The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Silvera, Adam. More Happy Than Not. Soho Publishing, New York, NY, 2015. Kindle AZW file.

Aaron Soto is a typical teenager living a normal life, or so he believes. Aaron lives with his mother Elsie and his brother Eric. His father Mark committed suicide, and Elsie found his body. Aaron does not know why Mark killed himself, but Aaron was in such pain that he also attempted suicide. Now he is in a committed relationship with Genevieve, and he begins a new friendship with a boy named Thomas. The problem is that Aaron soon finds himself attracted to Thomas and questions his sexuality. Aaron wants to undergo the Leteo procedure – cutting-edge technology that suppresses memories. Several teens, whom he considers his friends, attack Aaron for being gay. When one of the boys throws Aaron through a glass door, Aaron is flooded with memories just before he blacks out.

The story drops back in time, and Aaron remembers events that make him question his sexuality, beginning when he is nine. At age 15, Aaron is in a relationship with a boy named Collin, but Aaron hides his sexuality by also having a girlfriend, Genevieve. When he tells his parents he is gay. Mark reacts violently and is arrested. A short time later, Aaron arrives home and finds Mark's body in the bathtub. Aaron cannot live with the fact that he drove Mark to commit suicide and tries to kill himself. Aaron then undergoes the Leteo procedure which suppresses memories. They erase all memories of Aaron feeling attraction to boys and of finding Mark's body. Aaron's attraction to Thomas emerged despite the Leteo procedure. The attack prompted Aaron to remember everything.

Days after the attack, Aaron is desperate for a repeat procedure to put himself back on track. After giving it time and thought, however, he begins to realize that memories are important. A short time after that epiphany, Aaron begins to “zone out” occasionally. He loses periods of time and a return visit to the Leteo Institute reveals that he is developing anterograde amnesia – the inability to form new memories. Aaron makes visits to say good-bye to the people most important to him, including Genevieve and Thomas. Thomas and Aaron cry together over the situation, and Thomas encourages Aaron to be “more happy than not.”

Thomas's life becomes repetition that he cannot remember. He cannot retain new memories, so he repeats the same stories and ideas. Then, Leteo has a new procedure that repairs the damage to Aaron's brain. Within days, he is forming new memories and steps back into his life, though a year has passed. Aaron discovers that Elsie kept two journals during that year. Aaron wrote all his feelings in one. The other is filled with notes from the friends who continued to visit. Aaron discovers that Thomas and Genevieve continued to visit, even though Aaron never remembered that their lives had changed while his remained the same. His progress includes therapy sessions with others who have had memories restore, each realizing that those memories were important, though painful. One of those is Jordan who has had similar heartaches to Aaron and who encourages Aaron to take control of his life. With Jordan's encouragement, Aaron throws himself an 18th birthday party to replace the party he cannot remember. As the novel ends, Aaron faces the journals, knowing that some of these details will be painful, but they will also help him move forward.