I basically saw that Crystal King has a new book, and it’s connected to Roman myth, and immediately requested The Happiness Collector on NetGalley. I was not disappointed!
In the beginning of the book, Aida is a historian working in Boston, who loses her contract for her upcoming book when her publisher abruptly folds. Fortunately, a friend of a friend sends her a mysterious job offer almost immediately. Her new assignment will send her to Rome, where she’ll be reviewing beautiful art and cultural treasures, and reporting on their happiness levels. Also, it’s a highly paid job, where she can live in an Italian palazzo with a private chef, even if there’s an unfriendly assistant and loads of secrecy involved.
I always love the cloak-and-dagger of a perfect, mysterious job offer. Plus, everyone at this secretive, well funded company has a cool mythological name. We’re not talking Sirius the dog and Remus Lupin the wolf, these names are deep cuts for people who once majored in classics. (Me.)
Aida’s new job is a dream, she visits artistic and historical treasures to notice and record their how happy they make people, and why specifically these things make people feel happiness. The new job has some weird rules about secrecy, but whatever, she’s also making huge piles of money to live the historian dream life in Rome.
As Aida completes her assignments, she starts to notice something that is a bit disturbing, and without revealing the story exactly, she and her friends are caught up in a battle between the gods. I loved how this played out, showing how the gods have immense powers, but they’re still bound by certain rules. I don’t want to reveal too much here, because it’s fun to discover it along with Aida.
The pacing turns weirdly slow for a bit here. I don’t know if this is the pandemic vibes, because this part was set during lockdown, but I felt like there was a too-long period after Aida and her friends knew what was wrong while saying to each other that they’ll have to take action. I loved Aida’s ride-or-die bestie, and the secondary characters in the palazzo, but I just wanted the story to move on! And the payoff is solid, after that slow section.
The Happiness Collector was a great Roman adventure, with the ancient gods messing with modern humans, and a fun ride through classical and renaissance art. I don’t really know all that much about the renaissance artists mentioned, but I imagine there are the same kinds of clever, scene-setting references for art history majors as there are for classics majors.
Finally, I posted that photo before I finished the book, and I was a little unsure about posting my mismatched thrift-store pillowcases on my dorm-bed-used-as-couch, especially posting on hyper-curated Instagram. Then I got to the explanation about how one of the affects of the loss of happiness is sad beige decor, and I feel pretty good about my daybed style now.