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A review by ali_k0
Happy Place by Emily Henry
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Everytime I read an Emily Henry book it changes me completely. I always know when I open to the first page I'm about to change, but it's never in the way I expect.
I think most people have a memory of standing alone in their kitchen after a family fight, the silence ringing in their ears after everyone slammed their doors and left you standing, reeling, with the distinct feeling that whatever just happened was your fault, even if you didn't do anything.
Harriet, our FMC and POV character is a neurosurgeon in training who never left the kitchen. Whether it her best friends or family, shes always living for other people, constantly wearing the referee cap. When her boyfriend Wyn (and the man she believed she'd have forever with) breaks up with her in a four minute phonecall, she's back where she was before: alone, unsure, and trying to pick up the pieces.
So when her best friends gather together for one last summer vacation, she fixes her referee cap in hopes to achieve one last perfect summer for the people she loves most. Even if that means pretending to still be engaged to Wyn.
A lot of people laugh at the idea of a romance novel being transformative, but I think Emily Henry has the unique ability to put the missing, broken pieces of us in her books. Over the course of its pages, she unpacks them with the care of a someone who knows their holding a precious thing.
Happy Place clutches the hand of the child in the kitchen and leads them softly away, all while whispering "it's okay to leave, it's okay to move on, other people's joy is not you responsibility."
Happy Place is the end of summer sunset. It's a goodbye and a hello and a i'll see you again. It's the promise of something new around the corner that can be so much better than what you had before if only you let yourself grasp it.
Grab some tea, curl up on couch with a warm blanket, and hop aboard with Pilot Ray to your new Happy Place.
I think most people have a memory of standing alone in their kitchen after a family fight, the silence ringing in their ears after everyone slammed their doors and left you standing, reeling, with the distinct feeling that whatever just happened was your fault, even if you didn't do anything.
Harriet, our FMC and POV character is a neurosurgeon in training who never left the kitchen. Whether it her best friends or family, shes always living for other people, constantly wearing the referee cap. When her boyfriend Wyn (and the man she believed she'd have forever with) breaks up with her in a four minute phonecall, she's back where she was before: alone, unsure, and trying to pick up the pieces.
So when her best friends gather together for one last summer vacation, she fixes her referee cap in hopes to achieve one last perfect summer for the people she loves most. Even if that means pretending to still be engaged to Wyn.
A lot of people laugh at the idea of a romance novel being transformative, but I think Emily Henry has the unique ability to put the missing, broken pieces of us in her books. Over the course of its pages, she unpacks them with the care of a someone who knows their holding a precious thing.
Happy Place clutches the hand of the child in the kitchen and leads them softly away, all while whispering "it's okay to leave, it's okay to move on, other people's joy is not you responsibility."
Happy Place is the end of summer sunset. It's a goodbye and a hello and a i'll see you again. It's the promise of something new around the corner that can be so much better than what you had before if only you let yourself grasp it.
Grab some tea, curl up on couch with a warm blanket, and hop aboard with Pilot Ray to your new Happy Place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy and Cursing
FMC is not pregnant, another character is.