction with nature and each other. The use of a different font to tell the backstories was helpful and helped with understanding. The characters were real and we wanted to meet them! We felt we knew them and we cared about their outcomes. |
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By: AUCK 135
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2021-09-06 10:12:53 |
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A book with many layers and themes. It covers every type of relationship; people, animals, places, ages, ethnicity etc. A clever book which made us question our values. |
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By: WESTP 001
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2021-08-23 14:14:24 |
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We all found this an interesting book and well-written. Led us to discussing the nature of happiness. |
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By: HAVE 016
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2021-07-13 09:57:03 |
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Led to one of the best discussions we've had this year. Some members felt the stories were too disjointed, while others commended the author for her theme of displacement and hope - by the people and the animals in the story. |
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By: SUTHER 001
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2021-06-16 14:11:08 |
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A busy book with lots happening! |
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By: TAKA 001
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2021-05-19 11:38:10 |
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We loved the book. It is beautifully written with very interesting themes, re being careful observers and the development of resilience in people and animals. |
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By: CHCH 383
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2021-04-12 18:51:11 |
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This book scored the highest rating collectively from our group in our history. All enjoyed the lovely writing, but like other groups, felt the title was an interesting fit. Discussion was lively around the different themes and thought-provoking questions. |
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By: TEAWA 005
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2021-03-29 13:40:52 |
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Not all members enjoyed this book - those who read it and found it great were re-reading it! Many themes explored - too many We felt the title not appropriate for the book! |
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By: CHCH 078
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2020-10-30 13:14:36 |
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One of the best books we've had. A very lively discussion, so many subplots. We thought it would make a great movie. |
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By: AUCK 027
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2020-09-30 13:44:10 |
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We all thoroughly enjoyed this book, which initially sounded an unlikely subject. Good discussion, and recommendations to read other books by the same author. |
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By: WELL 041
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2020-09-22 14:35:17 |
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We all absolutely loved this book and voted it the best this year to date. It ticked every box - a beautifully layered story exposing so many facets of life and how we react to them, to nature and to different ethnicities. Brilliantly told and written. Excellent notes. Aminatta Forna is a 'real' author. Earlier we had read 'A Hired Man' - another AF story. |
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By: TAUP 011
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2020-08-05 14:15:29 |
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Overall it was felt this was a complicated book and required a good memory - one or two took notes while reading and two did not finish it. Those who persevered, enjoyed it. |
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By: WHITIAN 001
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2020-07-20 11:55:56 |
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Enjoyed by most. |
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By: CROMW 003
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2020-07-03 14:27:03 |
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Quite a good read, thought-provoking. |
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By: AUCK 071
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2020-07-01 13:10:17 |
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Everyone enjoyed this book. The author managed to combine many complicated threads and bring them to a satisfactory conclusion. Clever but very readable. We also enjoyed 'The Hired Man' but felt this one was even better. |
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By: THAM 005
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2020-05-01 12:47:56 |
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One of the group's favourite reads. We enjoyed the co-relation between animals and humans and found it was a very skilfully written book, with deep appreciation for characterisation. It painted a vivid and multilayered portrait of London and generated consideration of the little things that give us happiness. We read this during the lockdown due to Covid-19 when wild animals are increasingly being seen in cities, which made it even more relevant and poignant. Keen to read other works by this author. |
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By: CLARK 001
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2020-02-19 12:50:42 |
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The majority of the group enjoyed the read. A number of thought provoking themes emerged throughout the book. 2 people found it tedious and wordy. Overall an easy read. Group discussion was on characters and themes, not specific questions. |
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