Rating: 4
Genre: Magical Realism
Thank you Oni Press for providing an e-copy through NetGalley.

Summary:
Darcy and her mother have just moved to a new country, and Darcy couldn’t be further than happy. She can’t understand anybody’s accent, has no friends at school, and her mom is too busy with her job. Darcy doesn’t know what to do until she happens about a small little shop in a neighborhood alley. Run by two older women Frida and Flora, the Happy Shop collects small orbs of happiness from around the city and sells them in jars to people who need a whiff of something good. After she accidentally breaks one of the jars, Darcy agrees to work for the Happy Shop, cleaning and watching as customers come in to brighten their day a little. But fewer and fewer customers are coming in, and Frida and Flora might have to close the shop for good. But Darcy wants to help and is determined to find a way to keep their door open. For instance, what if they were to sell feelings other than happiness?

What I Liked:
The Happy Shop is a quiet and charming graphic novel about feelings, specifically how to handle feelings like sadness. Darcy, in an unfamiliar city, realizes the good in the Happy Shop, but also that you can’t live on happiness alone. Some things are good to make you feel sad, angry, or just bad, and it's how you deal with these emotions that help you move forward. As Darcy discovers, sometimes you have to be sad - and accept your sadness - in order to get better. This is a good type of story to tell kids, especially nowadays. The graphic novel has a simple and cute art style that reminds readers of a cloudy London or UK street (I believe that’s where they moved to), with muted colors that are not too bright or dark, bringing a cozy, edge-of-the-city atmosphere. Overall, a charming and peaceful story that will have readers contemplating their feelings and how they process them.

What I Didn’t Like: Nothing!

Recommend to: Kids who like magical realism in graphic novels and who want to deal with strong emotions. Inside Out is a good movie parallel.

Review Date: February 12, 2024

This was a super quick and cute read! I thought the premise was very unique and loved that the shop was open to implementing Darcy’s suggestions. The ending was the perfect feel good moment.

Uma gracinha! Amei a ideia do livro de ter uma loja que vende felicidade instantânea, e o ponto alto pra mim for mostrar o quanto a felicidade é relativa e complexa. As dinâmicas entre os personagens também me conquistaram, além das ilustrações em si serem uma graça.

Fofo demais. Espero que tenha continuação, vou adorar ler outros volumes sobre essa loja.

Obrigada #NetGalley e #OniPress pelo ARC.

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Cute! I loved the book's idea of having a store that sells instant happiness, and the highlight for me was showing how relative and complex happiness is. The dynamics between the characters also won me over, in addition to the illustrations themselves being adorable.

Very cute. I hope there is a sequel, I will love reading other volumes about this store.

Thank you #NetGalley and #OniPress for the ARC.

Thank you net galley for sending me an eArc

The art style of this graphic novel was what made me read it and I really liked it! It's really cute! Although I expected more from the story I thought it was gonna be more emotional . But I liked the idea and the message it tried to convey.

This had me bawling my eyes out in sappy feelings, 2am Monday morning (despite needing to wake up at 6am to commute to my university).

This is such a beautiful story about finding family and purpose when your life is thrown upside down. I believe the character moves from the US to Ireland, and is feeling lonely and isolated in a new country with few friends. She goes out to get some errands done for her mom, and stumbles upon a shop that sells magic jars that carry happy memories.

Everything else that ensues, cured my inner child and also helped me to find more peace and joy in my own everyday life (and remember my sad or happy memories could be the same thing that helps someone else).

The art reminds me a little bit of a tuned down Gravity Falls with a muted tones as the color palette. It was visually beautiful and comforting.

I highly recommend picking this book up, because it is cute, heartfelt, and so much fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the e-arc!

The Happy Shop follows Darcy as she just moved to a new country. She ends up stumbling upon a shop that sells happy moments in jars. A mishap causes Darcy to have to work at the shop temporarily. While there, she learns about the power of emotions. I had a good time reading this and felt it was a very unique premise executed well. I highly recommend checking this out if the premise intrigues you.

When Darcy wanders into The Happy Shop, she's unprepared for what she finds there: jars filled with happy feelings that will warm a customer's heart. And, when she ends up working there, she manages to teach the elderly proprietors that sometimes even a sad feeling can lead to happiness in the end.

I loved everything about this one - the art, the characters, the concept, and the smiles the book brought to my face.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Available February 13, 2024

In 'The Happy Shop', we're introduced to Darcy, an eleven-year-old adjusting to life in a new country. Her discovery of a magical shop that sells happiness in jars leads her on an unexpected journey. As she assists the shopkeepers after a surprising mishap, Darcy learns about the complexity of emotions and the significance of empathy. This graphic novel, with its engaging story and delightful illustrations, beautifully unfolds a tale that goes beyond mere joy, offering a layered perspective on the importance of embracing the full spectrum of our emotions.

It's a heartwarming and insightful read for young audiences.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel focussing on emotions and their positive manipulation through a “happy shop” selling feelings. A wholesome story but might be a bit too intense or deep for little minds.

Story Synopsis:
Eleven-year-old Darcy isn’t happy about moving to a new town where the people and the weather both seem unfriendly. While running an errand for her mother, she discovers a quaint store named “The Happy Shop”, which sells happy feelings. When Darcy accidentally breaks one of the magical jars, she is allowed to make it up to the shopowners, sisters Frida and Flora, by working there after school to help with the cleaning and simple chores. Darcy soon discovers that the shop isn’t doing so well. Can she help Flora and Frida save the shop? Along the way, she also learns how happiness works.


In terms of concept, the book is fabulous. Understanding that happiness isn’t the only important emotion, and that there is “relative happiness” is an important life lesson for children, and this book presents it well.

That said, I feel that the complexities of emotions as explored in the book won’t be completely understood by younger middle graders. As the story comes from a middle grader’s perspective, the concept is put forth mainly through her eyes. But the philosophy of the book , though accurate, is deep, and thus, it might be better understood if read with adult guidance.

This might be one of the few times where I liked the morals more than the core story itself. The plot takes the title seriously and focusses mainly on “the happy shop”, with a minor focus on Darcy’s home life. As such, one crucial aspect of the child’s life – her experiences at her new school - is skipped out. Many minor elements are not included or quickly revealed within a single sentence, leaving much for the reader to gauge on their own.

The magical jars are an important conduit for the sale of emotions. I like how their functionality is depicted without going into technicalities. But there is a lot left to the imagination. Where do Flora and Frida get the jars? How do some of the more specific feelings provide happiness to their buyers? I wish there were a bit more detailing to this aspect.

The text is quite simple and at the level of the target age group. Many of the pages have only graphics and no text, thereby making this a quick read.

The illustrations were decent enough - not bad, but not excellent as well. They might work better for middle graders, but I have read far too many graphic novels by now to be mesmerised by a simplistic art style. Graphics are an important part of a graphic novel experience for me, and in this instance, I am somewhat disappointed. But the cover art does match what is inside, so at least it was not a case of false promises. What you see on the cover is what you get inside – I appreciate that.

I read this book with my younger daughter, who fits the target age group. She found the story “too simple and better for kids.” (Ahem!) However, I found the basic concept quite deep. So something clearly went awry between reading and processing in her mind. Or, it may just be, as I said earlier, that the philosophy of emotions is a bit too complex for children who haven’t experienced that many negative feelings yet.

All in all, a decent one-time read. But not too memorable for my middle-grader or me.

3.5 stars, rounding down because the in-house MG boss wasn’t impressed.

My thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Happy Shop”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Themes:
Fresh Start / New Town
Happiness
Loneliness
Memories
Magical Realism / Light Magic

Trigger Warnings:
Death of a parent

Darcy and her mum have just moved to a new town. To get her out of the house, Darcy’s mum sends her out on an errand to get groceries and stumbles upon a magical little store called “The Happy Shop”. The shop collects and sells memories, and after an accident during her visit, Darcy has to help out the owners after school and learns more about their work.

This was a sweet little story that was easy to get through and full of heart. I teared up at multiple points within the story. The creator has such a talent for conveying emotion and furthering the story in such a small amount of pages. The artwork was simple and lovely, I think this could be a wonderful story for middle-grade age readers to pick up.

Highly recommend to readers of Ghoster Heights and Ghosts (both middle grade graphic novels with similar themes that I loved).

One word review: lovely

More detailed review: moving to a new place can be really scary, especially when you break something in a store in your first few days! Darcy has to help out at the Happy Shop to pay off her mistake, but can selling happy feelings bring her some comfort in a new town? Beautiful, simple, uncluttered art & a touching story about the complexity of emotion & memory.

An adorably fun book for kids. The graphics are clean and the words are well-placed. Definitely something the younger kids can get on board with.

Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley!

I absolutely loved The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen. It's a wonderful graphic novel for MG readers that explores feelings, family, and fitting in in a new place. Darcy moved to a new place and is struggling to find herself. She's also worried about her mom who is overwhelmed and unhappy. When Darcy stumbles upon The Happy Shop, she learns that she can "borrow" feelings to help her mom feel better. Throughout the book she comes to realize that a temporary mood boost might not be the best idea, but learning to appreciate what you have and those around you will help your mood long-term. A great book, simple and wonderful illustrations, and so many positive messages for kids.

This one was cute, but overall didn't have much of an impact on me. I think it's worth the read though!

This beautiful book was the perfect heartwarming read for a cold winter day
A young girl newly relocated to a different country struggles to find a sense of belonging until she finds a unique little shop. In this shop she finds not only community but a sense of purpose and is able to grow and share her little with others around her.
I highly recommend this sweet little story centered around our emotions and how they can help others to readers of any age.

This graphic novel was so relaxing to read. As it's centered around a magic shop that sells happy feelings to people, it filled me with such a feeling of peace. It was really fun to see all the specific happy moments the shop was selling. I can personally confirm "A puppy falls asleep in your lap" is a GREAT feeling.

In the end, I loved the message of how it's not just happy feelings, but the full range of emotions, that matter. Happiness doesn't always last, and other feelings have their purpose too. This was a great journey to see the main character go on.

Darcy is not pleased that she's had to move to a new country after her mom gets a new job. In her grumpiness, she stumbles across a little shop called the Happy Shop, where two older women sell happiness in jars. After a little accident, Darcy ends up working at the shop and learning what it means to really be happy. Happiness can be fleeting, but so can money, and if Darcy and the ladies can't find a way to turn things around, there might be just a little less happiness in the world.

This is a fairly simple story, but it makes some good points. I love the full cast of characters and I'm charmed by the way that it introduces feelings and perspectives as something to be cherished, whether they're positive or negative. I'll definitely be recommending this one to my youngest students.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

4.25 stars
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘

This simple, cute, deeply-meaningful, and light-hearted comic brought warmth to my heart. It was a very quick read, but the warm aftertaste lingered in my heart for quite some time after reading. You don't need to read a lot of self-help non-fiction books, you might just need to read this short comic to understand some crucial things about happiness that takes me years to really realize everything.
- "Happiness doesn't last forever" - Flora
- To understand happiness and be grateful for those happy moments, we might have to experience sadness
This book isn't pretentious; it just hits hard.

The only drawback I can think of is that it feels too simple to me. This story would be awesome if the author elaborates more.

"The Happy Shop" is a sweet middle grade graphic novel about a girl named Darcy who moves to a new place and has trouble fitting in. She stumbles into the Happy Shop, a shop that sells happy feelings, and accidentally breaks some expensive jars. In order to pay back her debt, she begins working at the shop, which is having trouble making enough money to stay open. After a failed attempt at collecting a happy feeling, Darcy comes up with a new idea that might just save the Happy Shop. The art is cute, and the story is a nice little slice of life with just a touch of magic thrown in.

Darcy and her mom have recently relocated to a brand new country, thanks to her mom's job. She's bummed about moving away from her friends and everything familiar, but when her mom sends her out to run an errand she stumbles across a little shop run by two sisters that sells happy feelings.

After she accidentally knocks over several jars, Darcy agrees to spend time after school working off her debt. While working for the sisters, she learns that the shop is struggling and that they might have to sell the store. Can Darcy and the sisters figure out a way to save the shop? Can Darcy and her mom figure out life in a new country even when things don't end up being as good as they first seemed?

Olsen's story is very cute and cozy. It's a great look at the importance and validity of all feelings, not just happy ones. I think younger middle grade readers and older juvenile readers will enjoy this one, especially if they enjoyed the movie Inside Out.

I did feel that the art was a little too simplistic and the plot sometimes seemed rushed. I also felt that there were a lot of grown-up problems that the 11-year old Darcy was being asked to deal with/figure out. However, I think this is a story that a lot of kids who are dealing with big emotions could enjoy and see themselves in Darcy's shoes.