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sea_tea_books's review against another edition
lighthearted
2.0
Said in my best Mean Girls voice: "Stop trying to make chortle and guffaw happen." As a reader, I find Emily Henry's gross overuse of these words to be unbelievably distracting and quite annoying. Maybe she was trying (too hard) to be funny, quirky, or charming and completely missed the mark?
Yet again, narrator Julia Whelan was the saving grace. She single-handedly carried me through another Emily Henry story.
If Emily Henry's characters were working with a therapist, then she'd be out of a job. So much projection and refusal to communicate like healthy adults. And what is with all the ghosting?!
Who feels theirorgans with that frequency? Or... ever? First Daphne feels her organs are charring and overbaking, then she feels them icing over. Seriously, what does that even mean?
Notable quote:
Yet again, narrator Julia Whelan was the saving grace. She single-handedly carried me through another Emily Henry story.
If Emily Henry's characters were working with
Who feels their
Notable quote:
“Everything worth doing comes with some risk.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
themdash's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Abandonment, Grief, and Infidelity
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Child abuse
marissagero's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Drug use
brep23'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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Emotional abuse
beate251's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity
katrinaward's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse
melissaslibraryy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Classism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content
nataliebootlah's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Imagine being blindsided by your fiancé when he dumps you for his childhood best friend…and then moving in with his new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend simply because you need a place to live. Yikes.
This felt like reading a rom-com movie—witty banter, lovable characters, and summertime vibes. Daphne and Miles are both mourning their respective breakups alone until their living situation forces them to interact. From there, they somehow, accidentally tell their exes that they’re happily dating and, of course, they’ll attend their swiftly upcoming wedding.
I just couldn’t put it down. I loved the chemistry, the emotional baggage, the real-life struggles. It felt like the characters had real substance to them. As soon as I read the last chapter, I was sad it was over. I guess I like romances after all?? In case you’re wondering… my ranking of Emily Henry books is Funny Story tied with Book Lovers. Happy Place was super meh. And I’ve been told I have to read Beach Read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Abandonment
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Cursing, and Infidelity
lindsaysofia_25's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Yet another slam dunk from Emily Henry! I honestly only have nice things to say about this novel; the only thing holding me back from a 5-star review is that I feel like I'll only know if it's a 5-star in a few weeks when I see if I'm still thinking about it. Plus, Book Lovers remains my favourite Emily Henry novel so elevating this to that status feels like a big deal I should give myself time to think about.
Something Emily Henry does really well in all her novels that I think was really showcased in Funny Story is writing love as part of her characters' lives, not their only important aspect. While Daphne and Miles both grew through their relationship, they also experienced major changes in their personal lives. They applied things they learned elsewhere in their lives to their romance and things they learned in their romance elsewhere in their lives. A related thing that was emphasized in Happy Place (although also certainly present in Henry's earlier works too!) that I'm glad to see highlighted here is that forms of love beyond romantic are also highly valued. Daphne's familial love for her mom is a constant in the novel, as is Miles' for his sister.On that note, I really like that while both characters had parent issues, Henry showed that in some cases, you can keep loving but change your expectations (Daphne and her dad), while in others you have to cut those people out of your life (Miles and his parents, especially his Mom). Henry does a great job of showing how important friendships are by giving major moments in Daphne's friendship with Ashleigh the same weight she does her major romantic moments with Miles, and describing the swelling feeling of platonic love just as beautifully as she does romantic.
I also think the titular idea of a 'story' was used really well as a motif throughout the novel. The idea of the stories we tell about meet-cutes and relationships was a perfect vehicle for some of Daphne's character development and to demonstrate how sharing personal stories deepens relationships, both romantic and platonic. This is a dimension of the novel I only have more thoughts on the longer I think about it after having finished the novel. It also compliments well the parallels Henry incorporates (which I expect to notice even more when I eventually reread) between different relationships and events in the characters' lives. I feel like she's just a master at using literary techniques to convey lots of information about how relationships take shape for her characters without having to write them out explicitly. Even the countdown subtitles of the chapters take on additional meaning over the course of the novel!
Per usual for Emily Henry, I love how real the complexities of the main romance feel. There's no third-act breakup caused by a stupid miscommunication or ridiculous grand gesture, instead there are real people with real problems riding the ups and downs together. Their major issues established early in the novel aren't magically solved because they decide to be together: they decide to work on their issues and solve problems together. Over the course of the novel, Miles and Daphne both introspect and figure out why certain things tend to upset them so much and how their patterns affect one another and the other people in their lives.I particularly love that Miles tells Daphne flat out that the way she constantly minimizes his wanting to spend time with her and his compliments to her signals that she doesn't value his opinion or that she thinks he's being dishonest. Of course Daphne is doing that out of insecurity, not to hurt Miles, but it does hurt him and it's important that she sees how her actions affect other people! Somehow, Henry just keeps writing romances that make me genuinely stressed at the end that they might not end up together, even though I know that they must by virtue of the genre.
Last but not least, I have to say that Emily Henry's writing style will never stop amazing me! I love the way her prose flows and how she manages to develop atmosphere and set while also using first-person narration to pull readers through the internal journey of her protagonist. I legitimately laughed out loud pretty frequently, which is impressive considering that this romcom also had some serious emotional storytelling to complete so I can't imagine it was easy to get the 'com' part in. The banter, both between the couple and between friends, was fantastic! Henry had me kicking my feet and giggling constantly!
It's hard to really convey everything I want to say about Funny Story in a monologue like this since I'm sure if I spoke to someone else about it, I'd just keep coming up with more things to talk about, but in general just know that if you're a romance lover, I think you should read it! In fact, I think a lot of litfic lovers, especially those who like love stories that aren't quite romances (think Taylor Jenkins Reid's first 4 novels), will probably thoroughly enjoy this and much of Emily Henry's bibliography as a foray into the romance genre.
Something Emily Henry does really well in all her novels that I think was really showcased in Funny Story is writing love as part of her characters' lives, not their only important aspect. While Daphne and Miles both grew through their relationship, they also experienced major changes in their personal lives. They applied things they learned elsewhere in their lives to their romance and things they learned in their romance elsewhere in their lives. A related thing that was emphasized in Happy Place (although also certainly present in Henry's earlier works too!) that I'm glad to see highlighted here is that forms of love beyond romantic are also highly valued. Daphne's familial love for her mom is a constant in the novel, as is Miles' for his sister.
I also think the titular idea of a 'story' was used really well as a motif throughout the novel. The idea of the stories we tell about meet-cutes and relationships was a perfect vehicle for some of Daphne's character development and to demonstrate how sharing personal stories deepens relationships, both romantic and platonic. This is a dimension of the novel I only have more thoughts on the longer I think about it after having finished the novel. It also compliments well the parallels Henry incorporates (which I expect to notice even more when I eventually reread) between different relationships and events in the characters' lives. I feel like she's just a master at using literary techniques to convey lots of information about how relationships take shape for her characters without having to write them out explicitly. Even the countdown subtitles of the chapters take on additional meaning over the course of the novel!
Per usual for Emily Henry, I love how real the complexities of the main romance feel. There's no third-act breakup caused by a stupid miscommunication or ridiculous grand gesture, instead there are real people with real problems riding the ups and downs together. Their major issues established early in the novel aren't magically solved because they decide to be together: they decide to work on their issues and solve problems together. Over the course of the novel, Miles and Daphne both introspect and figure out why certain things tend to upset them so much and how their patterns affect one another and the other people in their lives.
Last but not least, I have to say that Emily Henry's writing style will never stop amazing me! I love the way her prose flows and how she manages to develop atmosphere and set while also using first-person narration to pull readers through the internal journey of her protagonist. I legitimately laughed out loud pretty frequently, which is impressive considering that this romcom also had some serious emotional storytelling to complete so I can't imagine it was easy to get the 'com' part in. The banter, both between the couple and between friends, was fantastic! Henry had me kicking my feet and giggling constantly!
It's hard to really convey everything I want to say about Funny Story in a monologue like this since I'm sure if I spoke to someone else about it, I'd just keep coming up with more things to talk about, but in general just know that if you're a romance lover, I think you should read it! In fact, I think a lot of litfic lovers, especially those who like love stories that aren't quite romances (think Taylor Jenkins Reid's first 4 novels), will probably thoroughly enjoy this and much of Emily Henry's bibliography as a foray into the romance genre.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Miles (love interest) tells Daphne of his childhood,