Hanna Jameson’s Are You Happy Now follows two overlapping and imperfect love stories, both of which begin at the same time and place as a frightening worldwide phenomenon. The novel’s four protagonists – Yun, Emory, Andrew, and Fin – are present at a New York City wedding when one of the guests collapses without explanation. She is alive but unresponsive, appearing to have suddenly just ‘given up’ on living. Soon this mysterious ‘disease’ begins to spread, and we follow Jameson’s protagonists as they grapple with building new relationships whilst the world seemingly collapses around them.

Are You Happy Now is a commentary on how although crisis holds up a magnifying glass to the problems with the status quo – on a personal and a societal level – we struggle to turn this heightened awareness of our flaws into real change. Written during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, the novel both can and cannot be classified as a ‘pandemic’ novel. The inequalities and injustices accentuated by the mental and physical health crisis faced by Jameson’s characters artfully mirror those that we have been confronted with over the past three years, but COVID-19 is never mentioned directly. I was impressed by Jameson’s ability to touch on a range of such issues – from the financial pressures of late-stage capitalism to the mental health fallout of the climate crisis – in a way that was compelling, confronting, and rarely felt forced.

In addition to exploring larger societal problems, Are You Happy Now is also about how to go on living, and loving, when hope seems to be in ever-shorter supply. However, if you’re looking for an uplifting, romantic read that will restore your faith in humanity, that’s not exactly what Jameson has given us. This book is engaging and incisive, but in order to get us to think about how her characters’ journeys reflect our own, Jameson cultivates a sense of unease that is hard to shake, even after you’re done reading. However, if you’re happy for your romance to come mixed with a healthy dose of social commentary, self-reflection, and dystopia, then this book is definitely worth it.