Happy Place

Unpopular Opinion: You know that feeling when a new book is coming out by one of your favourite RomCom authors and everyone and their dog is loving it? You're super excited, but when you read it you wonder if you read the same book because you categorically didn't love it? 

That was me with Happy Place. 

I was unhappy with Happy Place. I wanted and expected to love this book, but despite its blurb and cover art (which are similar to Emily Henry's earlier RomComs filled with witty banter and characters you cheer on), Happy Place was not a Rom or a Com and was much more of a serious read with unlikeable characters who have bucket loads of secrets and angst.

The kicker is that the plot had so much potential. An annual friends' beach getaway featuring a second chance romance between Wyn and Harriet, a couple who broke up months before, unbeknownst to their friends, and now they must pretend to still be together, so they don't ruin the weekend. So much RomCom fodder!! Readers don't know why the couple broke up and Henry uses flashbacks to the past to slowly reveal where their relationship went wrong. But the reason for their breakup was lackluster and didn't make up for the long wait and the muddled back and forth between timelines.

This is a heavy, sad read that did not hit me in the feels at all. It was big on melodrama, stupid assumptions and the *insert BIG SIGH here* miscommunication trope. It was less about romance and more about failed relationships, expectations not panning out, people keeping secrets, being selfish and insecure while completely losing the ability to have a simple conversation to fix their relationships. 

Romance makes me happy. Friendships make me happy. This New England setting makes me happy and yet I finished this book feeling annoyed and exhausted from all the angst and thankful that I borrowed a library copy instead of buying the book. I am clearly not in a happy place right now, but I am in the vast minority for this book so take my cranky-ass review with a grain of salt.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Author: Emily Henry

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: April 25, 2023

Book Description from GoodReads: Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.