BOOK REVIEW:  Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Happiness Falls is a mystery (missing person) and family drama.  The missing person is Adam, the dad of Mia, John (20 year old twins) and Eugene (14 years old) who is diagnosed with autism and Angelman Syndrome.  During Covid, Eugene and his dad go hiking every day.  On this particular day, Eugene returns home without his dad.  This is unsettling for Hannah, Adam’s wife, and the kids’ mom and Josh.  Even more disturbing are the facts that Mia, seems not to be concerned and Eugene, the one person who could say what happened, is nonverbal. The family does not have an effective way to communicate with Eugene, the one who can tell what happened to his dad on this particular hike.  To compound the urgency at hand this drama takes place during the pandemic, which becomes not only part of the setting but also a “character”.  

I found Happiness Falls somewhat “tiresome” at times.  Mia, being the self-proclaimed lesser of the twins, is the narrator.  She is home from college due to Covid; her personality and over-compensation for being “lesser” of the twins were at times a little over the top.  The family drama that ensued throughout this story includes a missing person investigation with a over-zealous officer, a compassionate attorney, Mia’s “boyfriend” from college, a therapist that Adam found worked with Eugene regarding communication strategies, which he kept from the family.  The pieces of this seemingly convoluted drama are sorted and resorted until they eventually lock in place with an ending that left me wondering.  

I always like to know the tie to the title… that I could not figure.  Like the many parts of this book, it left me pondering.  

Rating: 3.25