Funny Story by Emily Henry – 395 pages
ARC from PRH audio, Berkley and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak. Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
My Review: 4.5 stars
Funny Story by Emily Henry will transport you to the beaches of northern Michigan for this heartwarming and charming story.
I hadn’t read a trope that features exes getting together with their exe’s ex but I was here for it. This book offered a lot to enjoy…a main character librarian, an incredible foodie scene, great banter, and a forced proximity living situation which leads to friendship and maybe more (no spoilers here). There were also themes of distrust,
Daphne was an untrusting woman that had abandonment issues. Watching her hurt and then begin to love herself was something we all could improve at. Henry skillfully showed Daphne’s transformation through her actions and thought processes. As she started asking herself about why she didn’t have many friends, or any, at some points in her life, she began to grow.
Accepting people for who they are was also explored through the storyline. We can’t make people fit into who we want them to be. Her dad was the perfect example of this. Myles had so much heart and was what I like to call “good people” but from his unkempt looks and behaviors, it was easy to make judgements.
As always in a Henry book, the conversations seemed realistic, and the humor was spot on. Because I’m from Maryland, I loved the Maryland beach references as well. The narration by Julia Whalen was of course perfectly well done. Great read to give you all the feels!
Quotes I liked:
You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.”
“Trust people’s actions, not their words. Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back. Let go of the people who don’t hold on to you. Don’t wait on anyone who’s in no rush to get to you.”
“I was never the one just having fun. I was the one anticipating consequences.”
“Sometimes complaining about stuff, just having someone to empathize with you takes the sting out of it.”
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