The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh Review

 Happy Monday Friends :)

If you're visiting my blog from Canada today (where I am), then Happy Victoria Day! I hope you're all enjoying the long weekend. 

If you're visiting from elsewhere, then I hope you all had a great weekend, and regardless of where you're visiting from, I'm so thankful you chose to stop by The Preppy Book Princess for another book review today.

Courtney Walsh is an author whose writing style I've truly come to adore over the last few years, and I was very much looking forward to getting to dive into her upcoming release.

I hope you'll all keep reading down below to find out what I ended up thinking about it.

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: June 13th, 2023

Genre: Christian Fiction/Clean Romance/Contemporary

Synopsis:

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.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I couldn't wait to dive into this one, and if I'm being honest, I had pretty ridiculously high expectations for it. I've loved every other book by Courtney Walsh I've had the pleasure of reading, and I had high hopes that this one was going to be no different. Unfortunately, at the start I was worried it was going to end up being a disappointment, as I found the story to be a tad slow moving, and I had a hard time truly being invested in the unfolding story. My worries were quickly proven unfounded though, as once the story got rolling, I could barely bring myself to put it down, and rarely have I ever found myself relating to a main character as much as I did Isadora.

Isadora stumbles upon a quest of trying to disprove a magazine article showcasing the "31 steps to happiness." What starts out as a singular, simple endeavor soon blooms into something more than she ever could have imagined or hoped for, and her research starts going in a different direction that she could have possibly hypothesized. For someone who has spent a lifetime being alone, Isadora is about to discover there's so much more to life, if she's only brave enough to take the steps to discover what that truly is.

As the reader follows along on Isadora's journey, so many important messages are brought to the surface about needing to truly forgive and release past hurts instead of letting them control you in the present. She was a character that was so relatable and endearing, and I loved how she was ridiculously smart and stubborn, but also quirky and honest and perhaps a teeny bit sarcastic. The cast of characters is perfectly rounded out with a misfit group that truly come to love Isadora as she is, while encouraging her to become whoever she wants to be.

This is undoubtedly going to be one of the best books I end up reading this year, and I truly adored the characters, the plot, and the swoon worthy, adorable romance. I recommend setting aside a good chunk of time if you choose to pick this one up, as more than likely you're not going to want to put it down once you get invested into the story. 

My only slight complaint was that I wish the faith element had a bit more of a presence. In a book where the main character is setting out on a journey to find true happiness, it just felt like it missed the mark a bit to not have Jesus end up being the focus.

Final Rating: 5/5.

Still a wonderful read, and one I can't possibly recommend enough.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day :)