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?
Title : Funny Story
Author : Emily Henry
Format : eARC
Page Count : 384
Genre : contemporary romance
Publisher : Berkley / Viking
Release Date : April 23, 2024 / April 25, 2024
Reviewer : Hollis / Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ / ★ ★ ★ ★
Hollis' 3 star review
At this stage in the game I don't think any fans of this author actually need to know what tropes are going to show up in the next/latest release however if you're looking for a summary, here you go : fake dating, for revenge (ish), opposites attract, they are also roommates.
Honestly, beyond the fact that it's an EmHem -- so of course I was desperate for this -- I was drawn in with the "love interest is Nick Miller coded" pitch and while I wouldn't say that's wrong, Miles is definitely not as Nick Miller-y is I would've expected. Which, sorry to say, was kind of a bummer. But I got over it as things went on because Miles seemed to be a literal darling. Pure sunshine (though not without a little stormcloud tagging along for some depth). You could almost be fooled into thinking this was also a grumpy x sunshine trope except Daphne wasn't actually grumpy, just reserved, practical, a little closed off under her armour, and took time to warm up. And not without cause, either. And it was their earlier interactions that had me thinking that, despite how things started off, this would be all rom and com and no angst at all and would, actually, be a funny story. Because there I was laughing and kicking my feet and loving the ride.
Until maybe the magic started to wear off a bit and I realized there was a little less substance, a few less layers, no real plot beyond some vibes (normally not a problem for me in a romance if I can get behind the characters, except..), and, worst of all, I found myself actually a little confused about who these characters really were when I wasn't being told, over and over again, who they should be.
In abstract, in concept, it all works so well. And in some moments, if you treated it like a vignette, it was perfect because this author's writing, her setting, it's all so good. Great, even. As is usually the case with her characters, too. But in this case, for Funny Story, on a whole, with all things combined? It doesn't fully track.
And also there was the fact that riiight around the 75% mark -- and sure you might (rightly) assume that's around the third act break-up and so that's usually where things fall apart -- I just found there was more than usual happening which sort've made sense considering the mess everything was, but then (t h e n) something happened that I absolutely did not love. I think your mileage will vary with this one but I was pretty annoyed that the author had some side characters make a certain choice and wish it had been left alone. Also, whereas normally I love a good EmHem confessional love monologue, these ones felt a touch too extra.. though maybe it was just because I was trying to settle back into the characterization I had lost beforehand. Or maybe it was just a little too rushed and pacey near the end. Maybe all of the above.
But everything outside of these things? The early fun? The (noticing a trend) early tension? The small town vibes? So good. Even this, my lowest rated EmHem ever, is still a really good read because this woman can w r i t e. I just wish the end had been as good as the start.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
Micky's 4 star review
Headlines:
The extraordinary-ordinary guy
Trust issues
Friends to lovers
Emily Henry took the worst of break ups and gave us the funny, but not only that, she created a friend and hero that epitomised the extraordinary-ordinary guy. He wasn't rich, he wasn't beautifully handsome, he wasn't a high flyer with ambition but he was good, caring and someone you'd want in your life; meet Miles.
Daphne was the kind of heroine that was endearing, relatable and also pretty run of the mill. Daphne had one great parent and one awful parent that had left her with trust issues a mile long. She was a children's librarian who was good at her job but never quite believed herself worthy of the job, the partner, house or family. In actual fact, she trusted easily but beat herself up for it.
The friendship between Miles and Daphne was slow building and authentic. Their Sundays together were great reading as were the side characters that emerged. We got to find out more about the family issues these two had and how it had made them the people they were.
I didn't love the third act break-up but I did love the resolution, aided by the great chemistry these two had.
This was a banging summer read, easy on the bookish soul and full of emerging hope.
Thank you to Viking Books for the review copy.
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