Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Happy Place

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

ritaconstantino's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

We really are all messed up because of our parents 😂

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adamagoesit_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

Wow, where do I start. This story had me in tears during & after I finished the book. Emily Henry has an amazing grab on how she constructs her characters. Wyn and Harriet are definitely made for each other, in every universe. I solely believe that because despite the struggle to keep their breakup a secret, they were able to come to terms (at some point) how everything started to crumble. The friendship between Cleo, Sabrina and Harriet is so precious and you see how much they care about each other. This book has made me a firm lover of the found family trope.I loved that all these characters care about each other in a way that is realistic and whole.

The way we understand Wyn’s mind through Harriet’s POV made me understand why he acts the way he does. Their familial differences, uprbringings, and career paths was imperial to how Harriet shaped her future when it came to her family and Wyn. However, it became her biggest enemy and a big piece as to why she ended up pushing everyone she loved away. She didn’t feel like she was enough for the people that felt that she was just right. Wyn was also terrified of losing Harriet because she was the first person to treat him like he belonged here. Henry did such a good job of intertwining their differences that was a source of the miscommunication in the relationship. The payoff was a tad dragged out but it worked out in the end, imo.

I usually do not like past/present timelines in books but this time, the transitions flowed with ease and explained the background information very well. I willl say, I started this book MONTHS ago and just recently finished since I was getting a bit distracted and felt that the plot was dragging a bit. I am so happy I picked it back up since it is instantly up there for one of my favorite books this year.

I can’t wait for her next book (:

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mollstothewall's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

3.0

This just made me sad. Sad for the characters, sad for how they treat each other, and sad for their futures. I’m still unsure Wyn even likes Harriet, if I’m honest.

The misunderstanding, miscommunication, withholding between friends, the bizarre ending, I just found this difficult to like. I can see this being a realistic dynamic among friends to a certain extent, but the fact that no one in this friend group told each other anything? I mean, they tell each other quite literally nothing of significance as best friends for ten years, it’s no wonder everything ends so disastrously.

Anyway, I was limping along by about 50%. Wyn and Harriet were making no progress, not communicating, or doing anything that made any sense for a couple that has been together for eight years. The flashbacks were just annoying by that point; I didn’t care about the past, I cared about the shit show in the present. The ending was bizarre and Harriet deserved better, and honestly, Sabrina does too.

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belarna's review

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emotional hopeful reflective

4.5

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sarahrob's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

I really liked this one. I think I can comfortably say this is my favourite Emily Henry to date. It was exactly the book I needed, a light but sweet palate cleanser, if you will.

I found Harry and Wyn’s relationship to be both sweet and steamy. Like most romance novels I found myself silently screaming “JUST HAVE A CONVERSATION ALREADY!!!” but, I feel like that was actually the point here.

I enjoyed how much ground this book covered, from mental health, to shifting female friendships to finding joy outside of our “jobs” it felt much more well rounded than some of her other books where the ensemble felt forgettable. I loved the unlikely friendship of the three women and how they bring their partners into the fold to form a chosen family. It made me long for this type of closeness with my university friends.

Each character, (with maybe the exception of Parth) felt full and real. With their own complexities and desires. I loved the thread about how our family life growing up had an impact on how we perceive “family” in our future, and how different that was for each character depending of their past.

I also enjoyed the lack of conflict in the love story… there never was a big mistake, or a real fight… just Harriet and Wyn learning how to love themselves in order to be their best versions to and for one another. That felt like true love to me, not the silly fights that make up the final act of most contemporary romance books.

All in all a super enjoyable read. It was full of laughs, sweet moments, a sliver of steam and just enough hefty topics such as depression, grief, and regret to round it out and keep it from feeling like just more fluff.

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daisyophelia's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This book made me feel things. I wasn't going to read it initially, as the "exes who inevitably get back together after misunderstandings" trope does not do it for me, but I was surprised. I related to every single character in this book, in one way or another. And its probably because I've been there, hit that point of quarter life crises I don't know what the hell im doing in my life that the main character is in, but either way it hit me hard. Yes, the characters start out pretty shallow, it took me a little bit to get into it, and there are one or two things which bugged me. The miscommunication is there, but i like to think its realistically justified. But all this was overlooked by the sheer fact that I am in this book. In many many ways.
Only marked down because of the tiny things that bugged me, and I'm not a huge fan of non linear stories.

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kiingchika's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring 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

4.75

I’ve never really had a book hit me so hard. I don’t know if it’s because of where I am in my life right now, but this book got the tears out of me. Harriet was such an amazing protagonist, and her struggles were so real. From the ones from her relationship with Wyn, to the ones from her friendship with Sabrina and Cleo, to the one with her family. There were so many things touched upon in this book that resonated with me strongly, and it made my heart hurt in the best way. I definitely can’t wait to reread this, and I’m so happy with how things ended for Harriet.

A lesson I’ve struggled to learn this year is something things really do change, and that’s okay. Seeing them grapple with this and resolve it as well was inspiring. Similarly, the resolution between her and her mother warmed my heart. So many people in life do what they think others want for them. We are all just trying to be happy.

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xelasrecords's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

5.0

He’s become my best friend the way the others did: bit by bit, sand passing through an hourglass so slowly, it’s impossible to pin down the moment it happens. When suddenly more of my heart belongs to him than doesn’t, and I know I’ll never get a single grain back.

He’s a golden boy. I’m a girl whose life has been drawn in shades of gray. I try not to love him.

I really try.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reading Emily Henry's books is always an emotional and highly personal experience and this was no different. While I'm still more Nora from Book Lovers than Harriet here, some aspects of her life, like her people pleasing and holding onto a career that she hates because that's what she believes she should do, struck a chord in me. It's like I was reading the past me's experiences, the book validating my hard choices back then. I cried 8 times (I'm a crying tally keeper).

Wyn is so nice and sincere, not just with Harriet but everybody else as well. I appreciate that there's no jealousy among the large cast ensemble and their flaws aren't annoying. I sympathised with most of them and could find bits of myself in Cleo's strict boundaries and Wyn's plummeting mental health. Also, Sabrina, Cleo, and Harriet's friendship reminded me of the film Someone Great! I love reading about trio best friends.

Unlike Emily's other novels, there's a film of melancholia blanketing this since the broken-up couple has to pretend to be together for their one last trip with their best friends. But when the scene is flirty, Emily strikes with her signature banter. I was endlessly in awe of how she transformed mundane interactions into something so charged with chemistry. And props to the safe sex endorsement!

I think her books always make such an impression on me because they're filled with little meaningful life lessons. They're not preachy, rather they're something you can only write because you've experienced them. This is a wonderfully done second chance romance. Sad, heartwarming, realistic and bittersweet. There's so much love within everyone.

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