The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley: A Novel
Courtney Walsh
She’s out to prove that there’s no such thing as choosing happiness. Isadora Bentley follows the rules. Isadora Bentley likes things just so. Isadora Bentley believes that happiness is something that flat-out doesn’t exist in her life—and never will. As a university researcher, Isadora keeps to herself as much as possible. She avoids the students she’s supposed to befriend and mentor. She stays away from her neighbors and lives her own quiet, organized life in her own quiet, organized apartment. And she will never get involved in a romantic relationship again—especially with another academic. It will be just Isadora and her research. Forever. But on her thirtieth birthday, Isadora does something completely out of character. The young woman who never does anything “on a whim” makes an impulse purchase of a magazine featuring a silly article detailing “Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy”—which includes everything from smiling at strangers to exercising for endorphins to giving in to your chocolate cravings. Isadora decides to create her own secret research project—proving the writer of the ridiculous piece wrong. As Isadora gets deeper into her research—and meets a handsome professor along the way—she’s stunned to discover that maybe, just maybe, she’s proving herself wrong. Perhaps there’s actually something to this happiness concept, and possibly there’s something to be said for loosening up and letting life take you somewhere . . . happy. Contemporary Christian romance Perfect for fans of Denise Hunter and Rachel Linden Includes discussion questions for book clubs
Publication Year: 2023
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
0CW: bullying (recounted), death of a spouse (recounted), parental estrangement, parent with narcissistic personality disorder, heart attack
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson - Fiction for providing me with a free e-ARC.
The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a Christian romance full of self-discovery and letting go of past pains I would absolutely recommend!
When Isadora Bentley finds herself alone for her 30th birthday and comes across a magazine article claiming to know “Thirty-One Ways to Be Happy”, Isadora finds herself on a mission to prove the author wrong. But, after encountering new friends in the least likely of places and inviting Cal, a new researcher Isadora has to help edit his manuscript for, she realizes that the magazine article might be right after all.
Now, if you read [b:Authentically Izzy|60466268|Authentically Izzy|Pepper D. Basham|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1647529210l/60466268._SY75_.jpg|95289238], you’ll appreciate the character development Isadora goes through in The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley. Walsh does a great job with creating Isadora and I feel like a lot of readers can relate to her struggles of feeling on the outcasts of the world around her (including me and I think Isadora might be autistic/neurodivergent). This book not only ties in Christian themes of acceptance (as well as strategically using the found family trope), but you also get to see Isadora learning how to let go of her past regrets and hurts in order to fully heal.
I also really liked Walsh’s writing style for The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley and it’s not just because of the David Attenborough-like commentary that portrays Isadora’s inner monologue. This book felt like a nice and cozy hug after a long day and finding the solace of connecting her characters that you can relate to and root for. While some parts of the book did feel a bit slow, Walsh makes up for it by her characters and the swoon worthy romance between Isadora and Cal (I mean, the things Cal does for Isadora in the book will totally melt your heart).
So, if you’re a fan of the found family trope mixed with self-discovery, personal research projects, and sweet romances, you came to the right place.
0Isadora Bentley is on the search for happiness - she's close to an internal breakdown as she hits her 30th birthday, so she does the thing that she does best. Creates a hypothesis of 31 ways to find happiness and sets on researching if these 31 ways actually do bring her happiness.
Found family, love, and finding confidence in herself - Isadora's journey was a joy to follow along with. I was rooting for her to stand up to her ex, believe in her friends, believe in love, and most of all, believe in herself.
While I do have the e-ARC, I was also lucky enough to be able to get the ALC. This was narrated by Jorjeana Marie and she had me smiling throughout the whole book. I loved her energy as she told Isadora's story and she made it even more delightful than I could imagine.
Huge thank you to NetGalley & Thomas Nelson for the ARC in exchange for my honest review! Also, thank you to LibroFM for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.
0
© 2024 Pagebound