Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Funny Story

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Funny Story by Emily Henry

27 reviews

itsmemiana's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ms. Emily Henry, are you hiding in my walls, or perhaps under my bed???? because why do you write all your books for/about me???

I feel like I shouldn't expect anything less from her. there is a reason she's one of my absolute favourite authors EVER. I love her so much. and I love all her characters so much. somehow I relate to literally all of them in some way. and Miles and Daphne weren't any different.

Miles was like looking in a mirror honestly. the way he's positive and tries to see the good in people first was so me (I'm a lover, not a hater at heart) but then there's also Daphne with the constant fear of being unloveble and always second best or second favourite and that is also SO me.

I loved everything about this book. from the story, to the romance, to the side characters (Ashleigh, my queen, ily).

ALSO, can we talk about the constant references to Portugal???? (PORTUGAL MENTIONED RAHHHH 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹) I fr ran to my family to show them when Pastéis de Nata were mentioned because WHATTT. and in the end when they mentioned Ashleigh's new man is Portuguese and his name Afonso???? (red flag name, but it's okay) HELLO??? I LOVED THAT. I low-key would love a book about them even tho I know Emily doesn't usually write about the side characters 😭 I was so happy when they first mentioned Portugal but I thought that would be it and then it just kept coming 😭 I love it so much 😭🫶🏼

I've already said this but I would literally read this woman's grocery list if she published it. that's how much I love her writing. (and ironically I am signed to her newsletter that is literally called Emily's grocery list 😭)

like every single book I've ever read from her, this is one of my all time favourite books. 🫶🏼

Content Warnings

deluna's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

Content Warnings

ekcd_'s review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 31%

Attempted for book club.

- very slow
- fake dating trope didn’t make sense since everyone knew it was fake ?
- first person present tense
- new age trope of a featureless, personality-less FMC designed for the readers to project themselves into so that they can imagine Miles loving them
- their wit and banter was too similar and also obnoxious
- good representation of daddy issues though
- very slow in the beginning
- s/o to northern Michigan though
- how does a female author manage to fail at writing a woman character
- I didn’t finish in time partly because I was afraid to be seen reading it on the bus
- sex scene was meh

Content Warnings

natatatatatalie's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny 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

Funny Story was a good read, but I probably won't revisit. However, in comparison to other romance novels that follow basically this exact template (cartoon cover included...) it was actually really good?? I read this explicitly for a book challenge where one of the books I had to read something off a list that looked really boring, so I figured I would read it quickly and check it off. And while I did do that, with a bar on the floor, it actually went well above it, much to my surprise??? The characters, while not making any lasting impact on me, were genuine and Miles and Daphne's romance was more than just lust-fueled. Their banter was woven into normal conversation and they actually cared about each other as people instead of just freaking it 24/7, which was pretty cool. And both Daphne and Miles (and side characters like Ashleigh and Jules) had real significant growth over the book, with others intentionally remaining stagnant, which was a really nice change from romances just written for a trope with characters filling in the gaps of an authors fantasy. Forgettable, but a fun read while it lasted.

Content Warnings

nhawley's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-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

loveddddd it! It was such a beautiful book about relationships and love platonic, familial, romantic, between a community. It really was about a person finding their place in the world and making a home for themselves. Loneliness was a major theme and as someone who related with some of the struggles the main character faces it made me reflect on my own life more than a romance book typically does.

Content Warnings

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

This book was a perfect mix of romance, self-reflection, friendship and family dynamics. I really love the way Emily Henry takes the romance genre and makes it more profound, more complex - all the while being really funny, too. Only reason why this didn't get 5 stars is because the smut scenes gave me whiplash, and I couldn't fully get into them because I was scared a family member was going to interrupt them halfway through. But other than that, this is great.

I'm glad I didn't give up on Henry after disliking People We Meet On Vacation so much 💕

Content Warnings

hotsauce's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

I think I love this book even more than the first Emily Henry novel that I read at the beginning of the year. Which is saying something.

This story is a sweet and funny dive into the human psyche: the main couple are both incredibly likeable yet still both have deeply realistic flaws and hang ups that make it even more satisfying when they finally manage to over come them. It's the kind of light hearted romance novel that encapsulates the best aspects of the genre... tho it could have stood to have at least one or two more steamy scenes.

I would have given this a full 5 stars if not for a minot writing based fault that became hard to ignore as the book went on- over use of "he said/she said"... which might only really be a problem when listening to the autobook.

Other than that- this is a neat little story that I can definitely see myself revisting if I need a pick me up.

Content Warnings

prairieraven's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing slow-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

I picked this up on a whim from the Lucky Day Reads* section in the library. Like the other books I've read by Emily Henry I finished in 2 sittings and had I not had to sleep the other night it would have easily been done in one.

Funny Story I feel is more about making friends as an adult, the stickiness of ones 30's, complex relationship with family members and a story about love in all its forms and the raw-ness in finding oneself after what was a terrible relationship with shallow narcissistic people. The book started off like a classic rom com but quickly delved into deeper parts of life without feeling heavy. Emily Henry has a knack for writing the breadth of a person's being that feels light, airy and fun with serious deep soulful scènes in between. This one despite being classified as a romance, and there is a heavy focus on romantic relationships didn't feel like a romance. it felt more like a little "Ode to Close Friends" .... and probably the reality of how hard it can be to make friends as an adult and how we sometimes mess that up.

All in all great fun and good times with plenty of laughter (or in my cake outward chortling). Recommend for readers who enjoy romance, stories about friends and self discovery after heartbreak.

*Lucky Day Read: 7 day loan, no renewal

Content Warnings

greendog95's review against another edition

4.0

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: Yes

Content Warnings

lunep's review against another edition

3.5

funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is my first Emily Henry and I have to say...I'm a little disappointed ngl
I enjoyed it, it hooked me from the start, and the love interest, Miles, was very swoony and made me giggle and kick my feet, but I dont know, I had to stop in the middle of the third act conflict reconciliation scene and when I picked it back up the next morning I was left feeling dissatisfied

Pros:

Even tho I've seen reviews saying Miles
helping Petra move and leaving Daphne hanging was shitty and meant he really wasn't over Petra (among other things I don't remember very well)
, I disagree, I think Miles' actions throughout the book (
minus him standing Daphne up
) showed that he cared deeply about Daphne and truly valued her, I really liked his character.
I also really liked Ashleigh and Julia, and Daphne's friendships with both of them, I liked the conflict with Ashleigh too, and how Emily Henry resolved it.
In general I had a good time reading it

Cons:

I was weirded out by the way Daphne mentioned her nipples a couple times, nothing wrong with talking abt nipples ofc, it's just the way it was written was really weird ("My nipples are tightening against his chest (...)" and "(...) my nipples choose that instant to stand at attention, like eager little meerkats" are two I highlighted that were weird).
I would have liked more awkward-roomates phase, I felt the story went from "I'm living with this guy who I don't know" to "My roommate is invested on making me stay in this town and we're besties"; because of that, I also felt that the attraction was somewhat insta-lovey/insta-lusty.
Re: Daphne, there was a moment where she felt like "Oh I'm not like other girls" (also, the trope of girl that dresses drab and doesnt realize she's pretty but every guy falls in love with her was present, too), and also, she always says oh im so bad with people and at small talk and yet she always talks perfectly fine, with witty banter, and without putting her foot in her mouth.
For being a fake dating book, they only committed when they were near Peter and Petra, and told SO MANY PEOPLE that it was fake, yet it never bit them in the ass (which I think could have been interesting)
Oh, and also, even tho there was character development,
for so much of Daphne's self introspection about how after her break-up with Peter she was left alone bc she never bothered to make her own friends and only tried to befriend Peter's friend, she eventually ended up in a really similar situation with Miles (which I get is bc they became friends first, and created their little friend group while being friends, but still): she befriended his sister and people he already knew and was friendly with, and the friend she made at work also became friends with Miles, becoming a singular friend group

Content Warnings

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