These people need therapy!
An off-the-cuff review of Funny Story by Emily Henry, from an avid romance reader.
Is my reading life sprouting from the ground like the bulbs in my neighbor’s yard? Is that a peek of green I see reaching towards the sun? I’m scared to make any firm declarations, but I will share this: in the last week, I finished five books (mostly on audio)!
One of those books was Funny Story by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan. I’m not usually one to keep up with bookish buzz, but in this case I couldn’t help it. I had to read the novel many of my friends are calling Henry’s best yet ASAP. With hesitation, I downloaded the Advanced Listening Copy from Libro.FM—nervous because last time I listened to Whelan narrate Happy Place, I did not like it, and I wasn’t sure if it was the narration or the book.
I loved listening to Funny Story. I’m not ready to say whether it’s Henry’s best, as I adored Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, and I haven’t reread them yet (but appreciated this thorough reread review of Beach Read from
). I can say Funny Story is my favorite Emily Henry novel of the last few years. I didn’t like Book Lovers, barely made it through Happy Place, and wondered if I’d need a break from the all-star author for awhile. Then, the rave reviews started pouring in, and I caved.
In Summary
Daphne thought she and her fiancé Peter had the perfect life, launched from a college meet-cute into a stable, steady future. Then, Peter returned home from his bachelor party to break up with Daphne and get together with his childhood best friend, Petra. Understandably crushed, Daphne has nowhere to go; she moved across the country for Peter and hasn’t found her own support system—she didn’t think she had to.
With no place else to turn, she moves in with Petra’s ex, Miles, a pot-smoking, wine bar-tending, seemingly aimless guy. He puts his heartbreak on full volume, playing sad love songs in their apartment, while Daphne mourns quietly, trying to process the loss of her entire life’s structure. After both Daphne and Miles get proverbially slapped in the face with an invitation to Peter and Petra’s wedding, they do what any romantic novel protagonists would do: they get drunk. They bond. And then they establish a fake relationship to get back at their exes.
What Worked
I’m a little sick of the fake relationship trope, but it worked for me here! Daphne and Miles are just desperate and heartbroken enough to launch themselves into this mess with believability, and their chemistry sizzles right away. In fact, this might be Henry’s hottest rom-com yet, and not because the sex scenes are any more explicit than her previous novels, but because the tension build-up is perfection. I couldn’t wait for these two roommates to just smooch already!
As in any Henry novel, we get plenty of backstory for both romantic leads, displaying their hang-ups and imperfections to full effect. We get friendship drama that holds almost as much weight as the core romance, and a setting that makes for ideal summer beach reading. In an alchemy that feels made for me, Henry includes beautiful Lake Michigan scenery, allusions to favorite children’s books, a Tessa Dare reference (!!!), and lots of library nostalgia.
What Didn’t Work
In addition to major break-up trauma, Daphne and Miles both have childhood trauma and complex relationships with parents that color their love story. Daphne had an absent father, and she is extra sensitive to being forgotten, left, unwanted. Miles had an emotionally volatile mother and is accustomed to pushing all negative emotions down, down, down. They have a lot of shit to work out for themselves and with each other in order to establish a healthy relationship, and even though they were pretty self aware about all of this I couldn’t help but think, over and over again, GO TO THERAPY for the love, people! Friendship, belonging, and love can certainly help to heal past wounds, but they aren’t a replacement for talking to a professional.
The lack of therapy is my main complaint, though I found myself a little confused about loose ends in a few spots—didn’t they unbutton each other’s pants already? And when did his sister get back from Chicago—but that could be due to my listening skills, not the editing.
Final Thoughts
I loved it. There’s a reason Emily Henry is on top of the romance publishing world right now, and I look forward to her next rom-com. I wonder about the one-book-a-year system and whether she should take some time off, but hey, get your check, girl! And give us our swoony summer reads.
Have you read Funny Story? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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I finished this yesterday and will say it's in my top two Emily Henry novels. I think Beach Read is still top, but this one nudges People We Meet on Vacation. I agree they both need to go to therapy, but enjoyed their friendship and then love story.
I loved it too!!