My Best Friend’s Wedding meets The Silver Linings Playbook in this offbeat, heartfelt comedy about a seaside wedding reunion where no one can stay afloat.

Dee, Misa, and Matt were the “three musketeers” of the psych ward. Matt is a teddy bear musician with no discernable coping mechanisms. Wildly efficient Misa is quick to take care of others while neglecting herself. And Dee is a puddle with a heart of gold, eager to convince everyone that she’s finally turning things around. A year after discharge, Matt and Misa are tying the knot in Turks and Caicos, surrounded by guests who have no idea where they met. But the secrecy isn’t sitting well with Dee, who has been hopelessly in love with Matt since before she got kicked out of the hospital.

When Dee arrives at the swanky resort with her high-voltage sister Tilley, it’s now or never to confess how she feels about Matt. But disrupting her best friends’ nuptials would jeopardize the entire support system that holds them all together. When it comes to happily ever afters, how is a girl supposed to choose between love and recovery? Introducing a sparkling new voice in commercial fiction, Never Been Better revels in the heartache and hilarity of falling in love when you haven’t quite figured out how to live with yourself.

LEANNE TOSHIKO SIMPSON is a mixed-race Yonsei writer who lives with bipolar disorder. She was named Scarborough’s Emerging Writer in 2016 and was nominated for the Journey Prize in 2019. She co-founded a reflective writing program at Canada’s largest mental health hospital and teaches at the University of Toronto. Since her hospitalization, Simpson has connected with students, cultural centres, companies and media outlets about the power of storytelling in shaping recovery. Never Been Better is her debut novel.

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“A sparkling romantic comedy that defies the usual tropes of the genre… Filled with punchy dialogue, scenes that will leave you bursting into laughter and wiping away tears in the same breath, and a cast of flawed but utterly charming characters, Never Been Better is a story about love of all kinds: between lovers, between friends, between sisters, but most of all, the love offered towards oneself.” — Carrianne Leung, author of That Time I Loved You

“Life after the psych ward combined with a destination wedding and secrets between friends can only lead to raw yet heartfelt hijinks in this delightful debut by Leanne Toshiko Simpson. Searing and honest, Never Been Better is that most rare of things—a novel that combines humour, heartache and hope in one page-turning package, with lyrical and wickedly funny writing in spades. Simpson is a writer to watch!” — Uzma Jalaluddin, bestselling author of Much Ado About Nada

“A hilarious, honest, refreshing, and moving story about mental health, friendship, and love. Never Been Better is a brilliant debut.” — Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

“Leanne Toshiko Simpson’s Never Been Better is an exuberant debut rich with snappy dialogue, madcap misadventures and a lot of heart.” — Rebecca Hardiman, author of Good Eggs

“Never Been Better bursts with love and laughter while offering tender insights into mental health and healing – and the community that comes with it.” — Clara Hughes

“[An] invigoratingly comic debut novel . . . Full of sharp, pithy dialogue and farcical scenes that will put a grin on your face, this story about love, friendship, and family also offers hard-won wisdom about mental health and the myths that surround it. . . . Navigating the contrast between humor and pain can be tricky, but Simpson makes it look easy in her first novel. A funny, refreshing, and generous story full of wisdom on mental health.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Laugh-out-loud funny . . . Simpson’s refreshing debut depicts the reality of living with mental illness, which will resonate with many readers.” — Booklist