I love this - a searing portrayal of modern romance. I read cover to cover in a day. Looking forward to seeing what Calder writes next.

This is a very good and current character drive novel.
Loved the wiring style, straight to the point and at times blunt , really loved it
The book follows Joey and Chuck who meet in a nightclub. Chuck is older than Joey her early 20s him mid 30s just out of a long term relationship.
Although not much happens plot wise, everything happens character wise. I thought it was very real , how relationships can mean so much to one party and almost nothing at all to another.
I also very rarely read male authors (not sure why just personal preference nothing sinister lol) however I loved the book cover with the list of things that make people happy. I was very impressed with how well he could do the different point of views

Will definitely be recommending and looking for more to read from this author

Set in London, I Want You to Be Happy follows a mismatched couple, who spend the night together after meeting in a bar, embarking on something that can’t quite be called a relationship. Chuck’s thirty-five, a lead copywriter, as he’s careful to tell Joey, recently split from his fiancée after twelve years together. Joey’s twenty-four, a barista living in a single room she can barely afford, in a flat share with people she doesn’t like. He seems oblivious to his privileged life, ordering expensive takeaways delivered to his five-room apartment, drinking too much and thinking of Joey more as a distraction than anything else. As they spend more time together, she ignores her friends’ careful warnings, allowing herself to think about a future.

Calder’s narrative shifts between Chuck and Joey, capturing the awkwardness of the beginnings of a relationship which seems unlikely, even to them, with a painful acuity and wit. Both characters are sharply portrayed: I found Joey very much more engaging than Chuck but perhaps that was the point. I enjoyed Calder’s writing which was as smartly astute as I remembered from Reward System, his linked short story collection. Happy to read his second novel when it appears.

highly readable and vividly real, I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY is a sharp portrait of modern relationships and our increasing isolation in a digital-first world

this might be a bit of a marmite book; if you like the cover, i think you’ll like reading this - contemporary, hyper-specific while maintaining distance, a little tongue-in-cheek about its own predictability

i was rooting for Joey, resenting Chuck as i know i was supposed to. it can be very hard to make phone usage in books feel genuine and be interesting, but this was accurate and amusing. i’m looking forward to reading more by Jem Calder

thank you very much for Faber & NetGalley for the ARC!

- posted to Goodreads and will post something similar in my monthly reading wrap up on Instagram

I was asked to review this by NetGalley. Wow I loved the characters and this is modern dating, just how the modern world feels with lack of dIrection, relationship hang ups.

Interesting story of dating today and lonliness too. I have to say I so loved Chuck.

Recommended read but not due for publication till May 21 2026.

Got so attached to these characters, particularly found the character of Chuck to be so perfectly portrayed I swear I saw him on the tube last week. Really enjoyed this and how accurately it depicts modern relationships.

This was such a compulsive read about relationships, loneliness, miscommunication and the exhaustion of trying to exist in the world. I was so gripped but also felt so uncomfortable and stressed at times, especially watching Chuck trying to wade through the general mess of his life. I loved and felt for Joey so much! A really addictive and thoughtful read.

Jem Calder's debut novel is a contemporary love story between Chuck and Joey. Despite their age difference, these two souls adrift in the London dating scene find each other and a romance blossoms. Calder is very good at characterisation - I felt I knew both these people by novels end, and was keen to learn more about them the more I read. So an engaging story, well told, if a little familiar - but aren't all love stories? This is a good one though and recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I love books like this. A modern tale of a relationship: intelligent, incisively observed, funny, raw details, honest. I ate it up. Super refreshing (I liked that the central relationship was not that romantic, at one point I thought the story was going in one direction but it took a sharp U-turn and didn't, subverting my expectations), relatable issues, flawed characters. Quite Sally Rooney-esque. Really enjoyable - highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read.

Chuck, man, you really put me through it - had to read what this guy was up to through my fingers at times but always rooted for him to do better just the same. Two brilliantly rendered characters - loved Joey, so perfect and so young and exactly believable. Sarah's email broke my heart. Great book, so smart and frustrating (complimentary). I hoovered it in two sittings.