Earlier this year, I finally read Book Lovers by Emily Henry and to say that I wasn’t pleased with it is just an understatement. In fact, I zoned out a lot and decided that Happy Place would be my last and final chance for this author. Well, it was time for me to give that chance. Was this the final straw or did this book actually surprise me?

About the book

Happy Place by Emily Henry
Published by Berkley on April 25, 2023
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9780593441275
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, General fiction, Romance

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.

My review

Expectations

Since Henry’s books are a hit or miss for me, it was hard to set expectations for Happy Place. The book sounded like it was following the same formula as the other books by this author. Also, I saw mixed reviews, which makes it harder for me to set expectations. Maybe checking out reviews is not good for me, but I keep doing it with books that are on my TBR. Eventually, I didn’t expect a lot from this reading experience and I was afraid that I wouldn’t like it at all. In fact, I wasn’t even interested in this book when it was published and got all the buzz. I’m glad I kind of have been proven wrong.

Characters

We follow Harriet, who has broken up with her longtime boyfriend – and later fiancé – Wyn. They were together since college and made for eachother. But, now they are not. They aren’t on speaking terms really, which makes their annual getaway with their best friends a bit of a nightmare. They haven’t told anyone about their breakup. They have to act like everything is okay and they are still happily enaged. Will they manage to pull this off? We only follow Harriet and through flashbacks we find out how she and Wyn ended up both together and apart. I think Harriet is one of the better characters Henry has ever written, she was less boring than January, Poppy and let alone Nora. That’s easy though, because Nora was the most boring character I’ve ever encountered in a romance. Anyway, Harriet is not extremely interesting either, but still. We get to know her and Wyn as much as possible, as well as their best friends. I wasn’t a ffan of one of these friends at all, they were so bossy! They even made eteneraries for the entire trip? Why does everything have to be planned and organized? Why is it impossible to change it up a bit? Their entire trip and their get together felt forced. This put me off at some point, but it was not enough to put the book aside.

Writing

This book has been written fine, allbeit not spectacular or extraordinary. I missed the multiple POV narration here, because it would have been interesting to get a look into what’s going on in Wyn’s head eventually. The flahsbacks work really well here though, since we get information about their relationship and their (un)happy moments this way. This happens to be really important later on and kept me intrigued.

Plot

As this book is character driven – yay! – the plot is quite basic. The story evolves around their annual trip which lasts for about a week. During the activities, the characters and their relationships to one another play the most important role. Henry zooms in on Harriet and Wyn, because of the premise. Once the story progresses, some deeper layers to these characters are revealed, as well as their friendship as a group. Somthing felt off the entire time and that comes to an explosion at some point. However, the plot supports the characters very well and even though it’s pretty basic, I never wanted to throw this book out of the window.

Final thoughts

I never expected it, but I enjoyed Happy Place by Emily Henry. It’s one of the better books she’s published, even though it’s not really high stakes. It’s kind of slow as it’s set at just one place. However, the ending feels a bit rushed, the character development is very rapid. Inspite of this, I wanted to keep reading and that says a lot. I’m not sure about this author’s newest release Funny Story yet though, since it has the fake dating trope and I absolutely dislike that one.