Review by wardenred - Funny Story

wardenred 's review for:

Funny Story by Emily Henry

4.75

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

“I don’t want to just be a part of we,” I say. “I want to be an I.”

Such a fun and heartwarming read! I really enjoyed the combination of the overall romcom vibes and the character depth. Daphne and Miles were great as roommates, friends, and lovers, genuinely bringing out the best in each other at every turn and pushing each other to confront their issues. That’s my favorite type of romance—the kind where the relationship becomes a catalyst for growth. I was also surprised by how well the overlap between the development of their attraction, friendship, and actual romantic feelings worked for me. Normally, I enjoy rather different progressions, but here, their situation and they both in people just made so much sense, I completely bought into it.

I also absolutely adored Miles’s arc. Even though this is a single POV book, his part of the story was so clear, and I felt for him so much. He’s one of those sunshiny characters who are actually hurt and scared inside, and the author masterfully pokes at his wounds while maintaining a sense of hope and healing throughout. It was great to have his younger sister be such a big part of the plot, too, both as means of driving certain points home and because she’s such a great character and the two of them have the best sibling dynamic.

My favorite part was absolutely the way this wasn’t just a love story, but—perhaps even first and foremost—a story of Daphne finding her footing, discovering herself, and separating what she’s been taught to want from what she actually wanted. She stumbled more than a few times a lot of the way, but she ended up in such a good, healthy place and pulled Miles right there after her. I just can’t stop smiling thinking about their ending. Yes, that one chapter near the end got kind of cheesy, but it was a *good* kind of cheesy.

If I have to name any flaws, they’re mostly from the realm of editing (if you’re going to give two characters very similar first and last names as a gimmick, maybe triple-check things to make sure they don’t keep exchanging last names every now and then? 😅) Oh, and while there are plenty of library activities, for a supposed bookworm who loves books so much Daphne doesn’t really spend any time reading (unless it’s for a library activity), not a fan of informed attributes like that. That’s it, that’s literally all I’ve got.

Content Warnings