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A review by abidavisf
Funny Story by Emily Henry
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
At this point in Emily Henry’s career, it is so easy to just expect a 5 star read. Coming off of Happy Place? Of course it is. There’s always the slightest doubt: can anything be as good as Happy Place? The answer is an overwhelming ‘yes’.
Funny Story had me laughing, grinning, crying, cringing, and kicking my feet with giddiness. It is everything I want in a book: two beautiful souls who overcome barriers that nobody deserves to become all-round better versions of themselves, who aren’t afraid to look inward and make changes to become the person they want to be rather than the person they’ve chosen to be in order to fit a mould or hide behind a mask.
Emily’s description of Miles as a Labrador is so perfect. He is sunshine, but with that added layer of clumsiness (not physically) that so accurately reflects that Lab behaviour: all love but sometimes has a bit too much going through their minds to know what to do with it!
Daphne is my kindred spirit. We’ve had a very similar life, so maybe that’s what allows me to relate to her so deeply, but we also find our solace in books and in solitude, except when we found that Safe Person to let go with. I wanted to hug her throughout Funny Story and tell her that everything would be okay, and that made me realise that actually what I wanted was to tell myself exactly that. You don’t need a father or a partner to be whole, to be enough. You need yourself, and when you can love yourself, you can allow those who do deserve a place in your life to share that love with you too.
I’m going to start the audio book tomorrow and I cannot WAIT to see how Julie Whelan brings Funny Story to laugh. What a happy day!
Funny Story had me laughing, grinning, crying, cringing, and kicking my feet with giddiness. It is everything I want in a book: two beautiful souls who overcome barriers that nobody deserves to become all-round better versions of themselves, who aren’t afraid to look inward and make changes to become the person they want to be rather than the person they’ve chosen to be in order to fit a mould or hide behind a mask.
Emily’s description of Miles as a Labrador is so perfect. He is sunshine, but with that added layer of clumsiness (not physically) that so accurately reflects that Lab behaviour: all love but sometimes has a bit too much going through their minds to know what to do with it!
Daphne is my kindred spirit. We’ve had a very similar life, so maybe that’s what allows me to relate to her so deeply, but we also find our solace in books and in solitude, except when we found that Safe Person to let go with. I wanted to hug her throughout Funny Story and tell her that everything would be okay, and that made me realise that actually what I wanted was to tell myself exactly that. You don’t need a father or a partner to be whole, to be enough. You need yourself, and when you can love yourself, you can allow those who do deserve a place in your life to share that love with you too.
I’m going to start the audio book tomorrow and I cannot WAIT to see how Julie Whelan brings Funny Story to laugh. What a happy day!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Classism