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Funny Story
A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2024
About the author
Emily Henry
16 books120k followersEmily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34,283 reviews
May 15, 2024
4.75!
“All those moments throughout the days, weeks, months that don't get marked on calendars with hand-drawn stars or little stickers.
Those are the moments that make a life.
Not grand gestures, but mundane details that, over time, accumulate until you have a home, instead of a house.
The things that matter.
The things I can't stop longing for.”
Now I am not gonna lie but this was not Emily's best work and after a rant with Roxy I understand that there can be some things that could have been done to make the story better but that does not change the fact that I loved reading this book and did not want it to end because you just have to read Emily Henry's works to understand that! Good writing is such a plus for me because if the writing is engaging and has you fully immersed in the book you probably won't see the problems that it has, unless its pin pointed out and this was the case with this book because I was so in love with the writing and the characters and with everything that she set up that I did not even find anything bothering me. She writes such intricate characters who you can relate with so much and you actually do feel for them, overlapped with such realistic qualities and problems that makes you relate to them and that doesn't make you feel alone because you see how another character faces the same problems, deals with it the same way you do and there' just something so beautiful about it.
Okay so it's basically about two two people Daphna and Miles both their Fiancées cheat on them which leads to Daphne getting kicked out of Peters house and has to stay with Miles and while they both are there, the get a wedding invitation from their exes which leads to Miles and Daphne falling into a fake relationship to make them jealous and honestly them being roommates as well was so hot. It was different from other fake dating tropes because of the way it was set but the way it unraveled could have been something more. There's this quote during this scene where Daphne tells Miles of what she did that I laughed at and smiled stupidly at:
"Wait!' He braces his hands against the counter, face brightening. "So he called to try to make you feel so pathetic you wouldn't come ruin his special day and you told him we were dating?'
'Im sorry,' I say again.
'That fucking rules,' He says. 'How'd he take it?"
Daphne and Miles were such good characters and I kind of think that there could have been more depth to them but I still enjoyed the way that they were written in like Daphne self doubting herself because of her father always left her after promising that he was there to stay and I loved how she got over it and finally confessed her feeling by giving an angry rant on his phone because he needed that and I also appreciated the bond that she had with her mother although I do think that we could have gotten more one on one scenes for them and as for Miles, I loved him so much and its with all Emily Henry's men, I see myself in them.. be it Gus, Wyn, Charlie, Alex or Miles theres always something within them that I find I can relate too and for here with Miles was how he texts, the way he overuses the word nice which bug Roxy off so much but for me the thing that I related to him the most was where He panicked and reacted anxiously and then realized what he had done a little too late I won't elaborate on that because that would be a spoiler but I did get him during that scene but besides that scene, Miles was such a cute and hot too?? loved him. There was one thing that I appreciated as well but thought more could have been done was Miles past with her mother and how it turned him into who he was, always overlooking peoples negative side, never lashing out and always being nice(?)
Their banter that I loved:
"True,' he says 'but I haven't had any luck yet tracking down the stretch of beach where thirtysomethings go to smoke weed'
'Oh, they're all just vaping from their beds while watching HGTV'
'Not us,' he says
'No, we're adventurous' I say"
_
"I turn to look at him. 'Even when you try to be mean, you're nice,'
His eyes seem to spark when he smiles. 'I'll try harder."
_
"Do me a favor,' he says lightly, 'Unlock your door.'
'Why?'
'So I can push you out as I peel out of the parking lot,' he says,
'You would never,' I say
'I would never' he admits."
_
“Drink. Dance. Have fun.”
“In a room with our exes,” I point out. “Who think we’re dating.”
Miles’s smile hitches up. “See?” he says. “Doesn’t that sound fun?”
I absolutely loved the friendship that Ashleigh and Daphne had because it was so down to earth and real and raw that I just fell in love with it and I think it was because Emily focused on Ashleighs character as well and gave her a story which made us understand where she was coming from and what was happening and how that eventually led them to be friends and I also loved how she supported Daphne's decisions but wont lie to her as well and would subtly try to make her understand things, she was certainly better than whatever the fuck Sadie was. Another bond that I liked but thought some scenes could have been explored more was of Miles and his sister JUlie they were just so wholesome and cute and deserve the whole world.
"You're worth it, Daphne," he says, hand soft on my jaw and eyes closed.
'Miles?' I whisper. 'I do, I do what all those parts of you'
His eyes open, molten, warm, 'Good,' He says. 'They want you too.'
Then he kisses me."
The romance was honestly the horniest Emily has ever been it was not I would say insta-lust because there was development and it wasn't like ' oh one look and im hard' but it was that instead of the intense pining, proximity and slow burn, they just acted on what they felt. I am a sucker for slow burn and wanted more but I cant deny how much I enjoyed reading the scenes. Also, the way emily henry also writes poetic smut?? Like??? How can you do that woman. Despite it being her horniest, it was very well balanced.
Now,The things that could have been better; (spoilers)(credits;roxy)
1, More drama as we were promised a wedding which could have increased the sexual tension, the fake dating part and the drama a lot.
2, Daphne going to her mom to rant like we saw Rory do with Lorelai in Gilmore Girls.
3, Male povs because having Miles's POV would have been so interesting since would've gotten his emotional scene with Julie and it wouldve been more showing and less telling.
4, More drama by Miles's mother meeting them and this book being at least 200 pages more
Now the scenes that I loved
1, When Daphne gets dumped and throws almonds at Petra and Peter
2, Miles and Daphne hanging out across the town
3, The cherry hill scene with Ashleigh, Miles and Daphne
4, Daphne making it up to Ashleigh
5, Miles going to confront Daphne's dad
6, The cute tender moments between Miles and Daphne that will make you feel single.
7, the milkshake, fries and beach scene.
Overall, a fantastic read that I will definitely read again and again despite some things that could have been added.
Ratings for her other books:
1, Beach read: 5
2, Happy place: 5
3, Funny story: 4.75
4, People we meet on vacation: 4.5
5, Book lovers: 4.02
Special shoutout to Roxy for getting me to read all of Emily's books last year and hearing my rants about it. We need another EH buddy reading session.
___
EMILY HENRY I AM IN LIVE WITH YOU!! LETS GET MARRIED SO I CAN GET ALL THE STORIES YOU WRITE (RTC when I finish my rant with Roxy and gather my thoughts)
___
Its time 💫
• Buddy reading with the one and only Roxy
(Emily Henry so far all my anticipated reads have not met my expectations I'm begging you pls don't disappoint.)
___
Yes, Emily henry is a drug and i am an addict.
I am not even joking when i say this but this is the only ting that i am looking forward to this year.
Emily Henry writes the best books, her writing style alone is so beautiful and bewitching and the feeling of loosing yourself to it is so immense and amazing that i just cant wait to feel that again!!
“All those moments throughout the days, weeks, months that don't get marked on calendars with hand-drawn stars or little stickers.
Those are the moments that make a life.
Not grand gestures, but mundane details that, over time, accumulate until you have a home, instead of a house.
The things that matter.
The things I can't stop longing for.”
Now I am not gonna lie but this was not Emily's best work and after a rant with Roxy I understand that there can be some things that could have been done to make the story better but that does not change the fact that I loved reading this book and did not want it to end because you just have to read Emily Henry's works to understand that! Good writing is such a plus for me because if the writing is engaging and has you fully immersed in the book you probably won't see the problems that it has, unless its pin pointed out and this was the case with this book because I was so in love with the writing and the characters and with everything that she set up that I did not even find anything bothering me. She writes such intricate characters who you can relate with so much and you actually do feel for them, overlapped with such realistic qualities and problems that makes you relate to them and that doesn't make you feel alone because you see how another character faces the same problems, deals with it the same way you do and there' just something so beautiful about it.
Okay so it's basically about two two people Daphna and Miles both their Fiancées cheat on them which leads to Daphne getting kicked out of Peters house and has to stay with Miles and while they both are there, the get a wedding invitation from their exes which leads to Miles and Daphne falling into a fake relationship to make them jealous and honestly them being roommates as well was so hot. It was different from other fake dating tropes because of the way it was set but the way it unraveled could have been something more. There's this quote during this scene where Daphne tells Miles of what she did that I laughed at and smiled stupidly at:
"Wait!' He braces his hands against the counter, face brightening. "So he called to try to make you feel so pathetic you wouldn't come ruin his special day and you told him we were dating?'
'Im sorry,' I say again.
'That fucking rules,' He says. 'How'd he take it?"
Daphne and Miles were such good characters and I kind of think that there could have been more depth to them but I still enjoyed the way that they were written in like Daphne self doubting herself because of her father always left her after promising that he was there to stay and I loved how she got over it and finally confessed her feeling by giving an angry rant on his phone because he needed that and I also appreciated the bond that she had with her mother although I do think that we could have gotten more one on one scenes for them and as for Miles, I loved him so much and its with all Emily Henry's men, I see myself in them.. be it Gus, Wyn, Charlie, Alex or Miles theres always something within them that I find I can relate too and for here with Miles was how he texts, the way he overuses the word nice which bug Roxy off so much but for me the thing that I related to him the most was where He panicked and reacted anxiously and then realized what he had done a little too late I won't elaborate on that because that would be a spoiler but I did get him during that scene but besides that scene, Miles was such a cute and hot too?? loved him. There was one thing that I appreciated as well but thought more could have been done was Miles past with her mother and how it turned him into who he was, always overlooking peoples negative side, never lashing out and always being nice(?)
Their banter that I loved:
"True,' he says 'but I haven't had any luck yet tracking down the stretch of beach where thirtysomethings go to smoke weed'
'Oh, they're all just vaping from their beds while watching HGTV'
'Not us,' he says
'No, we're adventurous' I say"
_
"I turn to look at him. 'Even when you try to be mean, you're nice,'
His eyes seem to spark when he smiles. 'I'll try harder."
_
"Do me a favor,' he says lightly, 'Unlock your door.'
'Why?'
'So I can push you out as I peel out of the parking lot,' he says,
'You would never,' I say
'I would never' he admits."
_
“Drink. Dance. Have fun.”
“In a room with our exes,” I point out. “Who think we’re dating.”
Miles’s smile hitches up. “See?” he says. “Doesn’t that sound fun?”
I absolutely loved the friendship that Ashleigh and Daphne had because it was so down to earth and real and raw that I just fell in love with it and I think it was because Emily focused on Ashleighs character as well and gave her a story which made us understand where she was coming from and what was happening and how that eventually led them to be friends and I also loved how she supported Daphne's decisions but wont lie to her as well and would subtly try to make her understand things, she was certainly better than whatever the fuck Sadie was. Another bond that I liked but thought some scenes could have been explored more was of Miles and his sister JUlie they were just so wholesome and cute and deserve the whole world.
"You're worth it, Daphne," he says, hand soft on my jaw and eyes closed.
'Miles?' I whisper. 'I do, I do what all those parts of you'
His eyes open, molten, warm, 'Good,' He says. 'They want you too.'
Then he kisses me."
The romance was honestly the horniest Emily has ever been it was not I would say insta-lust because there was development and it wasn't like ' oh one look and im hard' but it was that instead of the intense pining, proximity and slow burn, they just acted on what they felt. I am a sucker for slow burn and wanted more but I cant deny how much I enjoyed reading the scenes. Also, the way emily henry also writes poetic smut?? Like??? How can you do that woman. Despite it being her horniest, it was very well balanced.
Now,The things that could have been better; (spoilers)(credits;roxy)
1, More drama as we were promised a wedding which could have increased the sexual tension, the fake dating part and the drama a lot.
2, Daphne going to her mom to rant like we saw Rory do with Lorelai in Gilmore Girls.
3, Male povs because having Miles's POV would have been so interesting since would've gotten his emotional scene with Julie and it wouldve been more showing and less telling.
4, More drama by Miles's mother meeting them and this book being at least 200 pages more
Now the scenes that I loved
1, When Daphne gets dumped and throws almonds at Petra and Peter
2, Miles and Daphne hanging out across the town
3, The cherry hill scene with Ashleigh, Miles and Daphne
4, Daphne making it up to Ashleigh
5, Miles going to confront Daphne's dad
6, The cute tender moments between Miles and Daphne that will make you feel single.
7, the milkshake, fries and beach scene.
Overall, a fantastic read that I will definitely read again and again despite some things that could have been added.
Ratings for her other books:
1, Beach read: 5
2, Happy place: 5
3, Funny story: 4.75
4, People we meet on vacation: 4.5
5, Book lovers: 4.02
Special shoutout to Roxy for getting me to read all of Emily's books last year and hearing my rants about it. We need another EH buddy reading session.
___
___
Its time 💫
• Buddy reading with the one and only Roxy
(Emily Henry so far all my anticipated reads have not met my expectations I'm begging you pls don't disappoint.)
___
Yes, Emily henry is a drug and i am an addict.
I am not even joking when i say this but this is the only ting that i am looking forward to this year.
Emily Henry writes the best books, her writing style alone is so beautiful and bewitching and the feeling of loosing yourself to it is so immense and amazing that i just cant wait to feel that again!!
May 16, 2024
2.5/5
The review contains spoilers!
What a forgettable, bland, boring and not Funny Story. This is my first Emily Henry book that turned out being such a letdown for me, as I was a big fan of the rest of her stories, or at least most of them. I don't know if the title was meant to refer to the way our two main characters, Miles and Daphne, started their relationship — "You know, Funny Story.. my fiancé dumped me for his childhood best friend, who happened to be Miles’s girlfriend, and that’s how we ended up living together, and then I accidentally told my ex-fiancé that Miles and I are dating, so now we are fake dating.", or if it was just meant to suggest that this would be a fun story to read, but unfortunately it didn't turn out to be that for me.
As usual, as in every Emily Henry book, we have a book-loving character, this time a librarian — Daphne, who turned out to be quite an okay heroine for me. I could relate to her in a few ways and if I had to choose which main character I liked more, I would point at her, but at the same time she wasn't even close to how I could relate to January, who I'm starting to think will always be my favorite heroine of this author. I probably would have felt more than just "quiet okay" about her if she hadn't moaned every time she ate something, but like I said, she wasn't that bad. I actually loved that she stood her ground and never considered going back to her cheating ex-fiancé, unlike our hero who wasn't so sure about it and who, speaking of which, let's get to him now.
Miles Nowak, our Bridget Jones's Diary-watching, spicy-woodsy-smelling (like every other romance book hero), Crocs-loving hero who as for now is my least favorite Emily Henry male character. Yes, he had some good moments, but instead of screaming, blushing, and kicking my feet for how wonderful he was with Daphne, I kept thinking about these facts about him
The love of your life? Hell no. I didn't like that he said that about his cheating ex-girlfriend, so I expected him to say the same thing about the heroine later in the book, but that didn't happen. I know he loved Daphne and chose her, but this quote left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Or when the question was asked "if they would get back together with their exes" and Daphne's answer was this
and Miles’s that
She cheated on you with her best friend?!? What do you mean "I don’t know."?? It should have been "No." from the very beginning when you found out about it.
The worst moment in the book that confirmed me why he is my least favorite Emily Henry hero was when he went to see his ex when she called him crying and because of that he left Daphne waiting for him.
She cheated on you and then a month later was engaged to her best friend!?! What do mean you still care about her??
And then the first person to know he loved Daphne was also his ex. You know that feeling when you read a romance novel and you just feel that the hero loves the heroine? In Miles' case it was the opposite. Throughout the book, I had the impression that if his ex-girlfriend wanted to come back to him, he would welcome her with open arms. Only at the end of the book, when he did one thing, I was like "Hmm, okay, maybe he loves Daphne then.". But as I just said, I only started feeling it at the end of the book. All the things I mentioned, plus the fact that a month after the breakup he still kept pictures of her in his room instead of burning them, are why he will probably always be my least favorite Emily character.
I don't even know what to say about the romance part of the book because it was boring as the chemistry between Daphne and Miles seemed non-existent to me. They finally confessed their love to each other, and the only thing I felt was happiness, because I knew that this book would end soon. I guess that alone says enough how much I enjoyed their love story.
I never expected that reading Emily Henry's book would evoke so many unpleasant emotions in me, and yet, as you can see, it unfortunately happened. I hope I'm in the minority of people who feel this way, because Emily's book being one of the biggest disappointments of the year wasn’t on my bingo card.
────────
Me at my graduation: 😐
Me at my wedding: 😐
Me when Emily Henry announces a new book: 😍😍😩😩😻😻😻😍🥰🥰😍🥰
The review contains spoilers!
What a forgettable, bland, boring and not Funny Story. This is my first Emily Henry book that turned out being such a letdown for me, as I was a big fan of the rest of her stories, or at least most of them. I don't know if the title was meant to refer to the way our two main characters, Miles and Daphne, started their relationship — "You know, Funny Story.. my fiancé dumped me for his childhood best friend, who happened to be Miles’s girlfriend, and that’s how we ended up living together, and then I accidentally told my ex-fiancé that Miles and I are dating, so now we are fake dating.", or if it was just meant to suggest that this would be a fun story to read, but unfortunately it didn't turn out to be that for me.
As usual, as in every Emily Henry book, we have a book-loving character, this time a librarian — Daphne, who turned out to be quite an okay heroine for me. I could relate to her in a few ways and if I had to choose which main character I liked more, I would point at her, but at the same time she wasn't even close to how I could relate to January, who I'm starting to think will always be my favorite heroine of this author. I probably would have felt more than just "quiet okay" about her if she hadn't moaned every time she ate something, but like I said, she wasn't that bad. I actually loved that she stood her ground and never considered going back to her cheating ex-fiancé, unlike our hero who wasn't so sure about it and who, speaking of which, let's get to him now.
Miles Nowak, our Bridget Jones's Diary-watching, spicy-woodsy-smelling (like every other romance book hero), Crocs-loving hero who as for now is my least favorite Emily Henry male character. Yes, he had some good moments, but instead of screaming, blushing, and kicking my feet for how wonderful he was with Daphne, I kept thinking about these facts about him
"Miles looks up at me.
“They,” I say, “suck.”
“She’s the love of my life,” he says.
“The love of your life sucks,” I tell him."
The love of your life? Hell no. I didn't like that he said that about his cheating ex-girlfriend, so I expected him to say the same thing about the heroine later in the book, but that didn't happen. I know he loved Daphne and chose her, but this quote left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Or when the question was asked "if they would get back together with their exes" and Daphne's answer was this
"Would he take her back? I find myself wondering, before seamlessly transitioning into Would I take Peter back? “Definitely not,” I say aloud."
and Miles’s that
"Petra was the exception, not the rule, for me. So if she wanted to get back together? I don’t know. But it’s not worth thinking about, since she’s engaged to your ex-boyfriend.”
She cheated on you with her best friend?!? What do you mean "I don’t know."?? It should have been "No." from the very beginning when you found out about it.
The worst moment in the book that confirmed me why he is my least favorite Emily Henry hero was when he went to see his ex when she called him crying and because of that he left Daphne waiting for him.
"And then Petra called, and she was sobbing. So hard I couldn’t understand her. I’d never seen her cry before. I honestly thought someone had died. She asked if I could come see her, and I said yes. Because I was worried. I still care about her.”
She cheated on you and then a month later was engaged to her best friend!?! What do mean you still care about her??
"I didn’t mean to tell her first.” The tops of his cheeks redden. “That I’m in love with you."
And then the first person to know he loved Daphne was also his ex. You know that feeling when you read a romance novel and you just feel that the hero loves the heroine? In Miles' case it was the opposite. Throughout the book, I had the impression that if his ex-girlfriend wanted to come back to him, he would welcome her with open arms. Only at the end of the book, when he did one thing, I was like "Hmm, okay, maybe he loves Daphne then.". But as I just said, I only started feeling it at the end of the book. All the things I mentioned, plus the fact that a month after the breakup he still kept pictures of her in his room instead of burning them, are why he will probably always be my least favorite Emily character.
I don't even know what to say about the romance part of the book because it was boring as the chemistry between Daphne and Miles seemed non-existent to me. They finally confessed their love to each other, and the only thing I felt was happiness, because I knew that this book would end soon. I guess that alone says enough how much I enjoyed their love story.
I never expected that reading Emily Henry's book would evoke so many unpleasant emotions in me, and yet, as you can see, it unfortunately happened. I hope I'm in the minority of people who feel this way, because Emily's book being one of the biggest disappointments of the year wasn’t on my bingo card.
────────
Me at my graduation: 😐
Me at my wedding: 😐
Me when Emily Henry announces a new book: 😍😍😩😩😻😻😻😍🥰🥰😍🥰
May 6, 2024
I give this book 4.5 stars, rounded up to steamy forced proximity, friends to lovers, opposites attraction. In no way can I give any Emily Henry book less than five stars.
This book isn't my favorite among Emily Henry's works. "Happy Place" holds that position, while "People We Meet on Vacation" is my least favorite of hers. (By the way, both earned five stars from me, so I have to work on a different grading system for Henry’s books like triple five stars, minus five stars, etc. But I'm sure each of her books will become my favorite romance readings of the year, even though Colleen Hoover releases a book at the same time. Yep, ColHo fans, I’m one of yours, but fair is fair! Emily Henry is a true musician and poet playing the strings of my heart.)
But let's be honest: Miles Nowak is the BEST BOYFRIEND Emily Henry has created! He’s caring, a charm magnet, selfless, easy-going, adventurous – not only the best boyfriend but also the best male friend any woman seeks. His irresistible hotness is the cherry on top. I'm usually irritated by the heroes Emily Henry creates, but so far, Miles has exceeded them with his good heart, sense of humor, naturalness, without having a selfish bone in his body!
I have to admit I had doubts when I first decided to read this book because I've never been a fan of love triangles or ex-lover situations. When they are involved, things get messier, and emotions get blurrier. Most characters do something irritating, missing the ex or trying to rekindle, which pisses me off.
I won't give spoilers, but I can say this: the situation of becoming roommates with your ex-fiancée’s new fiancée’s ex-boyfriend couldn’t be handled very gently and fairly. Both Daphne and Miles are wise, analyzing their situations very reasonably. When they accidentally find themselves in a fake dating situation, they even share their thoughts honestly. That’s why I loved both of the characters. They know their own flaws, weaknesses, and they don’t whine or obsess over their exes. They hold each other to get through the trauma, and from their mutual tragic incident, a beautiful, unique friendship is born. I loved how they slowly lowered down their barriers, learning to explore themselves and the huge life awaiting them. They acted so mature and were so careful not to be each other’s rebound, even though the sparks fly and burn the apartment they share to the ground.
The plot revolves around Daphne, who loves the story of how she met her fiancée Peter until he dumps her after the bachelor party to choose his childhood friend Petra over her, giving her one week to move from their shared house, heading to the Amalfi Coast with his new girlfriend! Yes, what a jerk! Homeless and hopeless, Daphne, who recently left her old life behind to start a new life with Peter, finds Miles: Petra’s dumped a few minutes ago boyfriend at Peter’s door, and she pops up the question: is there any vacant room at your apartment?
Yes, the equation might be too complicated. Daphne: reserved, tight-lipped, buttoned-up children’s librarian living with a carefree, adventurous, pothead guy who is working odd jobs, as her ex-fiancée defined. But when they get an invitation to Petra & Peter’s wedding, their very reserved roommate relationship changes after a night ends at the bar, and both of them decide to RSVP to the wedding. And guess what? The same day Peter makes a pity call that leads Daphne to lie about her relationship situation with Miles. She says they are dating, and thankfully Miles plays along with her game.
But what if she misjudged Miles from the beginning? This self-deprecating, friendly guy who always puts others before him, comes to the library to cheer him up when she reads books to the kids, takes him places in town she has never seen, helps her open her mind and heart, rediscovering herself. Is he the guy her heart wants?
Well, I loved Miles, I loved Daphne & Miles' love story, and the beautiful epilogue in the end! No more words! Emily Henry never disappoints me! She meticulously solved this challenging relationship equation with the best possible outcome! Go on! Read, reread, and reread this lovely book!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing book’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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This book isn't my favorite among Emily Henry's works. "Happy Place" holds that position, while "People We Meet on Vacation" is my least favorite of hers. (By the way, both earned five stars from me, so I have to work on a different grading system for Henry’s books like triple five stars, minus five stars, etc. But I'm sure each of her books will become my favorite romance readings of the year, even though Colleen Hoover releases a book at the same time. Yep, ColHo fans, I’m one of yours, but fair is fair! Emily Henry is a true musician and poet playing the strings of my heart.)
But let's be honest: Miles Nowak is the BEST BOYFRIEND Emily Henry has created! He’s caring, a charm magnet, selfless, easy-going, adventurous – not only the best boyfriend but also the best male friend any woman seeks. His irresistible hotness is the cherry on top. I'm usually irritated by the heroes Emily Henry creates, but so far, Miles has exceeded them with his good heart, sense of humor, naturalness, without having a selfish bone in his body!
I have to admit I had doubts when I first decided to read this book because I've never been a fan of love triangles or ex-lover situations. When they are involved, things get messier, and emotions get blurrier. Most characters do something irritating, missing the ex or trying to rekindle, which pisses me off.
I won't give spoilers, but I can say this: the situation of becoming roommates with your ex-fiancée’s new fiancée’s ex-boyfriend couldn’t be handled very gently and fairly. Both Daphne and Miles are wise, analyzing their situations very reasonably. When they accidentally find themselves in a fake dating situation, they even share their thoughts honestly. That’s why I loved both of the characters. They know their own flaws, weaknesses, and they don’t whine or obsess over their exes. They hold each other to get through the trauma, and from their mutual tragic incident, a beautiful, unique friendship is born. I loved how they slowly lowered down their barriers, learning to explore themselves and the huge life awaiting them. They acted so mature and were so careful not to be each other’s rebound, even though the sparks fly and burn the apartment they share to the ground.
The plot revolves around Daphne, who loves the story of how she met her fiancée Peter until he dumps her after the bachelor party to choose his childhood friend Petra over her, giving her one week to move from their shared house, heading to the Amalfi Coast with his new girlfriend! Yes, what a jerk! Homeless and hopeless, Daphne, who recently left her old life behind to start a new life with Peter, finds Miles: Petra’s dumped a few minutes ago boyfriend at Peter’s door, and she pops up the question: is there any vacant room at your apartment?
Yes, the equation might be too complicated. Daphne: reserved, tight-lipped, buttoned-up children’s librarian living with a carefree, adventurous, pothead guy who is working odd jobs, as her ex-fiancée defined. But when they get an invitation to Petra & Peter’s wedding, their very reserved roommate relationship changes after a night ends at the bar, and both of them decide to RSVP to the wedding. And guess what? The same day Peter makes a pity call that leads Daphne to lie about her relationship situation with Miles. She says they are dating, and thankfully Miles plays along with her game.
But what if she misjudged Miles from the beginning? This self-deprecating, friendly guy who always puts others before him, comes to the library to cheer him up when she reads books to the kids, takes him places in town she has never seen, helps her open her mind and heart, rediscovering herself. Is he the guy her heart wants?
Well, I loved Miles, I loved Daphne & Miles' love story, and the beautiful epilogue in the end! No more words! Emily Henry never disappoints me! She meticulously solved this challenging relationship equation with the best possible outcome! Go on! Read, reread, and reread this lovely book!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing book’s digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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April 30, 2024
my heart is broken. i feel like i'm dying. the world holds nothing for me anymore.
i'm three starring this book.
i adore emily henry, and i have since her magical realism days. i'd happily read her to-do lists if she released them once a year, and i'm sure even those would have more banter and loveliness and whimsy than your average full-length release just by virtue of being written by her. i'd say the same about her grocery lists, but i already do read those. (the woman writes a mean substack.)
there were a few things i didn't love about this book. it tries to fit so much into a few hundred pages: our protagonist, daphne, is left by her fiance weeks before her wedding, causing her to: move in with miles, her fiance's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend; realize she has no friends; begin a quest to find herself; get over the fiancé and fall in love with miles; join a variety of community groups and neighborhood activities; make her current job her dream job; repress some CLEAR mommy issues i thought we were going to address, and fully get over her daddy issues.
all of this is happening so much.
it comes at a cost, which is that typical emily henry magic (and i don't just mean the bygone magical realism i mourn every day and never shut up about).
this book is not quite as funny — jokes feel forced, sometimes to the point that you can only identify something as reaching for funny because the character "joked" or "played along" instead of "said."
it is not quite as polished, with writing feeling a bit unconfident, full of words italicized for emphasis and, you know, the whole verbs that aren't said thing. (there are a LOT of dialogue attribution words that aren't "said.")
and the characters have none of their usual better-version-of-reality charm. miles' nick miller archetype would never work for me personally, but my real issue with him is that his character traits fade once we're supposed to see him as a romantic prospect. our side characters, ashleigh and julia, feel like interchangeable joke-bots to the point of being vaguely threatening. (when they pop up on page in tandem i feel a sense of unease.)
and to be honest, daphne has no self awareness. because there's so much happening in this book, everything has to be incredibly simple: daphne's issue with her dad, AND daphne's issue with miles, AND daphne's friends' issue with daphne all has to be the same. it makes for some moments of ridiculousness — like how can daphne be melting down about being wronged on the same city block where she realized several hours earlier she had wronged someone in that exact same way? how could she be so unwilling to give the grace she expects for herself? and how could emily henry set scenes of this book on a cherry farm in michigan when she knew what it would do to me, specifically?!
sorry. that's the last time i'll bring up magical realism. i think.
ol' daph just has too much to figure out about herself. i think this abandonment would be so completely traumatic even if she HADN'T built her entire life around her fiancé only to be left entirely alone, and even if it WASN'T eerily similar to her daddy issues, and even if she DIDN'T have a bunch of unresolved things going on up in ye olde memory palace, that the last thing she'd be doing is sticking around someone else's hometown flirting with her new roomie.
especially since what she ends up doing is repeating the exact same cycle with no awareness at all.
and in the worst offense, miles' illiterate texting style reminded me of the himbos i used to date (date doing a lot of heavy lifting here) in my wayward youth. which should be a jailable offense in and of itself.
bottom line: like anything emily henry has ever written, this is better than a lot of books. it just isn't better than most emily henry ones.
----------------------
currently-reading update
me arriving to the world's biggest emily henry fan contest but my competition is all of goodreads
(GUYS IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING)
thanks to the publisher for the e-arc
----------------------
tbr review
i would like to request that no one talk to me about anything that isn't this for the next 3 to 5 business years.
i'm three starring this book.
i adore emily henry, and i have since her magical realism days. i'd happily read her to-do lists if she released them once a year, and i'm sure even those would have more banter and loveliness and whimsy than your average full-length release just by virtue of being written by her. i'd say the same about her grocery lists, but i already do read those. (the woman writes a mean substack.)
there were a few things i didn't love about this book. it tries to fit so much into a few hundred pages: our protagonist, daphne, is left by her fiance weeks before her wedding, causing her to: move in with miles, her fiance's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend; realize she has no friends; begin a quest to find herself; get over the fiancé and fall in love with miles; join a variety of community groups and neighborhood activities; make her current job her dream job; repress some CLEAR mommy issues i thought we were going to address, and fully get over her daddy issues.
all of this is happening so much.
it comes at a cost, which is that typical emily henry magic (and i don't just mean the bygone magical realism i mourn every day and never shut up about).
this book is not quite as funny — jokes feel forced, sometimes to the point that you can only identify something as reaching for funny because the character "joked" or "played along" instead of "said."
it is not quite as polished, with writing feeling a bit unconfident, full of words italicized for emphasis and, you know, the whole verbs that aren't said thing. (there are a LOT of dialogue attribution words that aren't "said.")
and the characters have none of their usual better-version-of-reality charm. miles' nick miller archetype would never work for me personally, but my real issue with him is that his character traits fade once we're supposed to see him as a romantic prospect. our side characters, ashleigh and julia, feel like interchangeable joke-bots to the point of being vaguely threatening. (when they pop up on page in tandem i feel a sense of unease.)
and to be honest, daphne has no self awareness. because there's so much happening in this book, everything has to be incredibly simple: daphne's issue with her dad, AND daphne's issue with miles, AND daphne's friends' issue with daphne all has to be the same. it makes for some moments of ridiculousness — like how can daphne be melting down about being wronged on the same city block where she realized several hours earlier she had wronged someone in that exact same way? how could she be so unwilling to give the grace she expects for herself? and how could emily henry set scenes of this book on a cherry farm in michigan when she knew what it would do to me, specifically?!
sorry. that's the last time i'll bring up magical realism. i think.
ol' daph just has too much to figure out about herself. i think this abandonment would be so completely traumatic even if she HADN'T built her entire life around her fiancé only to be left entirely alone, and even if it WASN'T eerily similar to her daddy issues, and even if she DIDN'T have a bunch of unresolved things going on up in ye olde memory palace, that the last thing she'd be doing is sticking around someone else's hometown flirting with her new roomie.
especially since what she ends up doing is repeating the exact same cycle with no awareness at all.
and in the worst offense, miles' illiterate texting style reminded me of the himbos i used to date (date doing a lot of heavy lifting here) in my wayward youth. which should be a jailable offense in and of itself.
bottom line: like anything emily henry has ever written, this is better than a lot of books. it just isn't better than most emily henry ones.
----------------------
currently-reading update
me arriving to the world's biggest emily henry fan contest but my competition is all of goodreads
(GUYS IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING)
thanks to the publisher for the e-arc
----------------------
tbr review
i would like to request that no one talk to me about anything that isn't this for the next 3 to 5 business years.
April 26, 2024
funny story? ha. ain’t nothing funny about the way my heart was tugged while reading this book. emily henry im under your bed cuz why’d you write a fmc that has the same thoughts and fears as me?!? 💀
opposites attract has never been written better than before this. Daphne and Miles were written for each other like a prophecy. this is one of emily’s most horniest books yet, and i was there for it all the way through. “his mouth is still cool from the lemonade, his breath tinged with hints of lavender, and his hand slides around to the small of my back, fisting into my shirt…” i love these descriptions. there was something very tender when he said “always so buttoned up” to Daphne, who’s a librarian, as he was ripping her clothes off. 🫶🏽
i just know if i had an attentive, calm, loving, cherishing, beautiful man like Miles in my life he’d be extremely manly to the point where i can turn off my brain, be a girly girl, and not have a worry in the world. his gentle love felt like a caress to my soul. the way he effortlessly took care of her, saw the signs, respected her space and mind. Miles…YOU GOT IT LIKE THAT?!? he makes me feel like im standing in sunlight☀️
lives were changed when Miles said, “ I know I’m not who you pictured yourself with, but I think I could be, eventually. If you’ll let me. So don’t go. Because I don’t want you to. Because you’re my best friend, and I’m in love with you.” brother my knees just hit the floor in the middle of walmart😭
Daphne such a well rounded character. her fears were so real and the way she overcame them was nothing if not humbling. emily writes her fmc so nuanced and layered and deep. i feel like she’s writing about me and im ok with that 😁
also if i ever catch Peter in public im throwing a brick at him
emily henry books ranking:
1) beach read
2) funny story
3) book lovers
4) people we meet on vacation
5) happy place
opposites attract has never been written better than before this. Daphne and Miles were written for each other like a prophecy. this is one of emily’s most horniest books yet, and i was there for it all the way through. “his mouth is still cool from the lemonade, his breath tinged with hints of lavender, and his hand slides around to the small of my back, fisting into my shirt…” i love these descriptions. there was something very tender when he said “always so buttoned up” to Daphne, who’s a librarian, as he was ripping her clothes off. 🫶🏽
i just know if i had an attentive, calm, loving, cherishing, beautiful man like Miles in my life he’d be extremely manly to the point where i can turn off my brain, be a girly girl, and not have a worry in the world. his gentle love felt like a caress to my soul. the way he effortlessly took care of her, saw the signs, respected her space and mind. Miles…YOU GOT IT LIKE THAT?!? he makes me feel like im standing in sunlight☀️
lives were changed when Miles said, “ I know I’m not who you pictured yourself with, but I think I could be, eventually. If you’ll let me. So don’t go. Because I don’t want you to. Because you’re my best friend, and I’m in love with you.” brother my knees just hit the floor in the middle of walmart😭
Daphne such a well rounded character. her fears were so real and the way she overcame them was nothing if not humbling. emily writes her fmc so nuanced and layered and deep. i feel like she’s writing about me and im ok with that 😁
also if i ever catch Peter in public im throwing a brick at him
emily henry books ranking:
1) beach read
2) funny story
3) book lovers
4) people we meet on vacation
5) happy place
April 24, 2024
to preface this review, i love and adore emily henry's books. book lovers is in my top 5 books of all time (and i am not a romance reader), and happy place is the only book that made me cry last year. time is truly measured in emily henry releases for me.
my current emily henry rom com ranking is: book lovers (5 stars), happy place (5 stars), beach read (4.5 stars), funny story (3 stars), and people we meet on vacation (2.5 stars). if we have completely different rankings, you'll probably feel differently about this book!
if you are a big romance reader (reading books for the romance), you will most likely enjoy this a lot. but if you are a lit fic reader who loves emily henry books for the protagonists and their introspection and the fact that her romance feels grounded and realistic (me), this might be a slight miss. it's been a while since i've described an emily henry book as just "good", but this one feels like that for me.
funny story still has emily henry's signature witty dialogue and chemistry between miles and daphne. it is arguably her most commercial romance to date, filled with more romantic scenes between the two characters. daphne, after being dumped by her fiancé for his best friend, decides to room with miles, who was dumped by said best friend. in classic emily henry rom com style, funny story is set in a beautiful town in the midwest (michigan), charged with quick banter and heart to hearts between the characters. in this vein, the book felt like a mix of beach read and book lovers, in a sense.
but not really. while it's impossible for me to dislike a emily henry book because of her writing, much of my enjoyment as a reader comes from being able to see myself and parts of my personality reflected through either protagonist. for book lovers, it was overwhelmingly nora, for happy place, it was harriet, for beach read, it was gus, and for people we meet on vacation, it was alex. and so on.
the main qualm i had with funny story is that neither miles nor daphne felt relatable to me, which made it a less enjoyable read than her other books. this is why i say that my neutral stance on this book is most likely a personal one. daphne and miles both felt very confusing to me as characters, almost as if they were hybrids of emily henry's previous characters. i couldn't quite get either of their characterizations or defining traits. there is not a single emily henry book i didn't read in one sitting...until this one.
like i mentioned above, a big reason for my love for emily henry books is her protagonists and how their introspection does not read like other commercial romance books, but more like literary fiction. her characters are well thought through, reflective, and very three dimensional. nora was literally just me from start to finish (so i don't have to really put forth a defense about three dimensionality). harriet's introspection on loneliness and living for other people genuinely changed my life. but daphne didn't really have any.
the chemistry and get-together also felt a bit rushed and forced at times, and the dialogue and heart to hearts felt less genuine and blander than her other books. for a book called funny story, it was...not. i think my big issue was just with miles as well. he just didn't enough charisma and charm for this book to be memorable for me. wyn and alex didn't really either, but i related a lot to alex and wyn was redeemed through harriet.
funny story is a great read and definitely still a cut above other romance books. but this one just didn't do it for me. i really hope her next release works for me!
thank you berkley for the arc!
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
i didn't love this i'm sorry guys
review to come
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
I GOT THE ARC WHOOOOOOO
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
emily henry ! do you want my firstborn? my college diploma? my kidney? you name it, it’s yours !!!
my current emily henry rom com ranking is: book lovers (5 stars), happy place (5 stars), beach read (4.5 stars), funny story (3 stars), and people we meet on vacation (2.5 stars). if we have completely different rankings, you'll probably feel differently about this book!
if you are a big romance reader (reading books for the romance), you will most likely enjoy this a lot. but if you are a lit fic reader who loves emily henry books for the protagonists and their introspection and the fact that her romance feels grounded and realistic (me), this might be a slight miss. it's been a while since i've described an emily henry book as just "good", but this one feels like that for me.
funny story still has emily henry's signature witty dialogue and chemistry between miles and daphne. it is arguably her most commercial romance to date, filled with more romantic scenes between the two characters. daphne, after being dumped by her fiancé for his best friend, decides to room with miles, who was dumped by said best friend. in classic emily henry rom com style, funny story is set in a beautiful town in the midwest (michigan), charged with quick banter and heart to hearts between the characters. in this vein, the book felt like a mix of beach read and book lovers, in a sense.
but not really. while it's impossible for me to dislike a emily henry book because of her writing, much of my enjoyment as a reader comes from being able to see myself and parts of my personality reflected through either protagonist. for book lovers, it was overwhelmingly nora, for happy place, it was harriet, for beach read, it was gus, and for people we meet on vacation, it was alex. and so on.
the main qualm i had with funny story is that neither miles nor daphne felt relatable to me, which made it a less enjoyable read than her other books. this is why i say that my neutral stance on this book is most likely a personal one. daphne and miles both felt very confusing to me as characters, almost as if they were hybrids of emily henry's previous characters. i couldn't quite get either of their characterizations or defining traits. there is not a single emily henry book i didn't read in one sitting...until this one.
like i mentioned above, a big reason for my love for emily henry books is her protagonists and how their introspection does not read like other commercial romance books, but more like literary fiction. her characters are well thought through, reflective, and very three dimensional. nora was literally just me from start to finish (so i don't have to really put forth a defense about three dimensionality). harriet's introspection on loneliness and living for other people genuinely changed my life. but daphne didn't really have any.
the chemistry and get-together also felt a bit rushed and forced at times, and the dialogue and heart to hearts felt less genuine and blander than her other books. for a book called funny story, it was...not. i think my big issue was just with miles as well. he just didn't enough charisma and charm for this book to be memorable for me. wyn and alex didn't really either, but i related a lot to alex and wyn was redeemed through harriet.
funny story is a great read and definitely still a cut above other romance books. but this one just didn't do it for me. i really hope her next release works for me!
thank you berkley for the arc!
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
i didn't love this i'm sorry guys
review to come
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
I GOT THE ARC WHOOOOOOO
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
emily henry ! do you want my firstborn? my college diploma? my kidney? you name it, it’s yours !!!
April 24, 2024
Beach read & Happy Place have my heart but now so does this book
I love Miles and Daphne sm
I love Miles and Daphne sm
April 30, 2024
make your love interest nick miller coded and i am SEATED
also there’s no way that many people could comfortably live in that apartment at one time
full blurb and review to be posted closer to publication
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc!!
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also there’s no way that many people could comfortably live in that apartment at one time
full blurb and review to be posted closer to publication
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc!!
Follow me on Instagram
April 30, 2024
GIRL DINNER
May 17, 2024
Emily Henry needs to write a romance that happens to me personally
April 28, 2024
So funny story.. I went in expecting to dislike it but ended up having a really great time 👀
May 2, 2024
4 stars!
i have now read three emily henry books, and while she is undoubtedly a talented writer, what i find most fascinating is the loyalty of her readers; going to your nearest bookstore on release day for a book that is probably no less than $30 — that’s dedication. and you know what, i think i finally get it.
i didn’t have particularly high expectations for funny story, but in all transparency, this just might be my favorite book of hers, hovering right above beach read (which i thoroughly enjoyed) and book lovers (of which i have no recollection but still think highly). it’s far from perfect, but it does a lot of things well, and that’s quite a feat considering it’s less than 400 pages (proof that less is more!) and, according to the reviews i’ve seen, her most “romantic” romance novel yet.
still — i think funny story, like her other books, straddles the line between lighthearted romcom and introspective women’s fiction. the banter in this one is some of the best she’s written — it’s reread worthy, the kind that makes you laugh out loud. the characters themselves are wonderfully written; it’s obvious that emily henry adores them. she crafted miles and daphne with so much care and thought, adding dimension to the characters through their experiences and focusing on how said experiences changed and ultimately shaped them into the miles and daphne we read about in this book. it’s rare for me to like one mc in a romance book, let alone both, but daphne felt so relatable — her thoughts mimicked my very own at times. and miles i had a soft spot for because how could you not? he’s this is me trying personified. and the romance? god, the romance. i’m a harsh rater, even more so when it comes to contemporary romance. but in every! one! of! her! books! emily henry prioritizes the emotional connection between the two main characters. and the way she develops their relationship and has them slowly open up to each other? it gets me. every. time. i live for their vulnerable moments, for their conversations about their pasts, about what haunts them, as much as i live for their banter.
despite this being first and foremost a romance, it is also a story about rediscovering yourself, relearning who you are and what you like and what you want out of life. it’s a reminder to live for yourself, to spend your days with the people you love, to love them without restraint or inhibition. the ending is beautifully uplifting, the last sentence tying back to the very first, the tone hopeful and reassuring. it’s what i think i needed right now as someone who’s entering her twenties and is so intimidated by the unknown, who’s tempted to run away from the unpredictability of it all. and i’m sure it’s a book i’ll come back to when, in five years, my life will probably make even less sense than it does now.
thank you to netgalley and berkley publishing for the arc 💓
i have now read three emily henry books, and while she is undoubtedly a talented writer, what i find most fascinating is the loyalty of her readers; going to your nearest bookstore on release day for a book that is probably no less than $30 — that’s dedication. and you know what, i think i finally get it.
i didn’t have particularly high expectations for funny story, but in all transparency, this just might be my favorite book of hers, hovering right above beach read (which i thoroughly enjoyed) and book lovers (of which i have no recollection but still think highly). it’s far from perfect, but it does a lot of things well, and that’s quite a feat considering it’s less than 400 pages (proof that less is more!) and, according to the reviews i’ve seen, her most “romantic” romance novel yet.
still — i think funny story, like her other books, straddles the line between lighthearted romcom and introspective women’s fiction. the banter in this one is some of the best she’s written — it’s reread worthy, the kind that makes you laugh out loud. the characters themselves are wonderfully written; it’s obvious that emily henry adores them. she crafted miles and daphne with so much care and thought, adding dimension to the characters through their experiences and focusing on how said experiences changed and ultimately shaped them into the miles and daphne we read about in this book. it’s rare for me to like one mc in a romance book, let alone both, but daphne felt so relatable — her thoughts mimicked my very own at times. and miles i had a soft spot for because how could you not? he’s this is me trying personified. and the romance? god, the romance. i’m a harsh rater, even more so when it comes to contemporary romance. but in every! one! of! her! books! emily henry prioritizes the emotional connection between the two main characters. and the way she develops their relationship and has them slowly open up to each other? it gets me. every. time. i live for their vulnerable moments, for their conversations about their pasts, about what haunts them, as much as i live for their banter.
despite this being first and foremost a romance, it is also a story about rediscovering yourself, relearning who you are and what you like and what you want out of life. it’s a reminder to live for yourself, to spend your days with the people you love, to love them without restraint or inhibition. the ending is beautifully uplifting, the last sentence tying back to the very first, the tone hopeful and reassuring. it’s what i think i needed right now as someone who’s entering her twenties and is so intimidated by the unknown, who’s tempted to run away from the unpredictability of it all. and i’m sure it’s a book i’ll come back to when, in five years, my life will probably make even less sense than it does now.
thank you to netgalley and berkley publishing for the arc 💓
May 12, 2024
UPDATE: I totally bought the Emily Henry merch shirt for this book. Worth it.
[Photo: Waning Bay Public Library Inaugural Overnight Read-A-Thon]
‘If I had to be marooned, I’m glad it was with you.’
Bust out the tweed and toast your awkward roommate if you’ve got one, Emily Henry has a romcom for you. Sometimes, just when it feels like smooth sailing on the raft you call a life, an unexpected fucker of a wave smashes your plans to splinters and send you off course and adrift. Such is the case for Daphne in Emily Henry’s charming new novel, Funny Story, whose life has been shipwrecked upon the shores of a Lake Michigan vacation town with the ex of her ex’s new fiance. You read that right, and these mutual exes are such a smart match they are practically named after each other, Peter and Petra, so out with the tweed and in with the twee I suppose. But, as Daphne learns, sometimes a shipwreck can be a new start to something more beautiful. One of this books biggest strengths in allowing the narrative to wade through sorrows to create a portrait of adults discovering how to carry their own baggage and how their interactions with others are affected by it with a lot of the drama not being a miscommunication trope, per say, but more people tripping themselves up into confirmation bias based on their own personal traumas. It has some grit that grounds the otherwise breezy narrative and the real love story is learning to love oneself in order to love and be loved. It does wrap up a bit overly idyllic but honestly, I felt the biggest cracks in the veneer of the story was when it tried to make things happier than it probably needed to be but I understand why that is the case. With her signature witty banter, wry humor, and characters that are easy to fall in love with as they fall apart and into love themselves, Funny Story is a endearing tale about picking up the pieces only to discover oneself amidst the wreckage, learn to be yourself for yourself, and find a love where you least expect.
‘The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren't imaginative enough to dream up.’
Alright let’s talk about love and stuff (surprise: the “stuff” is trauma!) I found Funny Story to read as a much quieter novel than most of Emily Henry’s works, but also found that, coupled with a slow-burn plot that lets scenes and character introspection really breathe, to be part of what made it so endearing for me. This will probably take some criticism for being slow but my favorite books are the sort that don’t exactly have what most people call a “plot” soooo this was fine for me. Funny Story reads more along the lines of the coziness in Book Lovers while also being more successful than I found Happy Place to be. Having just read Lynn Painter’s Happily Never After, I felt like this was a successful version of the many things that story tried to be (both books, however, have a thing about eating pizza being sexy which…ok…???) where the characters actually felt their age, the fake dating felt plausible, the third act drama was passably believable for the genre. It does try to tie up too many loose ends and solve all the issues and I don't think we needed that, but I suppose cliches are cliche for a reason and there are expectations in genres so thats more a Me thing. And like, sure there's a lot to pick at but also it’s aiming to be a fun book and it lands that aspect while also managing to have a dynamic look at how past hurts can haunt our self-esteem and hinder our vulnerability when trying to connect with others and that helped hold the story together. One person's breakdown is another person’s novel glue I guess? Wait, I think I just finally understood literature.
‘You can't force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don't.’
This is a fairly character driven narrative of self-discovery and trauma processing that just so happens to stumble into romance so having the characters be in their early 30s helped bring this to life. Also that everything sucks and they just keep having to go to work and smile because they work public facing jobs–I FELT THAT SO HARD. I’ve found in similar novels that the characters felt far too young for their ages whereas Funny Story captures being an adult but not having the stable career/family/housing/etc that would make one “feel adult.” It's a very Millennial narrative where jokes like ‘are we evil or just immature?’ to laugh off behavior felt very true to life and all these characters seemed to walk onto the page directly out of the sort of single, early 30s service industry folks I’ve known and been friends with. But it also positions the characters in the wreckage of their Round 1 attempt at adulthood where they can no longer pretend they aren’t a product of their past and have to weigh out how their past traumas and coping mechanisms have embedded into their personalities. Especially since both Miles and Daphne are still reeling from hurts caused by the actions of their parents and don’t have a healthy relationship to serve as a compass for their own (and Daphne’s father is still a source of constant disappointment). ‘I don’t want you to look at me like I’m broken,’ Miles says at one point and this cuts to the heart of how these character’s present themselves: eager to show they are alright while feeling far from fine inside and wanting to hide that.
Since so much of dating involves understanding each other’s defense mechanisms and unpacking how past traumas inform your interpersonal relationships, being able to be vulnerable is important to intimacy and Funny Story does well by showing how frustrating it can be to open yourself up at the same emotional places where you are currently bruised. Though, speaking of intimacy, readers should know Emily Henry is not a closed-door romance writer (as Ashleigh says it is ‘definitely not PG’) and while the sex scenes are fairly awkward here (I suspect the term “cringe” will get used in a lot of reviews) I think thats part of their charm as these are just…awkward people. Henry wrote a rather humorous article (read it HERE) on how to write sex scenes and the key detail she returns to several times is vulnerability and embracing the awkward, but also using the scenes to progress the characters.
While I’m not sure the scenes here really count as plot progression, I found the awkwardness that leaves the characters rather flustered and confused about their relationship to work as part of the character study that seems to be the focus of this book. Its a novel about finding yourself but thankfully its not white folks “finding themselves” by going to India or Joshua Tree listening to The Doors, its just getting high and watching action movies with your roommate and getting some “accidental” action of your own.
‘She’s a walking fantasy and I’m a librarian who actually does wear a lot of buttons and tweed.’
Learning to love oneself in all your faults and failures is difficult, but the joy in the discovery of what makes you “you” comes alive through Daphne quite well. The set up is pretty great and Henry launches you into it rather quickly. I do enjoy how it sort of mimics the set up in Book Lovers where she gets dumped in a very romcom ending “I realized my best friend was my love all along” way like Daphne is the discard fiance that barely gets any lines and seems lame anyways (so I guess shoutout to anyone who maybe identified with Mark Ruffalo’s fiance in 13 Going On 30?). This is just another incident in a long line of feeling not important in the lives of those who claim to love you, and having had an absentee father taught her a few self-defense mechanisms long ago:
Being free from a relationship she thought would sail her happily from life has also made her reflect on how she never really formed a solid sense of self and instead allowed a relationship to fill in all the blanks for her. ‘I always cleaved to people I love and tried to orient my orbit around them,’ she realizes, which was an attempt to ‘make myself unleavable.’ And guess what? They all left. But now she has a new opportunity to find herself in it all.
Having also ended up in a Michigan lakeshore vacation town only for my supposedly “got it together” lifeplans to go down like the Edmund Fitzgerald (if you are from Michigan you are required to love the Edmund Fitzgerald and think of the Great Lakes like some fierce god that gives life but takes it away. Any museum is like “Science/Art/History/etc is so cool!” Michigan museums are like “the Lake is a cruel mistress who will kill you and everyone you love!”), this all resonated with me. Too much maybe. But I loved seeing her come to love it and find her own place. ‘I feel embarrassing pride at having become a regular at someplace new all on my own,’ she thinks about becoming a familiar face in a coffee shop. Can confirm that is a cool feeling when you feel utterly alone in the world. Good for you, Daphne, find your place.
‘There’s no place on this earth like Waning Bay.’
Speaking of place, Emily Henry excels at capturing a sense of place and embedding it into her narratives as if the local community itself were a supporting cast character in her romcoms. It helps, too, that her locales tend to offer plenty of comedic relief along with their atmosphere. Henry has spoken at length about the importance of “place” in crafting her novels in interviews, stating that ‘I want my characters to feel like they grew up in the place where [my books are] set.’ In Funny Story, however, we watch Daphne as she has to learn a new place being stuck in a Northern Michigan vacation community, but it is less the way learning a place is about learning to better understand her love interest as it was in Book Lovers and more about learning to understand herself. Luckily she is aided by her new roommate, Miles, who also had to find his way amidst this community after shipwrecking there himself (can relate, buddy). Henry captures these Michigan communities in highly specific and humorous ways while making it still relatable to those unfamiliar with them. Maybe I’m biased and Daphne being a librarian and Miles being a bartender at a cherry themed wine bar is just something I’d enjoy because I work in a library after having myself been a wine bartender at a cherry themed establishment. But aspects of Michigan vacation towns felt so true to life. I laughed at the bar named “BARn” which is so eye-rollingly Michigan. But also aspects like seeing a young couple that are ‘on a first date which might somehow be an actual vacation,’ or everyone having their “corn guy, jam connection or cheesemonger, or someone saying things like being on the water is probably what church is to some folks. But for real, if you need amazing tomatoes, I know a guy.
‘A good librarian makes all the difference.’
The side characters are great as well, like the younger sister who brings in a lot of heartfelt discussions on family dynamics in response to family traumas, or the single-mom librarian. The library aspects are a bit kitschy but charming and I’m glad Henry presents the very real issues of how much blatant sexual harassment librarians face or the random moments of extreme anger or weirdness and how we just…deal with it and move along like a blip in the day. I usually hate when authors add libraries or librarians into plots because it's so stereotypically twee or inaccurate but Henry pulls it off well. Back to the sister for a moment, I thought the age gap between siblings was explored in a pretty comically-true-to-life way and how it wasn’t miscommunication between them but just…lack of communicating at all because you just assume what the other person is thinking. Which, okay real. That plays into the third act drama as well where its less a miscommunication and more falling victim to your own confirmation bias and assumptions. But Miles is sweet. I really liked Miles, guys. Miles feels like people I've met, especially in my bartending days. Also a coworker told me they think Miles is based on me. He’s not, I don’t own crocs (shoutout to the cover artist for including that). Did he do something sort of uncool at the end that Daphne is understandably upset about? Yes. Not great. But also did it feel like...well, something you'd hear a friend tell you about why their mad at a guy? Absolutely.
I also don't know if this actually needed a successful romance? Maybe that's just me but the aspect about loving yourself and existing outside the circle of your partner was pretty great and we could have left it at that.
‘A second act I fell into, and the home that I chose, as much as it chose me.
I can’t wait. I can’t wait for this whole world I’ve invited to surprise me.’
All in all, Funny Story is a sweet story of summer, libraries and finding joy in a new town and new friend. What I really loved about this book—even when it made me cry because I sobbed at the end—is how it just felt like people interacting with people and stumbling through their own issues instead of having some driving plot pushing people in directions. What I’m getting at is they felt like people instead of chess pieces for the sake of plot. The third act drama is done well too. Though when Henry tries to tell you that Michiganders refer to vacationers as “fudgies” for coming here to get our fudge (which is yum)...no we don’t. But the people from the Upper Peninsula DO in fact call the lower Peninsula “trolls.” Nobody in this novel says “ope” though, which is the Michigan noise for everything. Daphne should have said “ope” during a sex scene, I would have fallen over and then made this novel the State flag or something. Anyways, I enjoyed this and I hope you will too.
4/5
‘Family. The real kind, who will always love you, even when your decisions make no sense to them.’
[Photo: Waning Bay Public Library Inaugural Overnight Read-A-Thon]
‘If I had to be marooned, I’m glad it was with you.’
Bust out the tweed and toast your awkward roommate if you’ve got one, Emily Henry has a romcom for you. Sometimes, just when it feels like smooth sailing on the raft you call a life, an unexpected fucker of a wave smashes your plans to splinters and send you off course and adrift. Such is the case for Daphne in Emily Henry’s charming new novel, Funny Story, whose life has been shipwrecked upon the shores of a Lake Michigan vacation town with the ex of her ex’s new fiance. You read that right, and these mutual exes are such a smart match they are practically named after each other, Peter and Petra, so out with the tweed and in with the twee I suppose. But, as Daphne learns, sometimes a shipwreck can be a new start to something more beautiful. One of this books biggest strengths in allowing the narrative to wade through sorrows to create a portrait of adults discovering how to carry their own baggage and how their interactions with others are affected by it with a lot of the drama not being a miscommunication trope, per say, but more people tripping themselves up into confirmation bias based on their own personal traumas. It has some grit that grounds the otherwise breezy narrative and the real love story is learning to love oneself in order to love and be loved. It does wrap up a bit overly idyllic but honestly, I felt the biggest cracks in the veneer of the story was when it tried to make things happier than it probably needed to be but I understand why that is the case. With her signature witty banter, wry humor, and characters that are easy to fall in love with as they fall apart and into love themselves, Funny Story is a endearing tale about picking up the pieces only to discover oneself amidst the wreckage, learn to be yourself for yourself, and find a love where you least expect.
‘The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren't imaginative enough to dream up.’
Alright let’s talk about love and stuff (surprise: the “stuff” is trauma!) I found Funny Story to read as a much quieter novel than most of Emily Henry’s works, but also found that, coupled with a slow-burn plot that lets scenes and character introspection really breathe, to be part of what made it so endearing for me. This will probably take some criticism for being slow but my favorite books are the sort that don’t exactly have what most people call a “plot” soooo this was fine for me. Funny Story reads more along the lines of the coziness in Book Lovers while also being more successful than I found Happy Place to be. Having just read Lynn Painter’s Happily Never After, I felt like this was a successful version of the many things that story tried to be (both books, however, have a thing about eating pizza being sexy which…ok…???) where the characters actually felt their age, the fake dating felt plausible, the third act drama was passably believable for the genre. It does try to tie up too many loose ends and solve all the issues and I don't think we needed that, but I suppose cliches are cliche for a reason and there are expectations in genres so thats more a Me thing. And like, sure there's a lot to pick at but also it’s aiming to be a fun book and it lands that aspect while also managing to have a dynamic look at how past hurts can haunt our self-esteem and hinder our vulnerability when trying to connect with others and that helped hold the story together. One person's breakdown is another person’s novel glue I guess? Wait, I think I just finally understood literature.
‘You can't force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don't.’
This is a fairly character driven narrative of self-discovery and trauma processing that just so happens to stumble into romance so having the characters be in their early 30s helped bring this to life. Also that everything sucks and they just keep having to go to work and smile because they work public facing jobs–I FELT THAT SO HARD. I’ve found in similar novels that the characters felt far too young for their ages whereas Funny Story captures being an adult but not having the stable career/family/housing/etc that would make one “feel adult.” It's a very Millennial narrative where jokes like ‘are we evil or just immature?’ to laugh off behavior felt very true to life and all these characters seemed to walk onto the page directly out of the sort of single, early 30s service industry folks I’ve known and been friends with. But it also positions the characters in the wreckage of their Round 1 attempt at adulthood where they can no longer pretend they aren’t a product of their past and have to weigh out how their past traumas and coping mechanisms have embedded into their personalities. Especially since both Miles and Daphne are still reeling from hurts caused by the actions of their parents and don’t have a healthy relationship to serve as a compass for their own (and Daphne’s father is still a source of constant disappointment). ‘I don’t want you to look at me like I’m broken,’ Miles says at one point and this cuts to the heart of how these character’s present themselves: eager to show they are alright while feeling far from fine inside and wanting to hide that.
’It’s easy to be loved by the ones who’ve never seen you fuck up. The ones you’ve never had to apologize to, and who still think all your ‘quirks’ are charming.’
Since so much of dating involves understanding each other’s defense mechanisms and unpacking how past traumas inform your interpersonal relationships, being able to be vulnerable is important to intimacy and Funny Story does well by showing how frustrating it can be to open yourself up at the same emotional places where you are currently bruised. Though, speaking of intimacy, readers should know Emily Henry is not a closed-door romance writer (as Ashleigh says it is ‘definitely not PG’) and while the sex scenes are fairly awkward here (I suspect the term “cringe” will get used in a lot of reviews) I think thats part of their charm as these are just…awkward people. Henry wrote a rather humorous article (read it HERE) on how to write sex scenes and the key detail she returns to several times is vulnerability and embracing the awkward, but also using the scenes to progress the characters.
‘The scene has to change things. Because every scene has to change things.
And that’s it. As close as I think I could get teaching someone to write (or rewrite) a sex scene. You have to treat it like any other scene, because that’s what it is…It has to move the story. It has to shift the emotional landscape. It doesn’t have to be universally deemed sexy (it can’t; people like different things) and it doesn’t have to avoid the territory of cringe (it won’t, for the aforementioned reason). It simply has to be true to the story.’
While I’m not sure the scenes here really count as plot progression, I found the awkwardness that leaves the characters rather flustered and confused about their relationship to work as part of the character study that seems to be the focus of this book. Its a novel about finding yourself but thankfully its not white folks “finding themselves” by going to India or Joshua Tree listening to The Doors, its just getting high and watching action movies with your roommate and getting some “accidental” action of your own.
‘She’s a walking fantasy and I’m a librarian who actually does wear a lot of buttons and tweed.’
Learning to love oneself in all your faults and failures is difficult, but the joy in the discovery of what makes you “you” comes alive through Daphne quite well. The set up is pretty great and Henry launches you into it rather quickly. I do enjoy how it sort of mimics the set up in Book Lovers where she gets dumped in a very romcom ending “I realized my best friend was my love all along” way like Daphne is the discard fiance that barely gets any lines and seems lame anyways (so I guess shoutout to anyone who maybe identified with Mark Ruffalo’s fiance in 13 Going On 30?). This is just another incident in a long line of feeling not important in the lives of those who claim to love you, and having had an absentee father taught her a few self-defense mechanisms long ago:
‘Trust people’s actions, not their words.
Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back.
Let go of the people who don’t hold on to you.
Don’t wait on people who don’t jury for you.’
Being free from a relationship she thought would sail her happily from life has also made her reflect on how she never really formed a solid sense of self and instead allowed a relationship to fill in all the blanks for her. ‘I always cleaved to people I love and tried to orient my orbit around them,’ she realizes, which was an attempt to ‘make myself unleavable.’ And guess what? They all left. But now she has a new opportunity to find herself in it all.
‘Im not sure which parts of me are him and which parts are genuinely my own and I want to know. I want to know myself, to test my edges and see where I stop and the rest of the world begins.’
Having also ended up in a Michigan lakeshore vacation town only for my supposedly “got it together” lifeplans to go down like the Edmund Fitzgerald (if you are from Michigan you are required to love the Edmund Fitzgerald and think of the Great Lakes like some fierce god that gives life but takes it away. Any museum is like “Science/Art/History/etc is so cool!” Michigan museums are like “the Lake is a cruel mistress who will kill you and everyone you love!”), this all resonated with me. Too much maybe. But I loved seeing her come to love it and find her own place. ‘I feel embarrassing pride at having become a regular at someplace new all on my own,’ she thinks about becoming a familiar face in a coffee shop. Can confirm that is a cool feeling when you feel utterly alone in the world. Good for you, Daphne, find your place.
‘There’s no place on this earth like Waning Bay.’
Speaking of place, Emily Henry excels at capturing a sense of place and embedding it into her narratives as if the local community itself were a supporting cast character in her romcoms. It helps, too, that her locales tend to offer plenty of comedic relief along with their atmosphere. Henry has spoken at length about the importance of “place” in crafting her novels in interviews, stating that ‘I want my characters to feel like they grew up in the place where [my books are] set.’ In Funny Story, however, we watch Daphne as she has to learn a new place being stuck in a Northern Michigan vacation community, but it is less the way learning a place is about learning to better understand her love interest as it was in Book Lovers and more about learning to understand herself. Luckily she is aided by her new roommate, Miles, who also had to find his way amidst this community after shipwrecking there himself (can relate, buddy). Henry captures these Michigan communities in highly specific and humorous ways while making it still relatable to those unfamiliar with them. Maybe I’m biased and Daphne being a librarian and Miles being a bartender at a cherry themed wine bar is just something I’d enjoy because I work in a library after having myself been a wine bartender at a cherry themed establishment. But aspects of Michigan vacation towns felt so true to life. I laughed at the bar named “BARn” which is so eye-rollingly Michigan. But also aspects like seeing a young couple that are ‘on a first date which might somehow be an actual vacation,’ or everyone having their “corn guy, jam connection or cheesemonger, or someone saying things like being on the water is probably what church is to some folks. But for real, if you need amazing tomatoes, I know a guy.
‘A good librarian makes all the difference.’
The side characters are great as well, like the younger sister who brings in a lot of heartfelt discussions on family dynamics in response to family traumas, or the single-mom librarian. The library aspects are a bit kitschy but charming and I’m glad Henry presents the very real issues of how much blatant sexual harassment librarians face or the random moments of extreme anger or weirdness and how we just…deal with it and move along like a blip in the day. I usually hate when authors add libraries or librarians into plots because it's so stereotypically twee or inaccurate but Henry pulls it off well. Back to the sister for a moment, I thought the age gap between siblings was explored in a pretty comically-true-to-life way and how it wasn’t miscommunication between them but just…lack of communicating at all because you just assume what the other person is thinking. Which, okay real. That plays into the third act drama as well where its less a miscommunication and more falling victim to your own confirmation bias and assumptions. But Miles is sweet. I really liked Miles, guys. Miles feels like people I've met, especially in my bartending days. Also a coworker told me they think Miles is based on me. He’s not, I don’t own crocs (shoutout to the cover artist for including that). Did he do something sort of uncool at the end that Daphne is understandably upset about? Yes. Not great. But also did it feel like...well, something you'd hear a friend tell you about why their mad at a guy? Absolutely.
I also don't know if this actually needed a successful romance? Maybe that's just me but the aspect about loving yourself and existing outside the circle of your partner was pretty great and we could have left it at that.
‘A second act I fell into, and the home that I chose, as much as it chose me.
I can’t wait. I can’t wait for this whole world I’ve invited to surprise me.’
All in all, Funny Story is a sweet story of summer, libraries and finding joy in a new town and new friend. What I really loved about this book—even when it made me cry because I sobbed at the end—is how it just felt like people interacting with people and stumbling through their own issues instead of having some driving plot pushing people in directions. What I’m getting at is they felt like people instead of chess pieces for the sake of plot. The third act drama is done well too. Though when Henry tries to tell you that Michiganders refer to vacationers as “fudgies” for coming here to get our fudge (which is yum)...no we don’t. But the people from the Upper Peninsula DO in fact call the lower Peninsula “trolls.” Nobody in this novel says “ope” though, which is the Michigan noise for everything. Daphne should have said “ope” during a sex scene, I would have fallen over and then made this novel the State flag or something. Anyways, I enjoyed this and I hope you will too.
4/5
‘Family. The real kind, who will always love you, even when your decisions make no sense to them.’
April 28, 2024
damn can’t we get an actual funny story or like a happier story some time? i’m tired of this grandpa
(that being said i can begrudgingly admit this was well written and the hero was a real person so let’s all clap for the growth cause usually these dudes are just lady obsessed cardboard cutouts)
(that being said i can begrudgingly admit this was well written and the hero was a real person so let’s all clap for the growth cause usually these dudes are just lady obsessed cardboard cutouts)
May 18, 2024
Can a book survive on nothing but banter? Well, Funny Story sure tries.
Okay, all you rabid Emily Henry fans. Before you chuck your rotten eggs at me, please let me explain.
If ever there was an Emily Henry book that I should connect with, it's this one. Daphne is a librarian (my dream job) and she's in a pretend relationship with her roommate, Miles, in order to get back at her ex-fiancé (an intriguing premise). And yet, something was missing. I kept waiting for the story to grab me, and it never really did.
I hate to say it, but the crux of the problem is that the whole thing was rather forgettable. I only just finished the book, and already I hardly remember anything about it. The characters, the interactions, even the conflicts, while all feelgood on the surface, were in fact fairly bland underneath.
I enjoy a low-stakes beach read as much as the next gal, but there is a difference between low stakes and no stakes, and this was too much in the latter. At no point was there anything really on the line. The story just shambled along, with lots of banter and some minor conflicts here and there, until the requisite 300-some pages were met, and then it was called a book.
Speaking of the conflicts, I totally didn't understand Daphne and Miles' issues, or even Daphne and Ashleigh's. Do people really get so upset and potentially break up relationships and friendships over such small issues? And each one, blown up to be so important, can only be resolved after much back and forth, with pages upon pages of dialogue of each person's feelings and the associated parental trauma that was at the root of all their misgivings. It was a bit much.
Don't get me wrong, I did have fun. There were entertaining moments, and the banter was truly top notch. And it wasn't just for the main couple during romantic moments. No, the banter was interspersed everywhere and among everyone, so we got plenty of chuckle-worthy moments.
But you can't just sustain a story on banter alone, no matter how delightful it is. When the characters feel as lackluster as Daphne and Miles and their conflicts equally bland and forced, it was hard to care either way if they ended up together, which is always a bad sign in a romance.
I feel like I'm the only person out there who doesn't get heart-eyes at the merest mention of an Emily Henry book. My experiences so far have been largely underwhelming, or maybe I just haven't read the right books by her. Either way, I'll add this to the pile of Emily Henry books I've pretty much forgotten the moment I finished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Beach Read
People We Meet on Vacation
~~~~~~~~~~~~
✧ Connect with me ✧ Instagram ✧
Okay, all you rabid Emily Henry fans. Before you chuck your rotten eggs at me, please let me explain.
If ever there was an Emily Henry book that I should connect with, it's this one. Daphne is a librarian (my dream job) and she's in a pretend relationship with her roommate, Miles, in order to get back at her ex-fiancé (an intriguing premise). And yet, something was missing. I kept waiting for the story to grab me, and it never really did.
I hate to say it, but the crux of the problem is that the whole thing was rather forgettable. I only just finished the book, and already I hardly remember anything about it. The characters, the interactions, even the conflicts, while all feelgood on the surface, were in fact fairly bland underneath.
I enjoy a low-stakes beach read as much as the next gal, but there is a difference between low stakes and no stakes, and this was too much in the latter. At no point was there anything really on the line. The story just shambled along, with lots of banter and some minor conflicts here and there, until the requisite 300-some pages were met, and then it was called a book.
Speaking of the conflicts, I totally didn't understand Daphne and Miles' issues, or even Daphne and Ashleigh's. Do people really get so upset and potentially break up relationships and friendships over such small issues? And each one, blown up to be so important, can only be resolved after much back and forth, with pages upon pages of dialogue of each person's feelings and the associated parental trauma that was at the root of all their misgivings. It was a bit much.
Don't get me wrong, I did have fun. There were entertaining moments, and the banter was truly top notch. And it wasn't just for the main couple during romantic moments. No, the banter was interspersed everywhere and among everyone, so we got plenty of chuckle-worthy moments.
But you can't just sustain a story on banter alone, no matter how delightful it is. When the characters feel as lackluster as Daphne and Miles and their conflicts equally bland and forced, it was hard to care either way if they ended up together, which is always a bad sign in a romance.
I feel like I'm the only person out there who doesn't get heart-eyes at the merest mention of an Emily Henry book. My experiences so far have been largely underwhelming, or maybe I just haven't read the right books by her. Either way, I'll add this to the pile of Emily Henry books I've pretty much forgotten the moment I finished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
See also, my thoughts on:
Beach Read
People We Meet on Vacation
~~~~~~~~~~~~
✧ Connect with me ✧ Instagram ✧
April 23, 2024
i'm all for recycling but does she have to keep writing the same book every year
boring. repetitive. bland characters. a mc that moans every time she eats something (is this some kind of weird new sex thing. was i supposed to be turned on. sparks were definitely flying but that's just because i considered setting myself and the book on fire multiple times). i was actually gonna give this two stars but the more i think about it the more i hate it. also i'm in a very bad mood. lol.
i have said it with book lovers before and i will say it again: all her books feel the same. wake me up in two days time and yell the names alex, gus, and miles at me and i will struggle assigning them to the right books. i don't even remember happy places mmc... and i actually liked that book... meh whatever.
those two had about the same amount of chemistry as me and that work project i have been putting off for weeks because it bores me to death just thinking about. watching paint dry would have been more exciting than reading this. maybe it isn't too late yet. someone get me a brush.
my theory concerning emily henry's popularity on goodreads is that she always writes about female characters that in one shape or another love books. and... that's basically most of the demographic here so. which is fine and yay yippiee juhu, representation (the poor underrepresented class of *checks notes* white cishet female readers) but like .... please write a book that isn't just the previous ones rearranged and glued together?
also, the story wasn't even funny???
boring. repetitive. bland characters. a mc that moans every time she eats something (is this some kind of weird new sex thing. was i supposed to be turned on. sparks were definitely flying but that's just because i considered setting myself and the book on fire multiple times). i was actually gonna give this two stars but the more i think about it the more i hate it. also i'm in a very bad mood. lol.
i have said it with book lovers before and i will say it again: all her books feel the same. wake me up in two days time and yell the names alex, gus, and miles at me and i will struggle assigning them to the right books. i don't even remember happy places mmc... and i actually liked that book... meh whatever.
those two had about the same amount of chemistry as me and that work project i have been putting off for weeks because it bores me to death just thinking about. watching paint dry would have been more exciting than reading this. maybe it isn't too late yet. someone get me a brush.
my theory concerning emily henry's popularity on goodreads is that she always writes about female characters that in one shape or another love books. and... that's basically most of the demographic here so. which is fine and yay yippiee juhu, representation (the poor underrepresented class of *checks notes* white cishet female readers) but like .... please write a book that isn't just the previous ones rearranged and glued together?
also, the story wasn't even funny???
April 26, 2024
2.75stars
to say that i’m disappointed is an euphemism so i wont even put an effort to coordinate two sentences to pull a well structured review. this book deserved more romance. some dialogues could’ve used some chopping. it was frustrating how some side characters had a soupçon more spotlight than the male main character. the female main character deserved better. least favorite EH hero.
ready for mother to break my ✨HEART ✨
——
the title ? the way we all see the irony behind it.. this story is not going to be funny
what’s the point of a contemporary romance if by the end of it i am not even convinced that the male protagonist loves the main female character more than his —beautiful, accomplished, heartbreaker, full of life— ex ?
to say that i’m disappointed is an euphemism so i wont even put an effort to coordinate two sentences to pull a well structured review. this book deserved more romance. some dialogues could’ve used some chopping. it was frustrating how some side characters had a soupçon more spotlight than the male main character. the female main character deserved better. least favorite EH hero.
ready for mother to break my ✨HEART ✨
——
the title ? the way we all see the irony behind it.. this story is not going to be funny
![Profile Image for len ❀ [a little inactive].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1708061086i/51318038._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
April 18, 2024
i don’t wanna talk about it
so i won’t
so i won’t
May 14, 2024
*＊✿❀🌼 3.5 stars 🌼❀✿＊*
once i was able to move past him being a stoner, having a messy bedroom, owning multiple pairs of crocs, and having a thing for her moaning when she eats food (often)… i had a pretty decent time.
trust the process, i suppose 🤝🏻
(p.s. dear emily henry, i love your banter so much but please, PLEASE, find a substitute for the word “chortle” — i beg you.)
my EH tier list:
1. beach read - 5 stars
2. book lovers - 4.5 stars
3. funny story - 3.5 stars
4. happy place- 3 stars
once i was able to move past him being a stoner, having a messy bedroom, owning multiple pairs of crocs, and having a thing for her moaning when she eats food (often)… i had a pretty decent time.
trust the process, i suppose 🤝🏻
(p.s. dear emily henry, i love your banter so much but please, PLEASE, find a substitute for the word “chortle” — i beg you.)
my EH tier list:
1. beach read - 5 stars
2. book lovers - 4.5 stars
3. funny story - 3.5 stars
4. happy place- 3 stars
April 26, 2024
“I don’t know how to talk along the surface of things, but I also don’t want to unearth the ugly stuff, over and over again, for people who are just passing through my life. It’s depleting. Like every time I dole out a kernel of my history to someone who’s not going to become a fixture in my life, a piece of me gets carried away, somewhere I can never get it back. You can’t untell someone your secrets. You can’t unsay those delicate truths once you learn you can’t trust the person you handed them to.”
— Emily Henry is never beating the ✨ sorcery allegations ✨when she keeps writing my thoughts and experiences. This is The Tortured Poet's Department coded with elements of Midnights in the second half of the book. This book was everything I didn't know I needed and I'm going to need Emily to write more contemporary romance books immediately.
— The romance is a heavier focus compared to some of her other work, however it still had Emily's character driven stories, witty humour and introspection. This will be very subjective depending on your own personal connection to these characters and stories but I felt so seen in this book. This was a personal experience for me as it always is with Emily's books and I found it emotional at times.
➳ Daphne is up there with one of the most relatable FMC's for me. She's cynical about love and has been neglected by most people in her life. The romance was a large factor, but Daphne's fear of abandonment, parental issues and cynical nature gave me the emotional depth I crave in Emily's books. Daphne's abandonment issues are incredibly realistic and I got teary towards the end seeing how this has shaped her life. The Prophecy from TTPD this is so Daphne coded as she doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere with family, friends or relationships.
“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t. Trust people’s actions, not their words. Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back. Let go of the people who don’t hold on to you. Don’t wait on anyone who’s in no rush to get to you.”
➳ Miles is portrayed as the well-liked and free-spirited personality, however, he has a depth to him once he opens up. He's very patient and in tune with the emotions of people around him. He's an optimist and I loved how he turned Daphne's pessimistic statement's into something positive. I love his personality and banter so I will forgive him for wearing crocs all the time 🫣
“It’s easy to be around people who don’t know you. But as soon as someone starts to figure you out—as soon as you can’t be perfect—it’s easier to move on. Find someone new to be the cool, fun, laid-back one with.”
➳ Peter and Petra are terrible people. I found Peter especially triggering. He's the guy that always wants what he doesn't have and can't let others be happy without him. Petra got off too easy for her behaviour.
➳ Ashleigh is a side character but she offered a lot to this story. I loved the found family aspect she brought but also her own experiences also added depth to the story. I loved her moment with Daphne towards the end of the book which offered constructive feedback to Daphne's response to conflict.
➳ The romance had me kicking my feet like a love-struck teenager. They were so adorable and the chemistry and tension was palpable. The angst was on nearly every page and while the sexual tension was amazing, it wasn't instant love and their relationship offered so much more than sexual chemistry. They did trauma bond to an extent at the start but it's very clear that their chemistry was not a consequence of the hand they were dealt. This is very loosely fake dating — It could had fallen into so many other tropes but I loved the direction Emily took and she really let the characters stand on their own.
“I want to kiss you, every time you take a sip of something and make that sound. I want to kiss you every time I walk past your bedroom and hear your laugh through the door. I want to kiss you every time I hear the shower turn on and know that you’re in there. I want to kiss you all the time, Daphne. Sometimes it’s just easier to find an excuse.”
— There's a conflict towards the end and people might have some mixed feelings about it. I personally thought it was realistic because I related to the characters I would have felt the same. I don't pick Emily's books up with the expectation of it being a fluffy. I crave the introspection so I was not disappointed. It goes without saying that her writing is beautiful and witty — she had me laughing, blushing and crying. This delivered everything I look for!
⋆˙⟡♡⟡⋆˙ Quotes ⋆˙⟡♡⟡⋆˙
➷ I’ve always cleaved to the people I love, tried to orient my orbit around them. Maybe, I realize, I’ve been trying to make myself un-leave-able. But it hasn’t worked. “I don’t want to just be a part of we, I want to be an I.”
➷ “I love this dress,” she says. “It’s so different! Your usual style is so … buttoned up.” Ouch. Miles touches my back, his hand skimming over to my far hip, pulling me into his side. “Like a secret,” he says.
➷ “Can I do anything?” I ask. Now his smile softens. He touches my chin again. “Nah,” he says. “This is enough.” “I’m not doing anything,” I point out. The corner of his mouth twitches. “Then why do I feel better?”
➷ “How could I miss someone who didn’t exist?”
➷ “A part of me is just waiting, for the moment when you see whatever it is that drives people away. And I don’t want that. I don’t want you to stop wanting me around. I think it might break my heart to be someone you don’t like.”
➷ “You’re wonderful. You’re the reason for the word wonderful. It really shouldn’t be used for anything else. You make me want to see the best in everyone. You’re the person I want to be with when everything’s going wrong, instead of just wanting to skip over those times entirely.”
May 10, 2024
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
i feel like before i can say anything about this book, i just have to let you all know that i was born and raised in michigan (and started this goodreads account in michigan), even though i moved out west after college. but it is also important to know that michigan people love other michigan people! lol like, i am giggling while typing this, but it is also very true and i have never seen another state have this kind of instant comradery before. my family still lives about three hours away from the traverse city area, but i’ve been there so many times, especially during the summer. and this very long prologue of a review is just to say that emily henry really captured the magic of what is a michigan summer and it was absolutely perfect in my opinion. i’m also not sure a book has ever made me miss home as much as the setting of this book, and i just really wanted to emphasize how phenomenally done it was to me, and i would bet a lot of money she has lived there at some point in her life.
okay the actual review - i think i can make a dot here: this book is, ironically enough, a story about one person trying to convince another person to build a home and life in a sleepy little michigan city. but let me not forget to type that these two people’s lives have crossed because both of their significant others have decided to leave them for each other! and our main character, after being dumped the morning after her fiance's bachelor party, has nowhere to go because she picked up her life and moved it to where she thought she would finally set up roots. so she moves in with her ex’s new girlfriend’s ex (this feels so hard to type out lol), and each chapter starts with a countdown of how many days until a fundraiser at her work, at a local library, happens and then she will be able to leave. but maybe she can actually still set up those roots after the fundraiser, but in an even healthy and happier way (filled with some good healing along the way).
“That's what happens when your life partner leaves you for the nicest, sunniest, prettiest woman in the state of Michigan.”everyone is going to talk about this book on all platforms, so instead of me telling you more about this book, let me tell you some things i really loved about this story with some bullet points (besides the michigan bias, obviously):
➛ there is a very big difference between niceness and kindness and this book really shows that throughout.
➛ as you get older, making new friends can be way harder! and friendship breakups can be just as devastating as romantic breakups! but also, it can be really worth it to let people in, even after you’ve been hurt by doing so with others - maybe especially after that.
“You can't untell someone your secrets. You can't unsay those delicate truths once you learn you can't trust the person you handed them to.”
➛ this book also talks about some parental abuse that i honestly do not think i’ve ever read about before, and i know it is going to mean a lot to a lot of people. also the way that miles handles that trauma in the present day was something that really made me feel seen and meant more to me than i have words to put in a review here.
“I need it to be okay. Because I need to be okay. As a kid, I just felt so fucking scared and powerless, all the time, and now, I just need to be okay.”
➛ and this is also just such a book about community, and carving out space and safety and love with the people who you trust and want to build a home with. especially when you’ve lived a life of not really having much stability, and the thought of it being taken away makes you scared to start to build it.
➛ libraries will always be the heart of cities, with some of the most powerful tools we have to amplify voices and create change. i am actually typing this up during national library week here, and i just can't emphasize enough how important these buildings, these safe spaces filled with heart, and these librarians are. i would get so emotional when daphne would talk about the kids at her branch, and the books she’d pick because of them. ahhhh, a reminder to just show up for your local library, do donations if you are able (time, books, and money), make sure your library card is updated, just show your appreciation in every way you’re able to.
“To me, libraries have always represented the best of humanity. The way we all share knowledge and space, and... and how we find ways to look after each other. It's not a perfect system, but it's powerful.”
overall, this just had so much to love. actually, as i am typing this i am considering making this a five star. I’m just not sure if i loved this as much as beach read, but it is for sure a new favorite emily henry of mine. but miles is for sure the best love interest she, or maybe any other contemporary author, has ever written. and i absolutely cannot wait to watch you all fall with both him, and daphne, and their amazing funny story.
trigger + content warnings: drinking, smoking, a joke about suicide, brief mention of fetishization (to a side character and in a negative light), parental abandonment and neglect and and instability in past, child abuse in past, mention of loss of parents in past (side character), one sentence mention of cancer (side characters parent), anxiety depiction, and just a story about people going through a really hard break up that has a little bit of infidelity vibes (even though no cheating did occur to them)
♡ evie's amazing spotify playlist
blog | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon
♡ Beach Read ★★★★
♡ Happy Place ★★★
May 1, 2024
Pre-review:
I’m shocked about the fact that happy place and funny story have the same author. This book was so much better than what i thought it would be🙈
—-
Pre-read:
It’s time✨I’m giving miss Emily one last try🤞🏼 i dnf happy place so i hope this one makes me change my opinion about her books
I’m shocked about the fact that happy place and funny story have the same author. This book was so much better than what i thought it would be🙈
—-
Pre-read:
It’s time✨I’m giving miss Emily one last try🤞🏼 i dnf happy place so i hope this one makes me change my opinion about her books
April 21, 2024
”For once, I don’t want to be anywhere but in this moment, not thinking about what it all means or where it might go, and he makes that easy, this sunlit man.”
Daphne and Miles have one of the most chaotic setups for a romance: they fake a relationship in order to make their exes jealous after they leave both Daphne and Miles for each other.. i wasn’t sure how to feel about everything at first but i grew fond of the characters (especially sweet Miles🥺). i thought the way the characters and their struggles were written made them feel like actual real people which i appreciated. Miles struggles with allowing any negative emotions to show, while Daphne struggles with opening up and letting others into her life in fear of being left alone. these two had great chemistry and i loved their banter as well as the quieter moments when they started to truly see and understand one another.
“You make me want to see the best in everyone. You’re the person I want to be with when everything’s going wrong, instead of just wanting to skip over those times entirely.”
another couple things that stood out to me were the side characters— specifically Miles’ sister Julia and Daphne’s coworker-turned-best friend Ashleigh who were both fun additions to the book. Funny Story is heavily focused on the romance and for me, that was a good thing cause i don’t love books that lean too much into literary fiction like her others. there isn’t any real plot outside of that though, but it didn’t bother me cause the romance is what i was reading this for. the only thing keeping it from a higher rating is the third act breakup (which i almost always despise).. but other than that i really enjoyed this💙.
➸ many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the arc, all opinions are my own.
Daphne and Miles have one of the most chaotic setups for a romance: they fake a relationship in order to make their exes jealous after they leave both Daphne and Miles for each other.. i wasn’t sure how to feel about everything at first but i grew fond of the characters (especially sweet Miles🥺). i thought the way the characters and their struggles were written made them feel like actual real people which i appreciated. Miles struggles with allowing any negative emotions to show, while Daphne struggles with opening up and letting others into her life in fear of being left alone. these two had great chemistry and i loved their banter as well as the quieter moments when they started to truly see and understand one another.
“You make me want to see the best in everyone. You’re the person I want to be with when everything’s going wrong, instead of just wanting to skip over those times entirely.”
another couple things that stood out to me were the side characters— specifically Miles’ sister Julia and Daphne’s coworker-turned-best friend Ashleigh who were both fun additions to the book. Funny Story is heavily focused on the romance and for me, that was a good thing cause i don’t love books that lean too much into literary fiction like her others. there isn’t any real plot outside of that though, but it didn’t bother me cause the romance is what i was reading this for. the only thing keeping it from a higher rating is the third act breakup (which i almost always despise).. but other than that i really enjoyed this💙.
➸ many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the arc, all opinions are my own.
March 20, 2024
Came for diabolical vengeance and steam but got a boring, watered down therapy session
The local librarian, Daphne Vincent, is happily engaged to Peter Collins. Until the eve of his bachelor night when Petey unceremoniously dumps Daphne for his bestie, Petra. Also, heartbroken is Miles, Petra’s boyfriend. Daphne now needs a place to stay, and Miles just so happens to have a slot available. To get back at Peter and Petra, the two decide to “fake date.”
Funny Story had potential for some Jerry Springer like drama. Do not dump librarians. They read lots of stories and have plenty of material to work with.
Take, for example, our villain, Peter. He is a software person, and say he has a keylogger program on Daphne’s computer. Daphne creates some very interesting stories, googles “pregnancy” and “STD testing” and tells Miles how much “better” he is than Peter. Perhaps Daphne gets drunk, googles “hottest people on GoodReads” and wakes up with a few more bookish friends. Or she walks by Peter’s gym, licking an ice cream cone, only she’s too enthusiastic and the ice cream falls to the concrete sidewalk. She smiles and laughs genuinely while Peter runs over, offering to buy her another cone, but Daphne lowers her voice and says in a sultry tone, “No need. I get all the ice cream I need for free,” as she walks away.
But instead of bad librarian, this book went into some misguided attempt to give the characters backstory with characters excruciatingly overexplaining their feelings. The book just plain didn’t bring the fun. Where is our guilty pleasure?
Just for the record, Anne Elliot is the Jane Austen character that I most relate to. To pick a character from P&P is just too pedestrian, darling.
Lacking creativity, lame, tame, and too PG. Needs a bit more May Cobb.
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
How much I spent:
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher
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The local librarian, Daphne Vincent, is happily engaged to Peter Collins. Until the eve of his bachelor night when Petey unceremoniously dumps Daphne for his bestie, Petra. Also, heartbroken is Miles, Petra’s boyfriend. Daphne now needs a place to stay, and Miles just so happens to have a slot available. To get back at Peter and Petra, the two decide to “fake date.”
Funny Story had potential for some Jerry Springer like drama. Do not dump librarians. They read lots of stories and have plenty of material to work with.
Take, for example, our villain, Peter. He is a software person, and say he has a keylogger program on Daphne’s computer. Daphne creates some very interesting stories, googles “pregnancy” and “STD testing” and tells Miles how much “better” he is than Peter. Perhaps Daphne gets drunk, googles “hottest people on GoodReads” and wakes up with a few more bookish friends. Or she walks by Peter’s gym, licking an ice cream cone, only she’s too enthusiastic and the ice cream falls to the concrete sidewalk. She smiles and laughs genuinely while Peter runs over, offering to buy her another cone, but Daphne lowers her voice and says in a sultry tone, “No need. I get all the ice cream I need for free,” as she walks away.
But instead of bad librarian, this book went into some misguided attempt to give the characters backstory with characters excruciatingly overexplaining their feelings. The book just plain didn’t bring the fun. Where is our guilty pleasure?
Just for the record, Anne Elliot is the Jane Austen character that I most relate to. To pick a character from P&P is just too pedestrian, darling.
Lacking creativity, lame, tame, and too PG. Needs a bit more May Cobb.
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
How much I spent:
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher
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Want to read
August 13, 2023update: july 31st 2023: what kind of title is this mother 🧍♀️
when i tell you that i will beg on my knees for this book to come sooner, i mean it.
when i tell you that i will beg on my knees for this book to come sooner, i mean it.
May 6, 2024
5 stars ❤︎
⟶ i’ve never been more sad that a book has to end
🩰 “I love you in a way that feels brand-new. You make every single thing that went wrong feel like it was just a step in the right direction, and it—it makes me excited. For life to keep surprising me.” 🩰
they’re so “call it what you want” coded <33
I love them so much, it really is true that you find love when you least expect itbc I’ve been looking for ages and can’t find it petra and peter got the karma they deserved and that made me very, very satisfied.
🌷 plot 🌷
it’s not a complicated storyline but it’s hard to explain so here I go…
daphne, our fmc, and peter, the biggest dickhead i’ve ever come across, are engaged. they’re getting married soon, everything seems to be going perfect. until his bachelor party, where he cheats on her with his girl bsf, petra.
enter miles, who is petra’s bf. they’re dating and.. yeah that’s it. so when petra moves out to live with peter and daphne is kicked out of the house her and peter share (EVEN THOUGH HE CHEATED), she goes to live with miles. I hope my explanation is not too confusing?
they find that they’re complete opposites, but still, it works. and when they get an invitation to peter and petra’s wedding, they are livid at the audacity. SO WHAT DO THEY DO?!? fake dating 🤭 and then they start liking eachother and im sure you can figure out the rest.
🎀 random rant 🎀
i love venting about my crs to my bsf and praying she’ll cave and read them. when i told her about this book she cackled. she said it sounds like a plot line from one of her turkish dramas HAHAHA
ANYWAYS.
I have literally been so busy with exams and revision but I still binged this in 3 days which is INSANE for me. but also i’ve been having a lot of anxiety and waking up in the middle of the night so this helped a lot <33
thank you fadhee, you’re the reason i read this 🌸 she didn’t even force me she just had to say “you never read my recs so you better start this soon” and i was already running to download it.
🧸 romance 🧸
the romance was really unique tbh it wasn’t all perfect and about saying the right thing at the right time. there were imperfections and I enjoyed that. they started out friends so it wasn’t all lovey dovey straight away. sure, he gave her his jacket when she was cold, but he kinda threw it at her like a friend would. and their first fake kiss was kinda a disaster but it got better. I LOVE IMPERFECTIONS IDK IT MAKES ME SMILE. like they don’t have to love eachother right from the start but when they became from friends to lovers IT ATEEE
💐 characters 💐
➺ 🍷 miles - he was so different to the other mmcs i’ve read. not like other boys clearly 😋😋 he wasn’t a grumpy nor a sunshine (okay he was kinda a sunshine) he was very nonchalant but also caring?? and really, really nice. I like people who can befriend anyone but sometimes they scare me and that’s who he was LMAO.
💘He looks, as ever, like human sunshine, totally engaged, completely interested in this stranger, and it makes my chest pinch. 💘
ngl i had no idea how he does it. im so bad with new people, i rarely speak around those who I haven’t known at least one month but he was such a natural im truly envious.
➺ 📚daphne - she was the one I could relate to. she can’t hold up conversations with strangers either I feel SEEN.
🌺 I am arguably the world’s worst small-talker 🌺
she’s obviously lying, bc I AM THE WORLD’S WORST SMALL TALKER. but like this made me happy bc im exactly the same. if you know me for a while, I will talk non-stop until you beg me to shut up. if you’ve known me two days, you probably won’t hear a peep from me for weeks. that’s just how I work.
🙈 quotes 🙈
➼ He kisses the top of my head like it’s the most natural thing in the world
➼ “I thought about taking a video of myself giving you a lap dance, but I don’t have anything to mount your phone on, so this was the next best thing.”
“I will happily go back into the woods, find some sticks, and build you a tripod, Daphne,” he says.
➼ “You been harboring a secret bartender fantasy?” Peter asks dryly. “No,” I say firmly, turning in to Miles. I loop my own arms around his waist, basically propping my boobs up on his chest, and gazing into his eyes as I say, “But the roommate thing is pretty hot.”
➼ Life isn’t a competition, and neither is love, but I’m still the loser.
➼ “You said no one wants you around,” he replies. “What about me?” “What about you?” I say.
“Me wanting you doesn’t count?” he asks, brows knitted together.
💌 conclusion 💌
this turned me from an emily henry disliker (not her, just the books) to an emily henry OBSESSER. it’s that good im switching fandoms. go read this if you want a fun summer read with the most lovable characters ever 💗💗
I hope you enjoyed my review, bc im really tired so I’ll probably be editing it in the morning. LOVE YOUUU!! 🥹🫶🏼
———
i am unwell. ITS OVER AND I WANT MORE
miles and daphne, you will always have my heart 💗
fadhee, this is all your fault. you’re the reason i spent 3 days binging this and ditching all my school work LMFAO but you’re also the reason i found one of my new favourite books so i love you <33 5 stars, rtc probably later today 🌸
⟶ i’ve never been more sad that a book has to end
🩰 “I love you in a way that feels brand-new. You make every single thing that went wrong feel like it was just a step in the right direction, and it—it makes me excited. For life to keep surprising me.” 🩰
they’re so “call it what you want” coded <33
I love them so much, it really is true that you find love when you least expect it
🌷 plot 🌷
it’s not a complicated storyline but it’s hard to explain so here I go…
daphne, our fmc, and peter, the biggest dickhead i’ve ever come across, are engaged. they’re getting married soon, everything seems to be going perfect. until his bachelor party, where he cheats on her with his girl bsf, petra.
enter miles, who is petra’s bf. they’re dating and.. yeah that’s it. so when petra moves out to live with peter and daphne is kicked out of the house her and peter share (EVEN THOUGH HE CHEATED), she goes to live with miles. I hope my explanation is not too confusing?
they find that they’re complete opposites, but still, it works. and when they get an invitation to peter and petra’s wedding, they are livid at the audacity. SO WHAT DO THEY DO?!? fake dating 🤭 and then they start liking eachother and im sure you can figure out the rest.
🎀 random rant 🎀
i love venting about my crs to my bsf and praying she’ll cave and read them. when i told her about this book she cackled. she said it sounds like a plot line from one of her turkish dramas HAHAHA
ANYWAYS.
I have literally been so busy with exams and revision but I still binged this in 3 days which is INSANE for me. but also i’ve been having a lot of anxiety and waking up in the middle of the night so this helped a lot <33
thank you fadhee, you’re the reason i read this 🌸 she didn’t even force me she just had to say “you never read my recs so you better start this soon” and i was already running to download it.
🧸 romance 🧸
the romance was really unique tbh it wasn’t all perfect and about saying the right thing at the right time. there were imperfections and I enjoyed that. they started out friends so it wasn’t all lovey dovey straight away. sure, he gave her his jacket when she was cold, but he kinda threw it at her like a friend would. and their first fake kiss was kinda a disaster but it got better. I LOVE IMPERFECTIONS IDK IT MAKES ME SMILE. like they don’t have to love eachother right from the start but when they became from friends to lovers IT ATEEE
💐 characters 💐
➺ 🍷 miles - he was so different to the other mmcs i’ve read. not like other boys clearly 😋😋 he wasn’t a grumpy nor a sunshine (okay he was kinda a sunshine) he was very nonchalant but also caring?? and really, really nice. I like people who can befriend anyone but sometimes they scare me and that’s who he was LMAO.
💘He looks, as ever, like human sunshine, totally engaged, completely interested in this stranger, and it makes my chest pinch. 💘
ngl i had no idea how he does it. im so bad with new people, i rarely speak around those who I haven’t known at least one month but he was such a natural im truly envious.
➺ 📚daphne - she was the one I could relate to. she can’t hold up conversations with strangers either I feel SEEN.
🌺 I am arguably the world’s worst small-talker 🌺
she’s obviously lying, bc I AM THE WORLD’S WORST SMALL TALKER. but like this made me happy bc im exactly the same. if you know me for a while, I will talk non-stop until you beg me to shut up. if you’ve known me two days, you probably won’t hear a peep from me for weeks. that’s just how I work.
🙈 quotes 🙈
➼ He kisses the top of my head like it’s the most natural thing in the world
➼ “I thought about taking a video of myself giving you a lap dance, but I don’t have anything to mount your phone on, so this was the next best thing.”
“I will happily go back into the woods, find some sticks, and build you a tripod, Daphne,” he says.
➼ “You been harboring a secret bartender fantasy?” Peter asks dryly. “No,” I say firmly, turning in to Miles. I loop my own arms around his waist, basically propping my boobs up on his chest, and gazing into his eyes as I say, “But the roommate thing is pretty hot.”
➼ Life isn’t a competition, and neither is love, but I’m still the loser.
➼ “You said no one wants you around,” he replies. “What about me?” “What about you?” I say.
“Me wanting you doesn’t count?” he asks, brows knitted together.
💌 conclusion 💌
this turned me from an emily henry disliker (not her, just the books) to an emily henry OBSESSER. it’s that good im switching fandoms. go read this if you want a fun summer read with the most lovable characters ever 💗💗
I hope you enjoyed my review, bc im really tired so I’ll probably be editing it in the morning. LOVE YOUUU!! 🥹🫶🏼
———
i am unwell. ITS OVER AND I WANT MORE
miles and daphne, you will always have my heart 💗
fadhee, this is all your fault. you’re the reason i spent 3 days binging this and ditching all my school work LMFAO but you’re also the reason i found one of my new favourite books so i love you <33 5 stars, rtc probably later today 🌸
January 27, 2024
A Not So Funny Story with a HEA
Funny Story is a rom-com/drama about a socially awkward librarian named Daphne, whose fiance Peter leaves her for his best friend Petra. She moves in with Miles, the ex-boyfriend of Petra. Soon after, she and her roommate pretend to date to rub it in their relationship in their exes' faces. But when their feelings become real, Daphne and Miles must come to terms with past demons.
The novel starts with a rom-com flair but quickly shifts to a sad tone. Daphne has a lot on her plate besides being jilted by her fiance. She also has some personal and family issues to contend with. Part of her struggles center on being a socially awkward book nerd (I can relate). She is the sole narrator and is very likable with a relatable voice. Miles is also very likable and also has a lot of baggage. The two have strong chemistry. While the romance between Daphne and Miles plays a significant role, their personal dramas and traumas also take up a good portion of the novel.
The fake romance trope is one of my least favorites. However, the relationship fakery between Miles and Daphne is only a small element of the plot, and they don’t spend much time faking. Through their friendship both characters evolve; Daphne’s character in the latter half of the novel is vastly different from the Daphne we meet in the first chapter.
Henry brings the fictional town of Waning Bay, Michigan, to life. There are beaches, wineries, quirky bars, coffee shops, and my favorite, the library, all made complete with a cast of lovable and eccentric side characters. The depiction of Waning Bay was one of my favorite elements of the novel.
Although Funny Story has some rom-com moments, it leans more towards a dramedy as Henry delves into themes of identity, abandonment, and relationships. I enjoyed this way more than Happy Place--the characters have substance, the plot is engrossing, and the romance is swoony. The ending brings the story full circle.
Thank you to Elisha Katz of Berkley Books for providing a complimentary copy of this book.
Funny Story is a rom-com/drama about a socially awkward librarian named Daphne, whose fiance Peter leaves her for his best friend Petra. She moves in with Miles, the ex-boyfriend of Petra. Soon after, she and her roommate pretend to date to rub it in their relationship in their exes' faces. But when their feelings become real, Daphne and Miles must come to terms with past demons.
The novel starts with a rom-com flair but quickly shifts to a sad tone. Daphne has a lot on her plate besides being jilted by her fiance. She also has some personal and family issues to contend with. Part of her struggles center on being a socially awkward book nerd (I can relate). She is the sole narrator and is very likable with a relatable voice. Miles is also very likable and also has a lot of baggage. The two have strong chemistry. While the romance between Daphne and Miles plays a significant role, their personal dramas and traumas also take up a good portion of the novel.
The fake romance trope is one of my least favorites. However, the relationship fakery between Miles and Daphne is only a small element of the plot, and they don’t spend much time faking. Through their friendship both characters evolve; Daphne’s character in the latter half of the novel is vastly different from the Daphne we meet in the first chapter.
Henry brings the fictional town of Waning Bay, Michigan, to life. There are beaches, wineries, quirky bars, coffee shops, and my favorite, the library, all made complete with a cast of lovable and eccentric side characters. The depiction of Waning Bay was one of my favorite elements of the novel.
Although Funny Story has some rom-com moments, it leans more towards a dramedy as Henry delves into themes of identity, abandonment, and relationships. I enjoyed this way more than Happy Place--the characters have substance, the plot is engrossing, and the romance is swoony. The ending brings the story full circle.
Thank you to Elisha Katz of Berkley Books for providing a complimentary copy of this book.
April 25, 2024
okay, objectively, she was good. this was typical emily henry- great writing, banter out the wazoo, and GOOD chemistry. like again they had me giggling, blushing, and kicking my feet the second they were on the page together. this book is full of the LITTLE THINGS 🥹
…but that’s about all this book gave me. truly it was the romance really driving this book. every second that they weren’t together was boring as fuck i can’t lie. there was no plot and that’s NEVER been the case for EH. she WAS a little more steamy though so i can’t complain too much…👀
it’s good as a general romance book but its extremely forgettable in the emily henry universe. they stand out the absolute least to me and i can’t say it feels like a reread book for me…i’ll have to reread it lmao. but like also be excited!! everyone’s gonna eat it up i genuinely think its a solid ass book its just such a far leap from her usual women’s fiction-esque vibe
…but that’s about all this book gave me. truly it was the romance really driving this book. every second that they weren’t together was boring as fuck i can’t lie. there was no plot and that’s NEVER been the case for EH. she WAS a little more steamy though so i can’t complain too much…👀
it’s good as a general romance book but its extremely forgettable in the emily henry universe. they stand out the absolute least to me and i can’t say it feels like a reread book for me…i’ll have to reread it lmao. but like also be excited!! everyone’s gonna eat it up i genuinely think its a solid ass book its just such a far leap from her usual women’s fiction-esque vibe
May 19, 2024
Beach Read/Book Lovers > Funny Story > Happy Place/People We Meet on Vacation
The premise was bound to be fun, I am happy with the ending and appreciated that the male character was emotionally mature and that as always her book isn't only about the romance.
My interest did vary throughout the book though.
Not my favorite by her but worth reading!
The premise was bound to be fun, I am happy with the ending and appreciated that the male character was emotionally mature and that as always her book isn't only about the romance.
My interest did vary throughout the book though.
Not my favorite by her but worth reading!
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