ali_k0's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everytime I read an Emily Henry book it changes me completely. I always know when I open to the first page I'm about to change, but it's never in the way I expect.
I think most people have a memory of standing alone in their kitchen after a family fight, the silence ringing in their ears after everyone slammed their doors and left you standing, reeling, with the distinct feeling that whatever just happened was your fault, even if you didn't do anything.
Harriet, our FMC and POV character is a neurosurgeon in training who never left the kitchen. Whether it her best friends or family, shes always living for other people, constantly wearing the referee cap. When her boyfriend Wyn (and the man she believed she'd have forever with) breaks up with her in a four minute phonecall, she's back where she was before: alone, unsure, and trying to pick up the pieces.
So when her best friends gather together for one last summer vacation, she fixes her referee cap in hopes to achieve one last perfect summer for the people she loves most. Even if that means pretending to still be engaged to Wyn.
A lot of people laugh at the idea of a romance novel being transformative, but I think Emily Henry has the unique ability to put the missing, broken pieces of us in her books. Over the course of its pages, she unpacks them with the care of a someone who knows their holding a precious thing.
Happy Place clutches the hand of the child in the kitchen and leads them softly away, all while whispering "it's okay to leave, it's okay to move on, other people's joy is not you responsibility."
Happy Place is the end of summer sunset. It's a goodbye and a hello and a i'll see you again. It's the promise of something new around the corner that can be so much better than what you had before if only you let yourself grasp it.
Grab some tea, curl up on couch with a warm blanket, and hop aboard with Pilot Ray to your new Happy Place.
I think most people have a memory of standing alone in their kitchen after a family fight, the silence ringing in their ears after everyone slammed their doors and left you standing, reeling, with the distinct feeling that whatever just happened was your fault, even if you didn't do anything.
Harriet, our FMC and POV character is a neurosurgeon in training who never left the kitchen. Whether it her best friends or family, shes always living for other people, constantly wearing the referee cap. When her boyfriend Wyn (and the man she believed she'd have forever with) breaks up with her in a four minute phonecall, she's back where she was before: alone, unsure, and trying to pick up the pieces.
So when her best friends gather together for one last summer vacation, she fixes her referee cap in hopes to achieve one last perfect summer for the people she loves most. Even if that means pretending to still be engaged to Wyn.
A lot of people laugh at the idea of a romance novel being transformative, but I think Emily Henry has the unique ability to put the missing, broken pieces of us in her books. Over the course of its pages, she unpacks them with the care of a someone who knows their holding a precious thing.
Happy Place clutches the hand of the child in the kitchen and leads them softly away, all while whispering "it's okay to leave, it's okay to move on, other people's joy is not you responsibility."
Happy Place is the end of summer sunset. It's a goodbye and a hello and a i'll see you again. It's the promise of something new around the corner that can be so much better than what you had before if only you let yourself grasp it.
Grab some tea, curl up on couch with a warm blanket, and hop aboard with Pilot Ray to your new Happy Place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy and Cursing
FMC is not pregnant, another character is.jaydub0221's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
All I can say is that this book had my emotions on xgames mode. The constant up and down had me in DISTRESS (but in a “can’t wait to see what happens next” kind of way). I loved the friendships/found family aspect of this book. Specifically the female friendships, as their love for one another is so thoughtful and intentional. I also LOVE Harriet & Wyn’s love. It is so pure and whole. I love the depth of Emily Henry’s writing in that she delves into deeper, heavier topics and themes like family trauma and anxieties and cracks in relationships. It’s relatable and rocky and that’s what makes it enjoyable for me. Overall, I loved this book. It was wholesome and BOY was it a heartbreaker.
Spoiler
And idc what anyone says, if it didn’t end the way it did, I probably would’ve committed arson.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy, Drug use, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Vomit, Mental illness, Cursing, and Medical content
cartya91's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Drug use, and Mental illness
reading_ladies_blog's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, and Cursing
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Title: Happy Place
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: April 25, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Summery • Heartfelt • Lackluster
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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 five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a 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, blissful 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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Well, well, well it looks like I am in the minority... yet again when it comes to an Emily Henry book. After finishing this one I actually sat and contemplated why I just don't love her books like everyone else seems to. Happy Place to me was just okay, nothing absolutely amazing.
I will start out by repeating myself, that Emily writes banter unlike anyone else. And she also does supporting characters very well. I loved the friendship aspect and the idea of an annual friends getaway. But that also left me wanting more of supporting characters' stories (which I kind got in the third act conflict). Another thing this book did incredibly well? Make me want to visit coastal Maine. The descriptions - sights, smells, food, beauty - all of it made me want to road trip.
And yet, I just didn't buy what Harriet and Wyn were selling. The romance didn't seem believable. In the beginning I preferred the past timeline way more than the present day, and halfway in that switched. It's quite possible my expectations are always way to high going in, but it felt forgettable.
After reading all of Emily Henry's adult romance novels and not fully understanding the hype, I think I am finally convinced her stories are just not for me. And yet, here I am already having added her 2024 release to my TBR, so the marketing team is definitely doing something right. Don't let my experience deter you from picking this up, because this book has certainly garnered its fair share of love.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the second chance romance trope
• Emily Henry die hards
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Everything is changing. It has to. You can't stop time."
"Like even when something beautiful breaks, the making of it still matters."
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.00
Pub Date: April 25, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Summery • Heartfelt • Lackluster
📖 S Y N O P S I S
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 five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a 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, blissful 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.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Well, well, well it looks like I am in the minority... yet again when it comes to an Emily Henry book. After finishing this one I actually sat and contemplated why I just don't love her books like everyone else seems to. Happy Place to me was just okay, nothing absolutely amazing.
I will start out by repeating myself, that Emily writes banter unlike anyone else. And she also does supporting characters very well. I loved the friendship aspect and the idea of an annual friends getaway. But that also left me wanting more of supporting characters' stories (which I kind got in the third act conflict). Another thing this book did incredibly well? Make me want to visit coastal Maine. The descriptions - sights, smells, food, beauty - all of it made me want to road trip.
And yet, I just didn't buy what Harriet and Wyn were selling. The romance didn't seem believable. In the beginning I preferred the past timeline way more than the present day, and halfway in that switched. It's quite possible my expectations are always way to high going in, but it felt forgettable.
After reading all of Emily Henry's adult romance novels and not fully understanding the hype, I think I am finally convinced her stories are just not for me. And yet, here I am already having added her 2024 release to my TBR, so the marketing team is definitely doing something right. Don't let my experience deter you from picking this up, because this book has certainly garnered its fair share of love.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the second chance romance trope
• Emily Henry die hards
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Everything is changing. It has to. You can't stop time."
"Like even when something beautiful breaks, the making of it still matters."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Chronic illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Death, and Death of parent
marioosa517's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Drug use, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Confinement
Minor: Vomit
percervall's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Cursing, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
readingwithbritney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, and Pregnancy
stormeno's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Chronic illness, Cursing, and Mental illness
annag77's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
I’ve heard so much about Henry’s books and had to read one for myself for For the most part, the story was cohesive and flowed. It did, however, take me a moment to figure out when Harry was having a flashback as opposed to staying on the main timeline. I guess my main issue was with connecting with characters themselves and buying into their whole group dynamic. I can see why loads of people love Happy Place though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, and Toxic friendship