Happy Place is Emily Henry's 2023 romance novel. In general, I like Emily Henry, but do not love her. I do think her dialogue is pretty great most of the time. In this second chance book, we meet Harriet as she is going to visit her friends in Maine. The thing is that she hasn't told her friends that she's broken up with her ex-fiance Wyn and he's there. So they spend the whole week pretending they're still in love.
Interesting characters: Um. Well, I started writing this review the day after I finished the book and I could not remember Harriet's name, so that's not a great sign, is it? Look, I'm over Parent Issues as a trope in romance. Get a new trope, authors. I get it. Harriet's parents are cold. Wyn's parents were amazing and his father's death sent him into a tailspin. I get it. I just am unmoved.
And even the secondary characters who include Harriet's two best friends from college and their partners? They're totally not well-developed at all and I was having flashbacks to how much I hated the sister in Book Lovers and basically I was just really glad I wasn't on this vacation with all these righteous jerks.
Believable conflict: Would you believe that these two broke up because they didn't talk to each other?! Snooze. Snooze. Snooze. Miscommunication that could be solved with a simple phone call is not worth 400 pages. I think we can all agree on that, can't we?
Emotional tension: Sure. Why not? They have to be physically intimate in front of their friends and yet they're really pushing each other away and you're never really sure when they're going to give into the physical attraction they still feel for one another. Sure, Henry got this right.
Happily ever after: I find the ending both implausible and yet also tying up all the loose ends so tightly that they can't breathe. Harriet's ending, in particular, troubles me. I'm not on the same page as Emily Henry about this as a truly happy ending.
Disappointing, but readable. 3/5 stars
Lines of note:
Sometimes I'll go back and forth about what I want for breakfast for so long that it's already lunch. Sabrina eats the same exact yogurt and granola every day, the only variation being whatever seasonal fruit she adds. (page 23)
I am Sabrina, right down to the seasonal fruit. I've got some tangelos and blueberries right now. Try to contain your jealousy. People who make decisions about breakfast are much more awake than I am in the morning.
"Wait, wait, wait," I say. "You don't date your friends? Who do you date, Wyn? Enemies? Strangers? Malevolent spirits who died in your apartment building?" (page 36)
Do people talk like this in real life? I've never heard anyone use the word malevolent out loud in a spoken sentence.
I am excited to read this and see if I am as underwhelmed! I love her banter too, and usually that carries me over under-developed characters. I can't stand horrible parents either. That has ruined a lot of stories for me.
ReplyDeleteI think I want to like Emily Henry as much as everyone else does, but I just don't. That's okay, I guess. More fantasy nonsense no one else reads for me!
DeleteI liked this one BUT: she only has 2 life choices: brain surgeon or potter? WHAT. Like, how about just be a GP in Montana?!
ReplyDeleteRight?! How about maybe just don't be a BRAIN SURGEON and go into a less stressful medical specialty? Argh. "I hate my job" doesn't mean "I hate every job in this field and I want to make bad pottery for life." I was pretty irate by this. It just didn't ring true to her character in the rest of the book.
DeleteMy husband and I both have advanced degrees and do sometimes use elevated language, but I just felt like this author's beloved banter just fell flat for me in this book. Oh, well. There will be other authors I love.
ReplyDeleteI plan to read this one but haven't yet. But miscommunication is my least favorite source of conflict. I am an ISTJ, which means I'm incredibly logical. And miscommunication is not logical. But I loved Book Lovers. That was one of my favorite books the year I read it, I think!
ReplyDeleteOkay, your lackluster review of this makes me even MORE excited to read it since I know we often have opposing taste in romance, haha. I think it will be the next romance I pick up, so we'll see how I feel about it!
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