ARC Review: The Color of Happiness by K.P. Gazelle

Title: The Color of Happiness
Author: K.P. Gazelle
Rating: 2/5 Stars
Expected Publication Date: March 1st, 2015
eBook, 157 Pages
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Summary: Faith Lane is the girl who has everything. At least, that’s what everyone thinks when they see her rocking a killer dress while laughing with her best friend, Tiffany. But Faith’s life is far from flawless. Her peers torment her relentlessly, and her parents expect her to be the epitome of perfection. Criticized and pressured at school and home, Faith retreats into silent acceptance and finds an escape in her passion of dancing. Then she meets Alex – quirky, forever with a pass, and concealing a mysterious secret of his own. And through his encouragement, Faith starts believing in her gift for dance and gains courage to stand up for herself. But will she be able to keep her footing when the events of one night consume her with the need to jump off the rocky cliffs near her coastal home? And what has pushed her to the edge of reason?

I received an ARC copy of The Color of Happiness from Radiant Books in exchange for an honest review, so that's exactly what I'm going to give: an honest review. I have nothing against the author, Radiant, or even the author's writing style. It was an okay book. It was well-written and semi-easy to follow.

My issue? I didn't know what I was following, honestly.

This book reminded me a lot of the Alice on her Way series. They were decent books. The issue was that they never followed what the summary said they were about. The book makes it seem like Faith is "tormented" by her peers. And that her life is a living hell. Which it isn't. The opening line of the summary states that "Faith Lane is the girl who has everything." Everything except a cell phone, a car, a popular fashion sense, etc.? Granted, these things are material and unimportant in the grand scheme of things, sure.

It just frustrates me because the summary makes it seem like Faith is an "It" girl with a perfectly awesome life who is being bullied and tormented to the point of suicide. First of all, I found it really hard to pinpoint Faith's mentality. According to the book she's a sophomore in high school, which means she's about sixteen. But some of the things she says makes me feel as if she has the mentality of a twelve year old, and some make her sound wise beyond her years. I just didn't get it.

The plot is a hard-hitter here, for sure. For 95% of the book, I had no idea where the story was going. Events were coming and passing and being resolved before I was anywhere near the end. I wasn't quite sure what the main plot even was, which led me to look at the summary again and have my frustration grow.

The redeeming quality of this book was without a doubt that major plot twist that I'll pity you people and not spoil. (Because this book deserves a fair shot, so go pick it up yourself!) But when I got up to that part of the story, this said Plot Twist hit me smack in the face. I dropped my iPad and sat there stunned for a few minutes. I could hardly believe it.

It's definitely not anything that any of you see coming, that's for sure!

So even if this book wasn't really my cup of tea, that doesn't mean it can't be somebody else's. It was a nice, easy read about a young girl navigating her way through high school, sticking to her morals and finding herself among her peers and family. 

All in all, The Color of Happiness was an alright book. The story itself was good, although I just wish that it had been a little clearer and followed one plot line instead of fifty different ones. As for the actual writing style, K.P. Gazelle definitely shows some talent. This is a quick, easy read for anybody looking for something nice and breezy to get through among all of the dreary dystopians we all have been picking up lately. :)

Another thank you to Radiant Books for providing me with a copy of The Color of Happiness for review!

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Disclaimer: Although Radiant Books provided me with a review copy, all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Neither Radiant Books nor author K.P. Gazelle have seen this review before its publication on February 22nd, 2015.