I absolutely loved Happy Place and Beach Read, so my expectations were high. Overall, I did like this book but I couldn’t say that until about halfway through.

Actually 3.5 stars rounded up

The first half felt very much like a romcom, hence the title, but it felt all too predictable. It didn’t feel like a Henry book.

Fast forward to the second half, and I finally started to get the classic Emily Henry feeling that makes her books more than just a romance novel. The main characters’ baggage really starts to unfold, and we get to the nitty gritty of the situation.

The biggest gripe I have with this story is that it’s not super believable for me. Yes, it’s a book, but all of Emily’s other books feel like they could really happen. Like the characters are real people, not people in some cheesy romcom.

Personally, I wish more of the book was like the second half. I feel like the average romance reader would really enjoy this, but die-hard Emily Henry readers might feel similar to me.

If I were giving someone who’s never read Emily Henry before a book, this would be it because (imo) you can only go up from here!

~~~~~~~~~~S P O I L E R ~ W A R N I N G~~~~~~~~~~

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I think it was really unrealistic and overdone that these two who JUST got out of major, long term relationships, are now jumping back into one and saying “I love you” after what, 3 months? 4? That was where this book REALLY lost me.

I know sometimes we just meet the right person at the right time, and she did hold off on moving in with him in the end, take things slow, and maybe I’m being too much of a realist here, but I just can’t ship a couple that would do this.

4⭐️ 1🌶️

Oh Emily how you do this every single time I’ll never understand but man am I grateful to you and your stories.

I want to do a reread of all the books and try to put them in order of favorite to least favorite but it’s so damn hard when they all have something I could not live without. While this one is not my favorite and leaning towards the bottom of the group, I have to say it was still very good. There was just a little something something missing for me personally.

Daphne and Miles couldn’t be more opposite to each other if they tried, but they worked together which goes to prove that opposites do attract. I think they found themselves in the shittiest of situations and made the best of it. Neither one of them deserved what they went through, both were wayyyyyy too good for their prior relationship and I’m happy they worked out so perfectly because their love just felt right.

This book was different to prior EmHen books. No more slow burn in the way Emily likes to edge and torture us. And you know what, I’m not mad about it. There was still torture and tension for days but she gave us something extra this time and it felt fitting to the story.

They had this forced proximity of sorts going on and while in this case I wasn’t a big fan of the fake dating, I found myself getting emotional in those little moments were Miles just couldn’t take his eyes away from her, or would say something so absolutely beautiful that I had to take a minute, pause the reading and take a deep breath. Is he the best EmHen man? IMO he is, just not my favorite when compared to Wyn or Alex. But Miles just has this young feeling about him. He is more care free. He’s not the traditional Emily Henry man we have gotten before. He smokes pot, and wears crocs, and says hi to everyone because he knows everyone, he has many sides to him and they all come beautifully together to form this amazing character.

Daphne is definitely more of the classical EmHen FMC we have gotten before and I just wanted to wrap her in a hug so tight she lost her breath. I felt such rage any time asshole Peter had the audacity to breathe or be on page… Jesus how I wanted to jump into this book and simply strangle this guy. And don’t even get me started on PeTrA…. Seriously 😒

I am just torn because this is a 5 star read but I don’t know why something still feels like is missing. I highly recommend it, I don’t think there’s anything an Emily can write that I wouldn’t. Now to suffer until we have news and little crumbs to feed us enough until the next release 😭

The audiobook as usual, thank you PRH for the ALC, was phenomenal but I expected nothing less of my Queen Julia Whelan.

This book… there’s just not a way to properly describe how an Emily Henry book makes me feel. She can do absolutely no wrong. The way that I can go through every single emotion and feel so emotionally invested in these characters and not only their relationships, but their friendships too, is unreal. I wasn’t able to put this book down. I loved Daphne and Miles characters SO much. I related to them both a lot and just felt so connected to them. Not to mention the banter in an EmHen book is always top tier, so this book was so much fun and easy to just sit and read for long periods of time. I’ll be impatiently awaiting her next release!!!

I’m so obsessed with everything EmHen. I about cried when I saw that I got the ARC for Funny Story and then I proceeded to d e v o u r it knowing that it’s my book club choice for later this year. I will absolutely be reading it again come July!

My formal review:
Emily Henry can do no wrong. That’s it. That’s the whole review. Funny Story has easily taken over Happy Place as my favorite Emily Henry book of all time. Everyone go read this the second it comes out on April 23!

Thank you SO much to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review 💕

5/5 ⭐️

Emily Henry can do no wrong. I absolutely loved this. You can find friends to lovers, forced proximity, and opposites attract. I genuinely loved seeing Daphne and Miles form a friendship turned lovers. Right from the beginning, they had such a special bond. They had me laughing, crying and just all around feeling all the feels for them. Miles is the cutest guy ever. I immediately loved him, he is funny, sweet, playful and fun. I love how he jokes around with her. I hated when he would be hurt by Peter, it made me so mad because he’s so gentle and kind that I wanted to give him a big old hug. He is a little sweet emotional man that I adore so much. I also loved seeing Daphnes journey and realizations. It felt like such a special book in which I highly recommend.

Emily Henry, the woman you are.

♾️ stars / 5, my favourite read so far this year and one of my new favourites couples ever.

I didn't know how much i needed this and per usual, idk where to start with how i feel about this book. I'm sad i finished it but so grateful i read it.

I'll just start with (one of) my favourite quote in the book

— "𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢."

It's only the second book from Emily Henry I read and thought i was a Poppy girl but im def Daphne. I saw myself so much in her it felt like Emily Henry wrote her specifically for me (im sure she did). Like she just wants to be loved and seen. It was so validating to see myself in her tbh. I also saw myself a lot in Miles which surprised me cuz I'm not one to relate to MMCs lol.

This book was so raw, vulnerable and beautiful. I literally went through so many emotions reading this like literally all of them lmao. I think they're quite different but prove opposites do attract sometimes and complements each other well. I love that Daphne and Miles got to navigate through so many relationships not just their own romantic relationship. Like Daphne making friends, making up with others and also her relationship with her dad. I litch could go on forever but I'll probably spoil something and just never finish typing.

Also Emily Henry miss girllll I didn't know she had it in her like the spicy sneces???? I was GAGGED and was giggling.

Anyways everyone needs to read this.

Thank you Netgally for the arc!!!

“Don’t drop me”
“Never”

This book single-handedly reminded my we why I love reading, why I love books, why I’m an English major and why I love words so much. Words wield so much power and magic and Emily Henry puts her whole soul into these words she’s strung together.

I love love loved the not meet-cute and the development of their relationship and individual character development. Miles and Daphne were so perfectly imperfect, they were so human, they made mistakes and laughed a little to loud and I loved how they didn’t seem to be traditionally compatible but they were so perfect together. They brought out the best in each other. Their relationship was so complicated, two strangers who become roommates because their significant others dumped them to get engaged? Complicated doesn’t even cover it.

I cried at lest 5 times while reading this, partially because I resonated with both characters so much, and partially because the story was just that good. The beauty of her characters and the complexity of their relationships rly felt so reassuring and warm. It felt like I was watching a movie, everything just felt so real. 🤍

I loved the romance, but what I really enjoyed about this was that the focus wasn’t just on them and their story. Their individual journeys were a major focus throughout the story. Daphne’s journey especially as she rediscovered how to build her own life and make her own friends really was so beautiful. Her friendship with Ashleigh and the way that they both made mistakes but kept showing up for each other regardless really healed the girl in me who always thought she would never find genuine friendships. And Miles working through trusting himself again after being shut off from his feelings for so long? That was like a shot to the heart.

And the cherry on top for all of this? The ending. It was the most beautiful full circle moment. But I won’t spoil that for you. You’ll just have to read it yourself. 🥹

This was my first time finishing an Emily Henry book because I DNFd beach read, and I can confidently say this convinced me to go back and retry beach read AND read every other book she’s ever written! This was art!!

This is my favorite book by Emily Henry!

Daphne thought she had found the stable home life she had sought. Her fiancee, Peter, and her home in Waning Bay, Michigan is all perfect to her. Peter is reliable and her job as a librarian has been a dream.

Then, the next day after his bachelor's party, Peter walks in and tells her that he just realized that he is madly in love with his childhood friend, Petra and he is taking her to the Amalfi Coast to start their life together. He also gives Daphne a week to move out of his house.

Daphne feels stranded. She has no friends or family close by. She doesn't have a place to stay until she finds Miles, Petra's ex-boyfriend who is also devastated by the news. Ever the practical, Daphne asked if she could be his roommate now that Petra was gone.

What starts as a devastating situation for both, glues them together. They opened up about themselves and accepted each other just the way they were. From friends to maybe something even better.

But can it work when they are so different?

So many things to love about this book. The main characters were both great. Daphne from being a little stiff to morphing into someone who accepts change and learning to trust that not everyone walks away. Miles is a selfless, humble, and sexy guy who is on my book-boyfriend list of all time.

The secondary characters were delightful in their own quirkiness, the fictional town of Waning made me think about moving there, and of course, the library sounded like a dream I wanted to visit.

I loved this one and I was so glad there was an epilogue.

Cliffhanger: No

4.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Berkley Publishing Group via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel so lucky to be alive in the same time as Emily Henry.

It’s unrivaled, magical, and quite frankly astonishing how she makes her characters and journeys feel so real. Once again, I saw so much of myself and my relationship in the characters. I also truly felt like I experienced Daphne and Miles relationship grow with them. The bits and pieces they learned about each other had me swooning. I was rooting for them the whole time!

I loved their individual journeys as well. The found family/home was so heartwarming. Loved seeing how they each made their unique family pasts into strengths. Of course, this really made me want to 1) visit Michigan and 2) be a librarian too. And of course the banter, as always, delivered.

5/5 stars

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the advanced reading copy -- out 4/23!

SYNOPSIS -- Daphne loves the story of meeting her fiance, Peter... that is, until that story included him falling in love with childhood best friend, Petra. Daphne suddenly finds herself alone in Waning Bay, Michigan, forced to move in with Petra's ex-boyfriend, Miles, who is everything Daphne's opposite. Miles is a chaotic pothead, who Daphne quickly learns is also pretty fun to be around. While Daphne has her dream job as a children's librarian, she's severely lacking in the friends department until she strikes up a tenuous and confusing friendship with Miles. When a life prompts them to pretend to be dating, they really lean into it and confuse everyone around them... including themselves. Could Daphne really have a crush on her ex-fiancé's new fiancé's ex??? And what would it mean if she did?

I LOVED this book!! This was absolutely one of my favorite Emily Henry books. As of now, I'm placing it just under Book Lovers and just above Happy Place. The margins are SLIM, but they're there. I'll give this some more thought, but I genuinely loved this book and tore through it way faster and more hungrily than I did Happy Place.

Miles and Daphne's chemistry was palpable from the start. I really, really liked both of their characters, which doesn't always happen for me in romance. They both had their issues, sure, but nothing got in the way in that annoying, just-looking-for-an-issue way. As is always the case with Emily Henry, the supporting characters were top tier. They were funny, unique and super easy to love. I learned how to use the "highlights" feature on my Kindle for this book -- there were so many cute scenes, funny one-liners and just adorable quotes that I had to start marking them! Plus this book was legit funny!!! I laughed out loud multiple times and caught myself smiling at myself throughout the book.

I really loved this one, and I think you will too. Emily Henry can't miss!!

I didn’t get the hype around Emily Henry before, the other two I read I thought were fine. But THIS. This book I devoured. I couldn’t look away! I laughed, I cried, I fell in love multiple times over. I get it now. The premise alone was enough to intrigue me to try just one more, and wow am I glad I did. This book will be in my top 2024 reads, and on my to-reread list.

There are precious few writers for whom I will read straight romance, but Emily Henry is at the tippy top of that list. Her humor, heart, hilarious banter, and deep, real feelings permeate every single one of her books and FUNNY STORY is no exception. The fact that her heroine is a librarian is icing on an overwhelmingly delicious cake.

Miles is the kind of sweet, flawed, lovely love interest I wish for all my friends and the supporting cast of character help to make this book absolutely sing. Couldn't recommend it more highly!

Emily Henry does it again!
She is a master of romcoms with characters that feel so real you can’t help but feel so much for them.
Funny Story had some of my favorite tropes: fake dating, forced proximity, friends to lovers, and more! I’m so used to these tropes and love them for a reason. Somehow, Emily Henry always manages to make stories feel fresh and unique. Her narration and storytelling shines in a way that makes me love her books in a special kind of way.
I laughed and I cried with this book. Daphne and Miles are everything to me. I love every single character Emily Henry creates. Just when I think I couldn’t love her books any more than the previous one, she surpasses her own writing and gives us another gem of a book.
This will be an all-time favorite for so many people when it comes out. It already is one of mine.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

This book was so good! It definitely gave me all the feels. I really connected with Daphne as a main character. She was strong and funny, her ability to bounce back really had me admiring her. It was way too easy to forget I was reading a story, I felt in the story! Miles was just perfect, soft and goeey in the best way, like a delicious dessert. He was the perfect balance to Daphne always striving for perfection, he mellowed her out perfectly. 5 stars!

Emily Henry might very well be the most consistent and dependable author around.

I loved this book. Adored it. I'm currently writing this just after finishing the book with tears in my eyes.

The premise made me giggle. The idea of "I have no choice but to move in with my ex-fiance's new girlfriend's ex-boyfriend" is so ridiculous, but it just WORKED. It created an entirely unique (to me) scenario for our two MCs to fall in love. And throw in a tiny dash of fake dating to make the ex's jealous? I'm a goner.

Emily consistently gives us flawed characters that never seem to cross the line into unlikable. I'm learning more and more how hard that is for authors to achieve.

There were times in this book that I almost thought they wouldn't end up together. I don't think I've ever felt that way reading a romance. But it was perfect and so necessary to the story and the characters' growth.

And of course, as always, the tension and banter Emily gives us was 👌🤌 No notes.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the eArc.

READ THIS BOOK!

In Funny Story by Emily Henry, Daphne navigates life in Waning Bay, Michigan, after her fiancé Peter falls for his childhood best friend, Petra, leading Daphne to become roommates with Petra's ex, Miles Nowak. Despite their initial avoidance, Daphne and Miles form a friendship and hatch a plan involving misleading photos, questioning the possibility of love in the tangled aftermath of their broken relationships.

Funny Story was one of my most anticipated spring reads! I was thrilled to hear that Julia Whelan was going to narrate, so I knew I had to listen to this on audio as much as I could. Despite the summary suggesting a typical trope, I found the story to be unexpectedly profound. Narrated entirely from Daphne’s perspective, this approach adds a special depth, allowing readers to intimately experience her journey of self-discovery and resilience following a broken engagement. It was also fascinating seeing the evolution of Miles’s character and the gradual unveiling between him and Daphne The supportive and encouraging characters in the story made it even more endearing. What I loved most were the insightful quotes, true nuggets of wisdom, woven into the narrative thought and care. Funny Story has become my all-time favorite book by Emily Henry and deserves all the stars. I'm glad I accidentally pre-ordered two different editions of this book before reading it, something I have NEVER done before!

Miss Emily Henry does it yet again and I'm convinced that all her books have some form of crack in them. All I could think about while reading this was Nick and Jess from New Girl and the vine "oh my god, they were roommates"

To be honest, I don't know what to think of this because I really enjoyed this, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The banter was amazing as always and I adored the friendship between Daphne and Miles, despite the awful circumstances as to how they became friends. I think this is Emily's horniest book yet because I was reading around 35% in the middle of a steamy scene and asking myself "Is this an Emily Henry book I'm reading right now???"

Spice aside, Miles and Daphne were very vulnerable with each other, but I mean why wouldn't they be since they were both dumped and both of their exes got together with each other. I know their characters were set in their mid thirties, but it honestly didn't feel that way and I wasn't convinced at times. And honestly, I don't care that Miles wears crocs and has multiple pair, he's so hot.

Sure there were some chaotic moments with side characters and I didn't really connect to a majority of the book, but I still had a great time. This was definitely more of a romcom and not as emotional as Emily's previous books and I'd rate this at 3.5 or 4 stars for me, I'm still trying to decide.

...
"I didn't learn what love was supposed to feel like. It doesn't feel natural, or come easily to me, to let anyone close. But you- you make love so easy, Daphne. You make me think I already deserve it, exactly how I am."
...

I think this also further proves that I need to visit Lake Michigan again, especially during the summer. The way Emily writes the small town atmosphere is amazing and I want to live in every place she writes.

Was this a favorite of mine? Not really, but I still really enjoyed it! Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for sending an arc for my honest review!

Tropes:
-fake dating
-forced proximity / roommates
-friends to lovers
-found family
-small-ish town vibes
-steamy tension

Devour this! Definitely my new favorite EmHen books

Daphnes and Miles were such amazing complex characters

Roommates to lover
Forced Proximity
Opposites attract

Full Review on my TT

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL616Swv/

Every Emily Henry is my new favorite (except Happy Place...we don't know her) and oh my heart! Reading Funny Story was an absolutely wonderful experience. You'll find everything you love in an Emily story and then some more. This is another love story to Michigan and you're going to fall in love with Waning Bay just as easily as you fall for Miles and Daphne.

When Daphne's fiancé Peter leaves her for his best friend Petra, her life implodes rather spectacularly when she realizes all of their friends were his friends and she has nowhere to live. Enter Miles - Petra's own jilted ex who just happens to have a spare bedroom. The pair don't have anything in common, except their exes and an invitation to Peter and Petra's upcoming wedding. It starts out innocently enough with the idea to fake date until the wedding. But as Miles tries to help Daphne find her own place in Waning Bay and Daphne struggles with the decision to stay or move on, the lines between what's fake and what's real begin to blur.

I'd recommend if you like:
-Beach Read
-Opposites attract
-Forced proximity
-Strangers to roommates to lovers
-The banter! Oh, the banter
-Small town and characters you'll fall in love with
-Found family

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. Already planning a reread and counting down the days until Emily's next book!

Just not my favorite. The FMC felt a little too whiny and dependent for me and I wish that she wasn’t blaming her ex for every inconvenience