A Book Title Has Never Been so Apt: Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados Review

by Victoria Bromley

This book was written for girls in their 20s who want to run away to New York and live their best life with no money nor inhibitions. 

In recent years there’s been an influx of books about young women moving to new cities, carefree and whimsical in their new found freedom to explore the world and ultimately, themselves. Think Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors and City of girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. Now enter Happy Hour, another one to add to the stack of books all girls should read in their early twenties about friendship, dating, and letting go.

Isa and Gala are two immigrant girls sharing the same bed in their New York apartment because money is tight, but that doesn’t stop them from living a lavish lifestyle. From parties to fancy dinners, the girls never seem to pay for anything as they are always around the rich who pay for their meals and buy them expensive drinks. Running a market stall in Brooklyn, they get by with whatever money they can make, nervous for how they will afford the next month’s rent. Their friendship is tested over and over again, but they came to New York together; they’re just trying to figure everything out.

What I admired most about Isa and Gala was how they unashamedly lived their life how they wanted to, adapting to their circumstances instead of compromising who they were. If they wanted to go out every night, they’d find a way. Their determination to live a lavish lifestyle, and follow the night wherever it would lead, regardless of if they could afford it, was fascinating. You can almost taste the martinis and smell the city’s fumes, living vicariously through their late night escapades from bar to bar, party to party.

There is only one rule when we get dressed: if it makes you feel good and there’s a pinch of fear that while in public someone may throw a comment your way or think it’s too much, wear it.”

– Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

While the girls splash out other men’s cash on fancy meals at expensive restaurants, conveniently going to the toilet when the check arrives, there were some sombre moments which reflect the reality of vulnerable young women living in a big city. Often struggling to find enough cash for a cab home, Isa and Gala didn’t have the financial means to be in complete control of their lives, or their safety. Despite their resilience and cravings for a night to remember, they also have to be wary of how to get home, or if they’ll need somewhere to crash for the night. As the novel progresses, the once frivolous energy seems to be sapped from Isa as her social battery and patience wears thin.

I feel as though becoming a woman is like a long tradition of going through things and coming out strong, but I am tired and weary!”

– Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

The book cover immediately sets the sexy yet sophisticated tone of this novel. Wine glass in hand, sliced peaches, empty bottles: the cover is just as indulgent as the book itself. The abstract design perfectly reflects the discussion of art and beauty in the book, how a desire for money doesn’t have to reflect greed or power, but as Isa said, “I want money so I can have beautiful things – surround myself with them.”

Our capacity for appreciating art is limited to what we find beautiful.”

– Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados

With a message for young women to thrive in every environment they walk into, to not be intimidated by the wealth in the room, and to seize every moment until it slips from your fingers, Happy Hour is a fragrant yet fierce novel for young women who are finding themselves in a world which tries to limit them.