I wish some of the stories had been longer. Like, what was the deal with Rhett's results? Was he dating his roommate? Basically, less Elliot, more Val and Rhett. Actually, no Elliot at all would've been nice, he was useless. Reminded me of A Visit from the Goon Squad

This would’ve worked better as short stories I think. None of the plot lines really moved anywhere and the characters didn’t have much depth. Didn’t get much out of it and wasn’t particularly fun to read even though the premise was interesting enough.

4.5 stars.

I found this to be an unexpectedly lovely book. I honestly don't know how this book even came up on my radar, but I'm glad it did.

In the world of this novel, there is a machine called an Apricity, that can tell you how to be happier. Simply swab your cheek, place the swab into the Apricity machine, and the machine will give you three recommendations to make you happier. These can range from something as simple and obvious as "get a dog" to something as mysterious and mind-boggling as "cut off the tip of your index finger." How the machine knows what will make you happier is unknown, but the fact that it works is widely believed and trusted.

Pearl, the character the book opens with, works for Apricity Corporation, and it is her job to administer the test to the public. She spends her days swabbing the mouths of strangers, and telling them the strange and wonderful things they could do to be happier in their lives. Pearl herself has never taken the Apcricity test herself, but she likes her job and takes it seriously.

I'm hesitant to say much more about the book than that, because it's a really hard book to describe. I will say, Williams builds each layer of the book upon the next in this beautiful and often unexpected way. I found myself loving each chapter more than the next, and surprised by what I found in each. I never knew who I was going to meet next, or how it might fit into what I had already experienced.

I would say that the chapters are almost like vignettes, but even trying to describe it that way kind of cheapens the actual experience, because that's not quite right. Each chapter is its own thing in a way, but also relies on what you already know. Williams drops these little breadcrumbs throughout the story, though you don't know it was a breadcrumb until you come upon it later. There's really no way of anticipating what will lead to more, and yet it seems so clear when you get there that a slight mention in a previous chapter was important.

I kept wondering where the story was going, and by the time I reached the end I realized it didn't matter. The point wasn't really the ending - the point was the journey. The point was the experience of meeting characters that become more endearing and unforgettable each time they appeared. Nothing is really overtly stated in this book, which can sometimes drive me crazy, but Williams does it all just right.

As my husband and I read and talked about this book together, we talked about how we saw echoes of 1984 (him), and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (me). I think both are apt, and yet again -- they're just echoes of other stories, nothing that can be truly directly compared.

This book made me think about happiness, and humanity, and the secrets we keep from those we care about most, and sometimes even from ourselves. I think this book will stay with me for a long time, and it's one I almost certainly see myself revisiting again.

This interesting sci-fi/fantasy takes a Robert Altman approach in connecting characters and wondering what they'd do to achieve or avoid happiness. Mild-mannered single mom Pearl works for Apricity, which owns and operates a machine that can determine one's happiness needs all via a simple swab of the cheek. Pearl is good at her job, but she's got a teenage son reveling in his own misery and battles with an eating disorder.

The characters all connect and each of their stories ultimately links with another. I already find myself wanting to read this one again.

I loved this book