Emily Henry has done it again. Each time I read one of her books, I think, ‘This is it, she can’t top this one.’ And with each new book, she keeps raising the bar.
What can I say about Funny Story… it’s wildly relatable, for a start. The main characters are just normal people. No millionaires, no celebrities, no hotshot careers – just fully normal people leading normal lives. Well, leading lives that make for a fantastic story. Daphne, Miles, Ashleigh, Julia, and all the rest are wonderfully real, flawed, beautiful characters, and I would happily hang out with any of them. (Not Peter and Petra. They can bugger off.)
Even though it’s no mystery who our Daphne is going to end up with, I enjoyed the heck out of watching them fall in love. I even got a little bit teary towards the end, and love stories usually don’t do that to me.
The banter is top notch, with so many cackling-out-loud moments. But we know we can count on Emily Henry to deliver the laughs, so this is no surprise. I could go on and on but I’ll shut up so you can order this book and start reading asap.

This book was so quaint and satisfying to read!! No loose ends. It was predictable but in a nice way, and as always with Emily Henry, I ended up falling in love with the characters and highlighting every word after the 70% mark. I recommend this to anyone who needs a nice pallet cleanser, or who misses Henry's work!!

Fake dating? Check!
Friends to lovers? Check!
Small town setting? Check!
Emily Henry at her best? Check!

I have fallen complete and utterly in love with Henry's stories. Each book has stolen a piece of my heart and when I think she cannot come up with a better story, she simply does. I loved the characters in this story so much! I would love having Daphne as a friend, it would be an honour to see her flourish. And I would totally date Miles. He was a special one.

All the hearts for this one. When's the next one?

BOOK REVIEW: Funny Story by @emilyhenrywrites
@vikingbooksuk @penguinrandomhouse

4 Stars

I was extremely excited to read Funny Story as I have absolutely adored every single Emily Henry book.

Funny Story is based around introvert librarian Daphne whose fiancé Peter leaves her for his best female friend Petra. She is given a week to leave his house. So she ends up moving in with Petra's ex boyfriend Miles. Daphne is counting down the days until she can move away. However after receiving a "save the date" card for Peter and Petra's wedding, Daphne accepts the invitation and lies to Peter by telling him that she will be with Miles who is now her boyfriend. Thankfully Miles agrees to fake date as long as he can show Daphne how wonderful the town is and show her the magic of living there. Their friendship grows and then feelings become involved, but with their past hurt, it's not as easy as it seems.

I really enjoyed the story and loved the tropes including friends to lovers and close proximity.
Daphne has a lot of growth and Miles definitely played a huge part in getting her to open up and enjoy new experiences. She is kind and caring but also a little shy.
Miles also grew, he started off scruffy, weed smoking and forever late. Daphne helped him take life a little more seriously. They balanced one another out well and supported each other through tough times. They had some great banter which I loved.
The side characters were fantastic. My favourite was Ashleigh who added humour and sass. I really hope she gets her own book and HEA!

The writing was great (as always with Emily Henry) however I did find the pacing to be a little off. Miles also wasn't the perfect book boyfriend for me with him constantly being distracted and then being late for the people that should be his priority.

Overall, a great read but sadly not my favourite by Emily Henry. I still recommend it and I look forward to Henry's next read.

Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love, love, love! Emily Henry has never disappointed me and I always rate her books 5 stars because they deserve it! Highly recommend

I loved this book - the character's back stories were really compelling, and I like the fact that the heroine made mistakes AND then learned from them.

Daphne and Miles grew together from a horrible beginning, and I really enjoyed the growth each character showed as they fell in love.

I absolutely love a good Emily Henry novel so am thrilled to have been able to read an early copy of 'Funny Story'. My favourite is still 'Beach Read' (predictable, sorry), but I absolutely loved reading Henry's latest.

We are jolted straight into the action as Daphne's finance, Peter, declares he is breaking up with her for his female childhood best friend, Petra. Cue Daphne being thrown out of their gorgeous lakeside home and into the flat of Miles, Daphne's ex's new girlfriend's ex. Do you follow? When Daphne panics and lies about dating Miles to Peter, suddenly we have a fake 'wife swap' style situation on our hands. Daphne is determined to leave Waning Bay and Miles vows to show her what she would be missing if she did. We all know what happens next!

I loved following the trajectory of Daphne and Miles' relationship from roommates to friends to lovers. It was incredibly satisfying every time Daphne was able to rub her relationship (fakely at first) in Peter's face. There were some really awful people in this book though. Firstly, Daphne's childhood best friend who instantly ghosted her to hang out with Peter and Petra. I could not work out why on earth she would prioritise Peter over Daphne so it was infuriating. Daphne's relationship with her father is also complicated and the lengthy section he features could probably have been trimmed to make the pacing of the latter half of the book flow more smoothly.

Still, this is very enjoyable and a worthy addition to the Emily Henry canon. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Emily Henry is one of those authors who I know and trust to take care of me, to take me along a journey full of heart and substance.

Funny Story is a not-so-funny story about more than just romance, it digs into how our family and relationships shape us, how feelings of abandonment and heartbreak come in all shapes and sizes, and how we must overcome our past to give way to a better present and future. Henry sets this book in the fictional town of Waning Bay, Michigan, with a cast who feel real and true, likeable (with some valid exceptions) and relatable, whose experiences and emotions make them more than just words on a page.

The eccentric and lovable main characters start with heartbreaks of very similar sizes and reasons, and as you follow along you see them grow and heal with the help of a drunken lie - fake dating between the main characters.
I usually have mixed feelings regarding the fake dating trope, but the way Henry allowed her characters to be open and communicated about it made this the best version I have ever experienced, one which feels realistic yet fun. The fake dating did not make up the biggest element of the book and we got to see the protagonists come together and get to know each other outside the pretence of acting for the sake of others, while still maintaining the confusing and chaotic aspect which makes the fake dating trope so fun.

Henry skillfully balances the fun and silly parts that make a romantic comedy with the drama of heartbreak and real life, she's a real credit to the genre.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this brilliant book's ARC with me.

So far all the books I have read by Emily Henry have been no less than perfect and I am so happy that this book didn’t disappoint!

I actually think this may be one of my favourites books by her so far. I loved everything about it. Both the main and the side characters were well written and had such a strong development through out the book, the plot was great, the relationship was believable and really cute, the pacing was just right and her writing is as always so amazing!

Not only were this a cute rom-com, but it also dealt with a lot of deep stuff like, abandonment issues, not feeling good enough, learning to love and respect yourself, dysfunctional families and trauma.

If you love a deep and emotional, but really cute rom-com with a fake dating and roommates to lovers trope this is definitely for you! I can highly recommend this book!

As usual this has all of Henry's charm and wit.

A very fun but moving story about learn how to love again after heartbreak. As well as how deal with complicated non romantic relationships.
I really love Daphne and Miles as I found they both to be incredibly relatable.

I also really enjoyed the way their relationship developed; at first into a friendship and then into something romantic.

The perfect read to get over those early 2000's rom-coms hangovers, when nothing else will fill that void. Very binge-worthy!!!

Okay. Where can I find a Miles Nowak.....

It will surprise absolutely NOBODY that I completely devoured this, and that it was 5 stars for me. Emily Henry can do no wrong in my eyes and as I've said many times before, everything she writes feels like it was pulled from my brain. Her books always feel fresh and fun, yet of course with a deep emotional heart. It's witty and sarcastic, with wonderful banter between all of the characters. The pacing was absolutely perfect, I was engaged throughout the whole book and just did not want it to end. Daphne and Miles are both dealing with heartbreak and trauma, and I really loved getting to see their respective developments and and healing journeys throughout the story.

I desperately want to visit Waning Bay, the small town in which this story is set. Right from the start, you feel totally immersed in this town, with the beach, the library, the food trucks, the wineries... whenever I had to stop reading, it felt like having to swim up from deep below water, I was so into this world.

I will say - it's definitely NOT a 'funny' story. It's full of humour and heart, of course, but there is a lot of difficult issues dealt with in here, including abandonment issues. Daphne goes through intense character growth, learning self-love, how to exist without being in a relationship, where she fits into the world, how to accept that other people's actions are not a result of her not being good enough... there's a lot to cope with, and Emily Henry tackles this issues with such grace, as always.

I saw another review say that Miles Nowak is Nick Miller coded and it's so TRUE. And I'm a total sucker for Nick Miller... You know that scene in New Girl, when Jess and Nick kiss for the first time? And it's one of the most insane first kisses to ever be seen? Yeah, the kiss scenes in this book are JUST as good, if not better, as that.

Just absolute perfection.

REVIEW: Most likely one of my favorite Emily Henry novels. I really liked the main characters, but I liked more the family that Daphne ends up creating around them, especially the library family.
The fact that Emily Henry's novels are always set in the world of books is what most interests me about them. I was delighted that the stage for this book was the Library.
I enjoyed how she progressively builts up the romantic storyline, showing how they were getting to know each other and mending their scars as time went on. I didn't think it was entirely surreal; rather, I believed it was something natural.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free early reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

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RESEÑA: Probablemente uno de los libros que más disfruté de Emily Henry. Me gustaron mucho los personajes principales, pero me gustó más la familia que Daphne acaba creando a su alrededor, especialmente la familia de la biblioteca.
Lo que más me cautiva de los libros de Emily Henry es que siempre se basen en el mundo de los libros. Me encantó que el escenario de este libro haya sido la Biblioteca.
Me gusta cómo ha desarrollado la trama romántica de manera gradual, viendo cómo se iban conociendo y sanando heridas mientras otras cosas, como la vida, pasaban. He considerado que era algo natural, no algo completamente irreal.
Agradezco a Netgalley y a la editorial por permitir mi lectura a cambio de una honesta reseña.

Emily Henry could literally just throw some letters together on two sides of A4 and I'd read it but oh my god this was fantastic. Perhaps a contender for my favourite Henry book? I don't know how she can meld together such incredible characters, believable plots, and so much love. I cannot wait for my physical copy to be delivered.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing a review copy of Funny Story!

I absolutely LOVED IT! There’s always that questions lingering after I finish one of Henry’s books, ‘when we get a new one?’ ‘Was this better than the last?’ ‘Was this your favourite?’

And still, after so many books read from Henry, I find it difficult to pinpoint which one stole my heart more than another. All characters are always so different and still similar in some manners that make reading these books always comforting. It’s like coming back home every time and each time discovering a small piece of it, a detail to love.

Daphne and Miles are themselves another example of comfort characters, so well defined and what I love most is how every time, no matter what, they understand each other, work together, banter around and in the end, became all they had lacked before in a person, still keeping their own personality.

Henry’s books will get you addicted and keep asking for more!

Funny Story is another Emily Henry masterpiece offered to me by @netgalley.

Daphne and Miles. Daphne moves into Miles's apartment after being dumped by their fiancès, Peter and Petra, both childhood friends. Daphne had built her life around Peter and his family but it all fell apart.

Now, it's only her and her flatmate, Miles.

Will both broken souls be enough to fill each other's crevices and start a new life together?

A real and raw account of two broken people- not their fault.

Highly recommended.

Absolutely loved this book! It felt like something that could actually happen! Loved the characters and all their stories. Couldn’t put it down!

Ahhh Emily Henry has done it again! A grumpy/sunshine romance with the grumpy POV, the best post-breakup glow-up, a cute small town, book people and they’re roommates too. Need I say more?

All jokes aside, I absolutely loved this book and am so grateful I got to read this ARC. It’s a sappy rom-com, but has all the necessary back stories, friendships and, ofcourse, spice.

Just before I get to my review I need to say: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Okay onto the review.
I. LOVED. THIS. Emily Henry has done it again! I was a little bit worried as Happy Place didn't hit like I expected last year but oh my god. I devoured this. I loved Daphne and Miles were wonderful characters and I felt myself falling in love with them as they fell in love. I just wanted them both to find their happiness and worth after everything that happened. I thought this was going to be a revenge story but it wasn't, it was about finding themselves after being broken and along the way they found each other. It wasn't a perfect story and I LOVED IT.
So incredibly grateful for an eARC, I wish I have a physical so I could annotate the heck out of it because there was definitely some life lessons embedded in this. Also my friend who isn't a reader listened to me talk about this book for 20 minutes and preordered a copy, so I'm already getting new readers for Daphne and Miles!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR AN EARC <3

I absolutely love Emily Henry's work and raced through her previous novels. However this one just didn't hit the mark for me and felt a little 'by numbers'. In other novels she has managed to convince us that the main characters have absolutely no clue about their feelings for each other until way down the line but here I feel that we were being guided down a very well worn path. I will definitely read more of her work though

I don't even know where to start. Emily Henry has a way to infuse magic into each of her books, and Funny Story follows suit. This book tells the tale of Daphne. We start by hearing about her breakup from her fiancé, Peter, Peter's new relationship with his best friend, Petra, and Patra's ex-boyfriend, Miles. During the sudden fallout, Daphne moves in with Miles, and they begin fake dating to prove themselves to their exes. This book, however, covers so much more than just a fake dating romance. There is lots of unpacking childhood trauma, found family, and building your own community where you feel safe and loved. Each of the main characters in this book felt like they could walk off the page and be my new friend. I'm honesty upset I can't watch Daphne's Saturday Story Hour. There's so much I could say about this story (but I will refrain to keep from spoiling the book). Emily, just know that I live in your walls, thx.