Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Happy Place

For a book called 'Happy Place,' I spent most of it in shambles.

As a people-pleasing daughter, this felt almost too real.

There is so much grief in this book: from holding onto post-graduate friendships for dear life to realizing you can outgrow yourself. It left me feeling homesick for a place I’ve never been to, and a person I’ve never known.

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leligavi's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Emily Henry did it again.
Man I really, really loved this book. I think Wyn is my favorite Henry male protagonist, by far. He was so sweet, loving, and respectful, but also really self-deprecating but that made the rest of his character super interesting.
This book was so good because (as someone who is married and loves my husband with all of my heart) I felt true pain at the thought of my person and I going through what Harriet and Wyn do in this book.
It was so painful to read the overthinking, and the comments, and the hurt, the anger, the tears. The wishing I could do or say this but not being able to because you aren't MINE anymore. Heartbreaking, JUST HEARTBREAKING.
The other characters were cool I guess, but all I really cared about was them.

After some reflection, I'm actually going to drop my rating from a 5 to a 4. I really didn't care about the other characters, in fact, most of them annoyed me. Especially Sabrina (is that her name? I don't even remember). And also, the gummy bear scene just really didn't need to happen and I cringed at most of it and skimmed the rest.

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immovabletype's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I laughed, I cried, I swooned; I did all three at the same time and ended up choking on my own spit. Emily Henry is my happy place.

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litliz's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bringmybooks's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

you’re either gonna love it or hate it and idk what to tell you

B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

I honestly & truly don’t think this book is going to be for everyone, and I honestly & truly don’t think all of Emily Henry is for everyone (4 starred her first two, lukewarm on them in retrospect, DNFed Book Lovers, don’t @ me). All of that being said, I honestly & truly loved this book.

(Also, did I finally break down and decide to read this because the MC loves Murder She Wrote? no comment)

There are some books that I think have universal appeal, and others that hit harder because of the life you’ve lived and the experiences you’ve had, and I think that was a huge part of why this hit so well for me. I can totally understand why people would look at this and go “miscommunication trope at it’s finest, yawn” but (as someone who’s not typically a fan of this trope) I felt this was a super realistic portrayal of trying to figure out who you are and what you want as you grow older, especially as you try to do it in a relationship with someone you love who is growing up alongside you.

One of my gripes with some of EH’s work is that it’s too … quippy. Nobody can be “on” 24/7, zinging barbs back and forth with whomever they come across from the moment they open their eyes until the moment they go to bed. Sometimes even the quippiest person just calls their partner and says, “Hey, do we need milk?” without there being a joke attached to it, you know?

That being said, I felt that that the characters in this book were way more realistic, and I actually believed in them, which made it a lot easier to stay invested in the story & in their relationships. It’s got so much heart in the way that growing up in a friend group is described, especially as we start to want different things that don’t align with how our friends or partners are growing up.

tl;dr this one brought me back to EH and I’ll be giving her next one a read!

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jaydub0221's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

All I can say is that this book had my emotions on xgames mode. The constant up and down had me in DISTRESS (but in a “can’t wait to see what happens next” kind of way). I loved the friendships/found family aspect of this book. Specifically the female friendships, as their love for one another is so thoughtful and intentional. I also LOVE Harriet & Wyn’s love. It is so pure and whole.

And idc what anyone says, if it didn’t end the way it did, I probably would’ve committed arson.

I love the depth of Emily Henry’s writing in that she delves into deeper, heavier topics and themes like family trauma and anxieties and cracks in relationships. It’s relatable and rocky and that’s what makes it enjoyable for me. Overall, I loved this book. It was wholesome and BOY was it a heartbreaker.

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infjkiki's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Title: Happy Place
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: April 25, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Summery • Heartfelt • Lackluster

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college — they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now — for reasons they’re still not discussing — they don’t.

They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Well, well, well it looks like I am in the minority... yet again when it comes to an Emily Henry book. After finishing this one I actually sat and contemplated why I just don't love her books like everyone else seems to. Happy Place to me was just okay, nothing absolutely amazing.

I will start out by repeating myself, that Emily writes banter unlike anyone else. And she also does supporting characters very well. I loved the friendship aspect and the idea of an annual friends getaway. But that also left me wanting more of supporting characters' stories (which I kind got in the third act conflict). Another thing this book did incredibly well? Make me want to visit coastal Maine. The descriptions - sights, smells, food, beauty - all of it made me want to road trip.

And yet, I just didn't buy what Harriet and Wyn were selling. The romance didn't seem believable. In the beginning I preferred the past timeline way more than the present day, and halfway in that switched. It's quite possible my expectations are always way to high going in, but it felt forgettable.

After reading all of Emily Henry's adult romance novels and not fully understanding the hype, I think I am finally convinced her stories are just not for me. And yet, here I am already having added her 2024 release to my TBR, so the marketing team is definitely doing something right. Don't let my experience deter you from picking this up, because this book has certainly garnered its fair share of love.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the second chance romance trope
• Emily Henry die hards

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Everything is changing. It has to. You can't stop time."

"Like even when something beautiful breaks, the making of it still matters."

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