Scan barcode
A review by thenovelstitch
Happy Place by Emily Henry
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
"Even when something breaks, the making of it still mattered" - Emily Henry, Happy Place
I picked up Happy Place at my library after seeing it around for months convinced I would either finish it and hate it or DNF it because I didn't like her first book. I was wonderfully, horribly wrong. Happy Place is the kind of story that will stick with me for a long time, like some type of nostalgia.
Harriet Kilpatrick has it all seemingly together. She is a surgical resident at a prestigious hospital in San Fransisco and she has a tight group of college friends that feels like family. Her friends organize one last hurrah at their annual summer cabin in Maine -- which would be perfect if Harriett wasn't holding back a deep secret. She and her fiance, Wyn, aren't really engaged anymore and they haven't seen each other for months. What's worse is that he is just as integral to the friend group. Having no idea how to break the news to her friends, Harriet decides she'll tell them all this weekend since Wyn won't be there. Unfortunately, as she enters the cabin with her friends she realizes things are not going to go to plan.
What follows is a wonderfully crafted story of the ebb and flow of deep friendships and how holding too tight to something, under the guise of protection or love, can ultimately leave us feeling lonelier than before.
I ate this book up -- especially after spending some time in Maine last summer it was such a treat to be able to practically smell the sea and salt and baked goods in this story. If I was traveling I could have easily read this in one long plane ride. The only thing that kept it from being a 5 star read was the absurdity of no one actually communicating with each other. That wouldn't have made for a very dramatic story, so I get why these adult's communication skills were 2/10, I just couldn't help thinking "if you just asked for clarification about this, you'd be fine" the whole book but that's the virgo in me I supposed.
Overall 4.5/5 stars.
I picked up Happy Place at my library after seeing it around for months convinced I would either finish it and hate it or DNF it because I didn't like her first book. I was wonderfully, horribly wrong. Happy Place is the kind of story that will stick with me for a long time, like some type of nostalgia.
Harriet Kilpatrick has it all seemingly together. She is a surgical resident at a prestigious hospital in San Fransisco and she has a tight group of college friends that feels like family. Her friends organize one last hurrah at their annual summer cabin in Maine -- which would be perfect if Harriett wasn't holding back a deep secret. She and her fiance, Wyn, aren't really engaged anymore and they haven't seen each other for months. What's worse is that he is just as integral to the friend group. Having no idea how to break the news to her friends, Harriet decides she'll tell them all this weekend since Wyn won't be there. Unfortunately, as she enters the cabin with her friends she realizes things are not going to go to plan.
What follows is a wonderfully crafted story of the ebb and flow of deep friendships and how holding too tight to something, under the guise of protection or love, can ultimately leave us feeling lonelier than before.
I ate this book up -- especially after spending some time in Maine last summer it was such a treat to be able to practically smell the sea and salt and baked goods in this story. If I was traveling I could have easily read this in one long plane ride. The only thing that kept it from being a 5 star read was the absurdity of no one actually communicating with each other. That wouldn't have made for a very dramatic story, so I get why these adult's communication skills were 2/10, I just couldn't help thinking "if you just asked for clarification about this, you'd be fine" the whole book but that's the virgo in me I supposed.
Overall 4.5/5 stars.