This book was so good and definitely one of my favorite Emily Henry releases. It for sure is the most romcom-y of her books and I enjoyed every second of it. The premise was so unique and fun; with a set up like that how could it not be chaotic? Daphne's journey of finding herself and her place in the community is everything, and Miles oh Miles Miles Miles. I loved him so much and how kind he is in the totality of the word. This sounds silly to say in a romance book but I love how they genuinely like each other, not just as targets of their affection but as people. Their friendship is so tender and I appreciate every single one of the stolen touches and wrist caress. Miles's love for Daphne is so selfness in how he was unwilling to disclose information that would clear his name but would cause her pain. Ugh they're everything I love them. Thank you Berkley Romance for the e-arc!

I really enjoyed this book. Was it exactly what you would expect from a book like this? Yes. Were there crazy plot twists? Nope. But was it fun any worth a read? For sure.

Thank you PRHA and Berkley Romance for providing me with a complementary audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I saw a reviewer, Aubrei (earlgreypls) provide her ranking of Emily Henry’s books to provide context in her review and I will be doing the same so you can gauge if Funny Story will be for you.

My ranking of EH books:
Beach Read
Book Lovers (uber freaking close to Beach Read)
Funny Story
Happy Place
PWMOV

Gosh, I LOVED Funny Story! And I loved that it was actually a funny story! Funny Story leans more towards a romantic-comedy compared to her other books. Funny Story still explores deeper themes of adulthood, grief, and friendship but does so in a more lighthearted way. I really loved how it was about witnessing Daphne and Miles pick up the broken pieces of themselves from their past relationships so they could be better for each other but more importantly, so Daphne could be a better person for herself.

Daphne and Miles fit so well together. I loved the way their relationship developed and their chemistry was undeniable! I thought it was smart EH for Daphne and Miles to go from true friends to lovers. And we even got a little fake dating! The classic rom com tropes work so well here. Ugh, I just love Daphne and Miles so much! I’m still thinking about them two weeks after I’ve finished the book!!

Julie Whelan’s narration of the audiobook is, to no one’s surprise, top tier. For me, it’s impossible not to read an Emily Henry book without Julia Whelan’s voice in my head. Julia always captures the heart and soul of Emily’s characters. Truly one of my all time favorite narrators!

If you didn’t love Emily’s last book Happy Place, I think Funny Story will be a huge upgrade for you. And if you’ve loved all of Em’s work, then you will definitely love installment. I can see Funny Story being a lot of readers’ #1!

I thought that Daphne and Miles were unlike any of Emily Henry's previous main characters. I thought that they were wholly unique in their personalities, however I did struggle with why all of her characters seem to have such aggressive daddy issues in each book. I'm not sure why they all have horrible fathers but it is kind of depressing to keep reading about. The story was kind of fun, but it took me a bit to get into. Also Peter and Petra SUCK. What horrible people.

Funny Story is Emily Henry’s most sitcom-esque novel—an observation that is very fitting considering its title. The concept alone of moving in with your ex-fiancé’s new fiancee’s ex-boyfriend is just the crème de la crème of rom-com setups. 🤌🏻

To my surprise, FS shot up to my 2nd (!!!) favorite EmHen novel (after Book Lovers, of course.) I loved just about everything about FS. Miles is EmHen’s most down-to-earth love interest so far. I love his obsession for sad girl playlists. I also love how EmHen casts expand with each book: you’re getting swept up not just in the romance, but in the other characters’ lives, too. Her books remind us that we are made of the people that we love.

Thank you Berkley for providing me an ARC via Netgalley!

Daphne feels stranded in Waning Bay, Michigan after her now ex-fiancé, Peter, moves her back to his hometown, only to leave her for his childhood best friend Petra. A surprising solution presents itself when Petra’s ex Miles suggests becoming roommates. Sure, he is the opposite of buttoned-up children’s librarian Daphne, and blasts sad love ballads through the house, but Miles mostly avoids Daphne. So Daphne sticks to her routine until one day she and Miles strike up a tenuous friendship while drowning their shared sorrows. Then they form a plan. A crazy plan. How others choose to interpret some staged photos is entirely up to them. Because no one would fall in love with their roommate slash ex-fiancé’s new fiancé’s ex for real. Right?

How does she do it? I haven’t read an Emily Henry book I didn’t love, but this one just became my favorite of them all. I wasn’t just laughing every time I turned the page, I was downright cackling!

These characters felt so genuine and real, like they really could be my friends. And not just our MC’s, but everyone we meet along their journey. I felt like I was right along side Miles and Daphne going through the ups and downs of new friendships, commitment issues, family trauma, heartbreak, and of course new romance.

I don’t want to give too much away so you should just see for yourself. I cannot recommend this one enough. It’s funny, sweet, zany and romantic.

Tropes: forced proximity, opposites attract, fake dating, friends to lovers.

*Thank you to @Berkley and NetGalley for my free copy!

“He knows me, and I see him. “

OMG…this is Emily Henry at her BEST!!! I absolutely loved reading this and didn’t want it to end. It’s a romance tied in drama and lifted with comedy… a mix of tropes (friends to lovers, opposites attract, close proximity, even a little bit of fake dating thrown in for fun) and all the feels…be ready for your heart to be squeezed to the MAX! (I think I stopped breathing a few times)

I LOVED Daphne and Miles…as friends and lovers…Emily Henry develops these characters, with dimension and storyline, so you really know and care about them. She has a FABULOUS supporting cast of side characters that REALLY set this book apart. And the beautiful setting is like another character…you will fall in love and want to move to Waning Bay and call it HOME.

Filled with Henry’s signature banter, funny situations, and excellent writing…let go and ABSOLUTELY fall for this book! BONUS feature…as a library employee, I really loved the very realistic library scenes! Because “The library is, like, the single best cross section of humanity.”

Tag line: Emily Henry always excels when writing romance, but the family dynamics in Funny Story just resonated with me.

| Story Review |

In Funny Story,  Daphne and Miles meet when their fiancés ditch them to run away together. Daphne has nowhere to go, and Miles is too kind to do anything but let her stay with him. Thus begins a surprising friendship.

Daphne originally sees Miles through her ex-fiance's eyes, but it's not long before she sees there is much more to him than Peter saw. Miles is kind to everyone he meets and leaves no strangers in his wake. After a night of drinking and not so wise choices (like RSVPing to their now-ex's wedding,) Daphne and Miles get caught up in a fake relationship scheme that shocks themselves even more than it shocks their exes. The characterization in this book was so well done. Knowing she and her mom would always be moving on before too long, Daphne has spent a lifetime keeping people at arms length. Miles has had his own family issues, and together, they should be a wreck, but they just fit. The way their friendship and romance blossoms is so beautiful. The way they witness each other just being themselves and get so caught up in it was something I loved seeing. They truly brought out the best in each other, and they had such a wonderful love story. The friends and family, including Daphne's coworkers and Miles sister, were such amazing secondary characters and really brought out different facets of the main characters.

As much as I enjoyed all of that, it's the family dynamics that really resonated with me. This story really explores how much of our identity comes from our parents, and I appreciate how deep the author dove with this. Both Daphne and Miles are caught up in who they are based on how their parents treated them, and it really is heartbreaking. But they're able to help each other through that, and that's another thing I love. Emily Henry's male characters always have so much to overcome, too, and it makes the path to love that much sweeter. 

No one has set the bar higher for themselves than Emily Henry, and the fact that she always delivers is nothing short of amazing. Funny Story will be in my Top 5 of 2024 for sure. And, obviously, I cannot wait to see what Emily Henry's next offering will be!

| Narration Review |

Julia Whelan and Emily Henry are the ultimate dream team. I've been listening to Henry's books since Beach Read, and I can't imagine reading them any other way. Julia Whelan is able to convey such emotion with her narration, and Emily Henry always gives her plenty to work with. If you have a choice between reading or listening to any book narrated by Julia Whelan, always go with the audiobook. No one does it better.

Thank you Berkley Romance, Penguin Random House Audio, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Daphne moved to her fiancé, Peter’s, hometown, into a house that was only in his name, only became friends with his friends, and never made any connections in Waning Bay that weren’t connected to Peter, or the library where she works. So when Peter leaves her for his best friend, Petra, she decides to move in with Petra’s ex, Miles. They have nothing in common except a shared misery over their mutual breakups, and while Miles can quickly make friends anywhere, Daphne has always struggled opening up with strangers. As Miles works to properly introduce Daphne to the charming lakeside community she is living in, the two find healing through friendship that quickly develops into stronger feelings. When their photos imply they are more than friends, they let the charade continue, if only to make their exes uncomfortable - because CLEARLY, they could never actually get together, right?

As the title suggests, this one is actually really funny, and while many readers felt mislead by the title of Happy Place, I don’t think they will feel the same way about this one! This story spends a great deal of time dissecting the difficult task that is making friends as an adult, and I loved it. Friendship, and all relationships, can be messy, heartbreaking, funny, joyous, unpredictable, and Henry loves to show all of those sides. This was a great book to read during my final season living along Lake Michigan, and it will be the perfect summer read for so many!

Thank you Penguin Randomhouse Audio and Berkley for my early copies of Funny Story!

Thank goodness for audiobooks because the marriage of Julia Whalen’s narrating and Emily Henry’s storytelling skills is truly a match made in heaven.

Did I love this one? Why, yes. Yes I did. It actually may be my favorite book by Henry which is not a statement I make lightly as all of her stories hold a special place in my heart. For my romance readers we have fake dating, opposites attract, found family, friends to lovers all taking place in a small coastal Michigan town. Basically all of my favorite things penned by the incomparable Emily Henry. What a time to be alive!

There is a sense of joy in Funny Story that was missing from Henry’s past two books. Seeing Daphne get her groove back while slowly falling for the sweetest man possible (I love you Miles!) made for such a lovely reading experience. Waning Bay, Michigan was the perfect setting for their adventures and wow, I think I need to already do a reread!

Funny Story is available everywhere tomorrow and honestly- do yourself a favor and grab the audio while you’re at it! This is truly the perfect warmer weather read!

I love all of Emily Henry's books but I think this one is my favorite. Two dumped people become roommates out of necessity, and then become close. I love librarian Daphne and I love Miles even more. I was giddy reading this and that never happens to me. High praise.

🅐🅡🅒 🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦
🧡 𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 🧡
𝖤𝗆𝗂𝗅𝗒 𝖧𝖾𝗇𝗋𝗒
#BerkleyPartner #berkley

All bow down to the Queen that is Emily Henry. I never doubted that I would love it, but when you love an author and her books so much, there always that little bit of worry that can creep in…well Funny Story, she nailed it! I love that EmHen’s are all so different, they aren’t formulaic at all. Also this book is a love letter to libraries and librarians (which I am) so I felt so much of this to my core. My highlights are off the chart and I can’t wait to get my physical copy to re-annotate it! Miles is a totally different type of leading man and you can’t help but love him. Daphne is who she is and I loved watching her journey to finding her voice and seeing that who she is, is enough! I also can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud! The humor is spot on!

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story, that is until she discovers her fiancé Peter's true feelings for his childhood friend Petra. Starting anew in Waning Bay, Michigan, she finds solace in her dream job as a children’s librarian and an unusual living arrangement with Petra's ex, Miles. Despite their contrasting personalities, they form an unlikely friendship and devise a bit of a fake dating scheme. As they navigate their tangled emotions, Daphne wrestles with the possibility of falling for someone connected to her past heartbreak.

Read if you enjoy:
👑 Emily Henry
🚻 Roomance
📚 Libraries
💞 Friends to Lovers
🧲 Opposites Attract
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Crappy Parent Issues
🏡 Small Town
🤭 Dry Humor
🌊 Northern Michigan

Thank you to @berkleyromancec and @netgalley for the advanced eARC of this book!

After a break up she never saw coming, Daphne ends up moving in with the man who's ex is now her ex's newest love. If that wasn't complicated enough at all, Daphne uprooted her life for the man who's just left her, leaving in the lurch for the next hundred or so days. Until the Read-a-thon is completed, she must stay here and see this through. Even if that means befriended her coworker, fake dating her new roommate, and finding out precisely who she is in the meantime.

This may have been the best Emily Henry I've read yet. It was truly romantic comedy, heavy on the laughter and lightness. There was plenty of emotional depth and side characters I need to have their own books for now.

A thoroughly enjoyable romp through the roommates to lovers, fake dating, warm and fuzzy, library loving tale.

I loved this charming story set in northern Michigan - the Traverse City area on the shores of Lake Michigan. Miles and Daphne are a complete delight! I loved their friends to lovers arc, their family and mental health struggles, and the complex and wacky side characters and friends that form around them.

Funny Story of heart and warmth, and Miles couldn’t be a better book boyfriend if he tried! This is in a pretty close race with Book Lovers for my favorite Emily Henry book.

The audiobook, narrated by the brilliant Julia Whelan, makes this story all the more engaging..

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: E-book

5🌟 - I loved it!

No surprise here, I LOVED IT! Em Hen's writing is like coming home, and her books are the perfect blend of nostalgia and quintessential summer vibes that leave her romances at GOD-TIER for me. Her writing just HITS DIFFERENT, and there is no other way to explain it 🥹.

Her take on roommates x fake dating was just 🤌. I wanted to stretch and savor this one because it is PERFECT. Her banter is just top-notch, and I found myself giggling and kicking my feet while reading! This felt like one of her more realistic/relatable characters! They were just two people with broken hearts who found each other, and their love is so beautiful! In addition to their story I loved her cast of side characters from Ashleigh and Julia and the other people from town!

5🌟 across the board for all her romances 🫶 My current ranking of her romances (subject to change):
1. Beach Read
2. Happy Place
3. Funny Story
4. Book Lovers
5. People We Meet on Vacation

Prepare to laugh and swoon, because Em Hen always kills it 👏.

THIS BOOK. Emily Henry has done it again! We started off in Funny Story with absolute gut-wrenching heartbreak for both our main characters and I was so concerned about how that was going to play out. But fear not with Emily Henry! She will show you an funny, amazing, silly time while also having you ask yourself "what is love actually?" Per usual, this story was teeming with vulnerability, intimacy, and also amazing character growth. I love the way we get to explore Daphne's journey to "I" after being a part of a perpetual "we". This felt like a such important thing to explore as so many of us find ourselves adrift either in partnerships or freshly out of them.

And Miles! At first he worried me. A seemingly carefree and untethered soul, I was worried with how that would reconcile with Daphne's buttoned up librarian persona. But they worked SO well together. Their chemistry was off the charts. They had unbelievably witty and silly banter that made me feel like I was interrupting something just by reading. The way they understood each other and supported each was also so beautiful. True soulmate potential.

Ultimately, I think this was Emily's funniest work yet and also her most sensual. I breezed through this book in one singular day and I have been thinking about it ever since.

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

Honestly, how do you even begin to review an Emily Henry book aside from *pterodactyl screeching noises* and *unintelligible fluttery hand gestures* to properly convey how much you love it? Just when I thought I couldn’t love her romcoms more, she goes and writes Funny Story.

Since 2021, I have not managed to find a single romance novel to top my obsession with People We Meet on Vacation–and I have read several hundred romances. How Emily managed to beat her own book is absolutely beyond me. Funny Story now takes first place in my favorites list.

As I was reading my eARC (thank you, THANK YOU, Berkley) I decided to highlight everything that stood out to me. Three paragraphs into the first chapter and I was already highlighting a quote that had me snorting with laughter. The rest of the book made me feel precisely as giddy as those first few lines and I managed to highlight nearly 40 quotes and added countless notes.

Something that constantly impresses me with Emily’s writing style is that while she maintains a classic romcom formula (meaning that the book is equally as funny as it is romantic), she doesn’t skimp on depth and emotion. I have cried nearly as many times as I have laughed while reading each of her novels and Funny Story was no different. It dealt with themes like emotionally abusive family members and toxic romantic relationships. But it doesn’t just glaze over them or make them feel unimportant. They’re an integral part of the story and handled with so much grace.

This book also gave me an element I never knew I needed (?) in an EmHen novel: found family. It may have manifested in an untraditional sense, but it was absolutely part of the narrative and I really loved how it was cultivated and nurtured throughout the story. By the end of the book, I felt as though Ashleigh’s friendship with Daphne was just as important as the romantic relationship with Miles.

If you’re looking for something feel-good that will make you laugh so hard you nearly pee yourself, cry a little, and just fall in love with love all over again, you need to pick up Funny Story. I had the best time ever reading this book and I can’t wait to pick it up whenever I’m craving some extra comfort. All the stars for this fantastic romcom!

**Unrelated and semi-unimportant but fun fact time: A truly delightful part of this for me was that the Richmond they reference time and again is Richmond, Virginia… which just happens to be where I was born and raised and lived until 2021. Seeing it mentioned over and over made me really happy. Now, if only I could convince Emily to do more tour stops there…

[CW: (Major) Cursing, (Moderate) Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Sexual content, (Minor) Vomit]

Few authors dominate the romance genre quite like Emily Henry; new releases are capital-M Major events (& I’m sure there’s something to be said about a new EmHen just days after a new TS album. The book girlies are fighting for their lives this week, hope y’all are okay 😮‍💨)

FUNNY STORY’s premise was just too good to pass up: after his bachelor party, Peter calls off the wedding and breaks up with Daphne. Petra, his best friend since childhood and the girl he swore was like a cousin has confessed she is in love with him. With nowhere else to go, Daphne calls Petra’s ex Miles, obviously he’s now got an extra room at his place.

Things go from bad to worse when they each receive a wedding invitation. Several bottles of alcohol later, drunken RSVPs are made — along with the lie informing the happy couple that Daphne and Miles have blissfully found a second chance at love in each other’s arms.

The ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex-boyfriend *and* fake dating. It sounded absolutely bonkers from the start and I couldn’t wait to dive in! That I read an almost 400-page book in a sitting will come as no surprise here, I was hooked and couldn’t stop turning the pages.

However. The ✨ third act miscommunication ✨kept this in good-not-great territory. In the end, FUNNY STORY was an easy romcom that kept me glued to the page (or, rather, the screen). Miles was a great love interest as is typical for Emily Henry novels, but this isn’t a book I’ll be rereading. That said, this will absolutely be found in many beach bags this summer!

All the stars! This is the perfect definition of a rom-com. When I think of everything that I look for in a romantic comedy, this checks all of the boxes. I laughed. I cried. I had 2 incredible MCs to root for!

I was very nervous in the beginning, because the story starts off a bit on the ridiculous side. I won't go into details as it could be a spoiler, but while it sucked me in, I also wasn't sure of how it would play out. I should have never doubted my girl Emily, because I think it worked out really well. The relationship between the MC's grew organically, and I was completely sold.

Read if you enjoy:
- Forced proximity/Roommates
- Fake dating
- Friends to lovers
- Opposites attact

10/10 recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for this e-arc. All opinions are my own!

There are no words for how much I loved Funny Story. It feels that with each book Emily Henry publishes, the characters come to life off the page even more. I found myself laughing out loud many times throughout the book, at both descriptions and conversations. I LOVED Daphne and Miles' entire relationship, and they honestly might have become my favorite character's out of all of Henry's books.

If you're a first timer to Emily Henry's books, Funny Story is a great one to start with. If you're already and established fan of hers, I hope you love it as much as I did.

All the stars.
Thank you, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for the gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review.