Funny Story

I was nervous going into this book. I loved a few of Henry's earlier books but her last book - Happy Place - did not leave me in a happy place. But I am thrilled that I loved Funny Story which uses some of my favourite romance tropes, has good depth and a swoon-worthy couple.

It's a delightful slow burn friends to self-discovery to lovers romance and I enjoyed how Miles and Daphne each acknowledged their own issues and then working on their individual journeys before jumping into a romantic relationship. 

The story also features the opposites attract trope because Daphne is a tightly-wound, list loving children's librarian (who doesn't love that!?) and Miles is an upbeat, empathetic dude whose 'down-earthedness', tattoos and multiple mentions of his strong forearms (what is with forearms?! *swoon*). I enjoyed their individual journeys, followed by friendship where they found solace and support in each other as they each recover from being dumped by their exes who are now a couple. Miles and Daphne are flawed but likeable characters and the story also benefits from strong secondary characters (I loved Ashleigh and Julia).

This book is a good balance between light and swoony and the depth from Henry's exploration of familial issues and childhood traumas. With humour and heart, Emily Henry knocks this book out of the park. I will be strongly recommending it to my library customers who enjoy romance with depth and characters they'll fall in love with.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Author: Emily Henry

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Fiction

Type and Source: Hard cover, personal copy

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: April 23, 2024

Book Description from GoodReads: It's a funny story. . . .

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?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex . . . right?