A review by amy_alwaysreading
Happy Place by Emily Henry

3.0

Many thanks to my friends at @prhaudio for this #gifted audiobook. 

 

Beach Read was my introduction to Henry.  I was new to the genre, new to her writing.  But I was immediately drawn in.  I drooled.  I swooned.  I felt feverish.  It was an all-around hit for me, and Henry became an auto-buy author after feeling the same over People We Meet on Vacation.    

 

So I expected her latest book to embody everything that makes me happy, especially considering its name.  It included many of my favorite things:

 

💕 Forever friends

💕 One last trip together

💕 Lots of reminiscing

💕 Seaside setting

 

But… I couldn’t get past the excessive miscommunication.  The entire premise and whole storyline centers around one miscommunication after another, between both friends and lovers. For the complete storyline, I kept thinking, “Just ASK!!!”  “Just TELL him/her.”   The book as a whole could’ve been executed in two simple conversations.  Instead it struggled on for 400 pages

 

But most frustrating for me was the unhealthy look at mental health.  Representation matters.  And when it comes to something like mental health, it is imperative for it to be a quality representation.  This was not that.  I imagine therapists reading this and screaming, “NO!!!” 

 

What did work:  Narrator Julia Whelan!!!  Her narration is always top notch.  And I’ll be hearing her depiction of Wyn in my dreams.  🔥