Emily Henry is the IT contemporary romance author right now - and her first novel cemented her as great in my mind. The quirkiness she adds to her characters, the random settings that invite you into a world of random encounters and friendships. Although this was not as magical for me as others, as a librarian, I really can't help but recommend it wholeheartedly as the patron interactions with our protagonist are all too real :)

As a huge fan of Emily Henry, I was very eager to dive into this one. Learning all about Daphne and Miles was a treat... grab this book today!

I really enjoyed this! I haven’t been super impressed with EH’s last two books, so I was a little hesitant to read Funny Story. But Emily is back! Funny Story was witty, smart, and so much fun. I laughed out loud so many times. I love that it was mostly just light and fun (Happy Place was so melancholy, I couldn’t handle that again). Overall a very solid book that I liked a lot.

Emily Henry has become my favorite beach read. I love her writing style, the wit and humor, and the 'feel' of her books. She's so very good at straddling the world between romance and women's literature.

Brief synopsis: Funny Story follows Daphne Vincent, a children’s librarian who uproots to follow Peter, her picture-perfect fiance, to his Waning Bay, Michigan. When Peter unceremoniously dumps Daphne for his childhood best friend, classic pick-me girl Petra, our shy, friendless librarian moves in with the only other person she knows in town. Petra’s ex, a messy-haired sommelier who smells like weed and possibility.

My thoughts: This book starts off as a pretend-lover and quickly a becomes friends to lovers trope. It’s charming, witty, and quite funny.

When Daphne's world falls apart, she searches to create a home for herself and struggles to rebuild a life after loss of the dream. Funny Story is centered around the loss of familiarity, and the mourning of expectations of someone or a life we dreamed of (something we all understand and know personally on our travel through life.)

There’s something about the settings of Emily Henry’s books, that make me think that I’d be happy living in a small town. I am drawn to Daphne's character personally as I too work at a library. While I enjoyed seeing her grow to love the town at large, I especially enjoy her coworkers at the library and the ongoings at the library. For me the library is a community room, where people come to settle in and find a good book, much like Funny Story.

You can't go wrong with Emily Henry, and Funny Story is no exception. It's a fun and enjoyable read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sharing a fun, light hearted story from Emily Henry.

This might be my new favorite Emily Henry book. I loved this book so much. The banter... The tension ... The humor.... All of it was just *chef's kiss*.

I think this might be my new favorite book by Emily Henry!!! I loved these characters and their connection!!

This was such a delight to read. Miles and Daphne were just the right amount of brokenhearted, their imperfections human and sympathetic. I deeply enjoyed watching Daphne's healing and growth journey, and though we obviously never get Miles' POV, I still felt like I got to know him better throughout the story and had the chance to watch him grow and heal, too. As always, Emily Henry's prose is clean and polished and so wonderfully easy to read, her story's themes born out skillfully and gradually. Excited to read what she gives us next!

Thank you, Berkley and NetGalley, for the advance review copy!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

I don't even know what to say about this book to convey how much I loved it. Emily Henry could write a list of random words and I'd read it and probably love it, but Funny Story might be my new favorite book of hers.

Daphne is such a fun character, and grows so much throughout this book. It would have been so easy for her to just be miserable and have a huge pity party until she could move away, yet she pulls herself up and makes the most of her (as she thinks) remaining time in Michigan. Miles is key to that, as he's determined to put a smile on her face. Their chemistry is fantastic, their banter is even better, and I was anticipating their eventual hook up like you wouldn't believe.

The pacing was perfect, there were both humorous and emotional moments, characters you love and those you will strongly dislike, and the perfect amount of steam.

So, so good...the only thing I dislike is waiting a full year before the next book by this author!

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT, EMILY HENRY NEVER MISSES. I loved the two main characters and the banter was just chefs kiss.

Emily Henry is synonymous with the rom-comiest stories with the best banter between characters and her newest book is no exception! Her books jump off the page with ease and it’s so much fun to read her stories starring swoonworthy leads with depth. What I loved about this one was the growth Daphne underwent throughout the story; she and her found family grew together as she figured out who she was and how to set healthy boundaries. There were many other parts of this book I loved but I don’t want to spoil anything! I would highly recommend picking up this book and falling in love with it.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced electronic version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

How did I get to this point in my life having never read Emily Henry? HOW? Better late than never as they say! THIS is the book I’ve been hoping I’d find in what’s been a rough patch for me with the romance genre this year. I laughed, I teared up, my heart raced at times, and I ended this book with the contented sigh of a happy reader. Aaaaaah. *Chef's kiss*

Children’s librarian Daphne is engaged to Peter and preparing for the perfect future in their beautiful home. Unfortunately, his long-time best friend, Petra, has chosen his bachelor party as the right time to confess her feelings for him … feelings which he suddenly realizes he has for her too! This leaves Daphne not only heartbroken but now homeless, and in a twist of fate and fortune that could only happen in a rom-com, she ends up finding a new roommate in none other than Petra’s now jilted fiance, Miles. You know the saying: misery loves company!

In what begins as the male-female version of The Odd Couple, straight-laced Daphne and earthy Miles find they have far more in common than they realized and friendship blossoms, with Miles coaxing Daphne out of her shell a bit, and Daphne offering a safe place for Miles to open up about his past. Over time, they both begin to realize that the dysfunction they grew up in doesn’t need to define who they are now. (Wow, did I relate to that part of the story!)

This book had everything I could want: two likable MCs with AMAZING chemistry, a well-paced arc from friends to lovers, hilarious banter, emotional depth, a beautiful Michigan setting, a thoughtful and realistic storyline, and a brilliant cast of secondary characters - I particularly adored Miles’ sister Julia, and Daphne’s co-worker/friend Ashleigh. So fun! The cherry on top? The narration by Julia Whelan. I listened to this as I read along on my Kindle, and Whelan’s gender voicing and overall storytelling made my first Henry book extra special!

Fair warning: there’s a moderate level of spice, so those who don’t prefer that may need to skip a few scenes. I don’t love open-door scenes myself, but it worked here because it felt natural and believable. You feel the pain Daphne and Miles have gone through and the evolution of their friendship, so when it gets to those scenes you not only feel the mutual attraction that's grown between them, but also their visceral NEED for one another. The slow-build to it was perfect!

If you want a rom-com that’s the complete package - HERE. IT. IS. I can’t sing its praises enough!

Emily Henry at her very best. She's an expert at writing fully realized characters with complicated histories, which makes the love story feel all the more earned.

I enjoy reading Emily Henry novels! This one piqued my interest with Daphne being a librarian. It was a slow burn (but sometimes too slow). Also not a fan of miscommunication in novels and there is some in this one. Overall - I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more from Emily Henry

✨Book Review✨
Funny Story by Emily Henry
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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This was a very low 4 for me. That being said, it was by FAR my favorite Emily Henry book. I am someone who just doesn't see the hype. I think I liked this one a lot more than her others because it was not enemies to lovers. I think I just don't love the way she does that trope.
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While I did really enjoy this story, I do feel like it was about 100 pages too long. Definitely cute though and I loved the librarian vibes and the way this story centered around self-growth and friendship.

when your fiancé (now ex-fiancé) breaks off your wedding to run off into the sunset with the girl best friend he had told you not to worry about . . .

so you decide to move in with that girl best friend’s ex-fiancé instead.

the story of a woman losing herself in love, trying to rebuild her life, and finding new, healthy relationships along the way. I. WAS. OBSESSED. i will say that i was not a huge emily henry stan before, but this book changed my mind. i haven’t read something that had morals as strong as this one in a long time. the level of maturity was fitting for the atmosphere it was giving and is totally relatable to anyone dealing with early to mid-life crises. i still think about this book even though i read it a while ago.

and that ENDING !! that “we stan strong women” vibe we all know and love! daphne was everything. an absolute icon we can all look up to whenever we feel like life is falling apart.

This may be my absolute favorite Emily Henry book!
I thought it was so cute, and I loved seeing their relationship develop.
From absolute heartbreak to finding something unexpected and healing together.
It was so perfect!

10/10

What can I even say about this book. I am not normally a contemporary romance reader but for Emily Henry's books, I will drop everything else and dive right in - I don't know what magic she has. Her characters are real, they are interesting, and the minute I get introduced to them I want to be friends with them.

The friendship and then relationship that develops between Daphne and Miles was perfect and even though Henry had me nervous there for a minute...she came through. And the secondary characters in this book were fantastic too! They helped establish not only who Daphne and Miles were as individuals but also together.

If you haven't read this one yet, you are missing out. Go get it, sit down and read it. That is all.

Funny Story is exactly what I want when I open a new Emily Henry novel- characters that are so lifelike I wish I knew them, flirty banter and off-the-charts chemistry, and a story that feels fluffy and light but in reality is deep and meaningful. In this story, we meet Daphne, whose picture perfect life implodes when her fiancé Peter dumps her for Petra, the girl he swore was only his best childhood friend. She has no choice but to move in with Miles, Petra's now ex. Enter one of my favorite romance tropes- fake dating. Daphne impulsively tells her ex that she and Miles are together when Peter and Petra send them wedding invitations. I just loved every minute of this story and I highly recommend it!

What a wonderful read!!! Everything in this book worked so well. Who doesn't love a forced proximity romance, sprinkled with some fake relationship (or would it be the other way around?). All the characters were so ALIVE and complex, no one felt like they were only there to serve the A plot. The romance built beautifully and the story flowed and unfolded in such a delightful way. I loved every moment of reading this book.

I always devour Emily Henry's books and this one was no different! There is something so wonderful and lovely about her writing that I can't help but get sucked into the story and characters.

I loved the set-up of the story even if it is something that would probably only happen in a fictional world – the rooming with your ex-fiancé's new fiancée's ex-boyfriend part. Daphne and Miles are dealing with their respective break-ups very differently and it was interesting to see them slowly come out of their shells and finally get to know each other.

There were a few different parts of this story that I connected with – it's probably the Emily Henry novel I've connected with the most so far. Several parts of both Daphne's and Miles's journies hit close to home for me.

This is not my best-written recap of my thoughts but sometimes the books you love the most are the most difficult to write about!

Overall, another great one from Henry. I'm looking forward to whatever she gives us next – and in the meantime, I'll definitely be rereading Funny Story.