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edietz22's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Minor: Chronic illness, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
ariana3's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I've been debating reading this for so long and just kept putting it off, thinking it would be some cheesy, predictably annoying beach read. It is somewhat predictable and it is a beach read, but it was so much better than I expected!!! It's a will-they-won't-they story for sure, but there was so much emotion behind the book. It was so much deeper than I anticipated, exploring relationships with friends, family, friends that truly are family, and romantic ones also. The big underlying feature that felt specifically relevant for me was the relationship of one's self and their identity and happiness being intertwined with their job. Woof that was all too relevant and a doozy to see reflected back to you on paper 😮💨
Plot summary:A group of 3 friends (Harriet, Sabrina, and Cleo) all meet each other while living together in a dorm in college and instantly become family. They become inseparable and eventually add 2 guys to their group, Wyn and Parth. They take yearly vacations to Sabrina's ridiculously huge and nice family "cottage" in Maine and it becomes Harriet's "happy place." Harriet and Wyn begin dating and it's an instant connection. They fall in love and he eventually moves out with her to San Francisco where she's completing a grueling residency for neurosurgery. The grow apart, fight (or lack thereof), and just arent communicating effectively, so Wyn abruptly ends it, leaving Harriet in the dark and with no closure. 5 months later, Sabrina invites them for one last trip to the cottage before her dad sells it. Harriet doesn't know Wyn is there until she shows up...they haven't told anyone that they've ended their engagement and are no longer together (turns out Sabrina knew the entire time but she didn't tell them and concocted an entire plan to get them back together). So they fake being together, there's chemistry, confusion, they talk it out, etc. Already long story short, the friends fight then come back together because they know they're family. Wyn and Harriet don't get back together because Harriet needs to figure out what she truly wants and to not just do what other people tell her she should do. At the airport on her way back to SF, she realizes she hates her job and she was only doing it to please her parents. In the process, she's pushed away everyone she loves, including the love of her life. So she decides to run out of the airport to leave, only to see Wyn running into the airport 🥹 she says that she wants to be with him where she's happy, she withdraws from her residency and moves to Montana with him and his mom, and she works at a pottery studio doing what she loves!
Plot summary:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Pregnancy
emmy_likes_2_read's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death of parent and Medical trauma
melina_30's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.5
Really enjoyed the read despite the genre being not something I read very often. The only thing I didn't really like was the insinuation that the drugs and the alcohol they were consuming were solving all their problems because they were doing things they normally wouldn't which created a reason to talk about it and then making up. Except for that it was a great book and I loved the message that even though a friend group could grow apart because of differing life circumstances, that doesn't have to result in the group not being friends altogether anymore but just that they won't see each other as often and that they will create very different memories than they did in their youth. Also I loved the revelation about not being happy with your job and having to find out what you really want to do for yourself and not what other people expect you to do with your job and life in general. This message really hit home for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Drug use
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Cursing
Minor: Pregnancy and Toxic friendship
lahars_little_library's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Toxic friendship and Medical content
cinnebrun's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Mental illness
achay91's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Pregnancy and Drug use
emmacartlidge's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was Emily Henry's worst book. I'm being a brat but it was indeed NOT a happy place. It was a horrible place. These people are horrible friends to each other. The resolution is one of the most privileged white woman shit I've read, and I don't like anyone in this book, so I was not rooting for them. I couldn't stand this book, cry about it!
This was Emily Henry's worst book. I'm being a brat but it was indeed NOT a happy place. It was a horrible place. These people are horrible friends to each other. The resolution is one of the most privileged white woman shit I've read, and I don't like anyone in this book, so I was not rooting for them. I couldn't stand this book, cry about it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pregnancy
trips's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
As per my 3 year Christmas tradition, I read the Emily Henry book that was published that year.
This year was Happy Place...and I kinda wish I went back and read Beach Read instead...
Ok look, I actually think what Henry was trying to achieve in this book was very ambitious. In my opinion, too ambitious. There are a lot of interconnecting relationships and not all of them pay off.
Parth in particular comes off as just like...existing...he hardly has a character other than being exasperated or excited. Sabrina as well seems to be parsed down to the trope she seems to be embodying. Cleo and Kimmy are fine, we love mostly unproblematic lesbians.
The relationship between Harriet and Wyn is sweet at times, especially the scenes in the past. In the present, I found myself being angry with both of them the entire time because holy shit, just have 1 single conversation about how things actually are between you two and you would've been fine??
I had a hard time with Harriet because she is just so unaware of herself to the point of unbelievability for her age and experience in life and Wyn is just sad puppy hours through the whole book. He kinda made me feel like he wasn't worth it as he didn't want to fight for their relationship in the first place (neither did Harriet at times but at least she came around to it).
I guess I wanted more out of them finally talking their feelings out?
I dunno, I'll still keep up with my Christmas tradition, this one was sadly just not as fun as the other 2 I've read from Henry.
This year was Happy Place...and I kinda wish I went back and read Beach Read instead...
Ok look, I actually think what Henry was trying to achieve in this book was very ambitious. In my opinion, too ambitious. There are a lot of interconnecting relationships and not all of them pay off.
Parth in particular comes off as just like...existing...he hardly has a character other than being exasperated or excited. Sabrina as well seems to be parsed down to the trope she seems to be embodying. Cleo and Kimmy are fine, we love mostly unproblematic lesbians.
The relationship between Harriet and Wyn is sweet at times, especially the scenes in the past. In the present, I found myself being angry with both of them the entire time because holy shit, just have 1 single conversation about how things actually are between you two and you would've been fine??
I had a hard time with Harriet because she is just so unaware of herself to the point of unbelievability for her age and experience in life and Wyn is just sad puppy hours through the whole book. He kinda made me feel like he wasn't worth it as he didn't want to fight for their relationship in the first place (neither did Harriet at times but at least she came around to it).
I guess I wanted more out of them finally talking their feelings out?
I dunno, I'll still keep up with my Christmas tradition, this one was sadly just not as fun as the other 2 I've read from Henry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy