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micaelamariem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cdoubet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident and Pregnancy
trips's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This year was Happy Place...and I kinda wish I went back and read Beach Read instead...
Ok look, I actually think what Henry was trying to achieve in this book was very ambitious. In my opinion, too ambitious. There are a lot of interconnecting relationships and not all of them pay off.
Parth in particular comes off as just like...existing...he hardly has a character other than being exasperated or excited. Sabrina as well seems to be parsed down to the trope she seems to be embodying. Cleo and Kimmy are fine, we love mostly unproblematic lesbians.
The relationship between Harriet and Wyn is sweet at times, especially the scenes in the past. In the present, I found myself being angry with both of them the entire time because holy shit, just have 1 single conversation about how things actually are between you two and you would've been fine??
I had a hard time with Harriet because she is just so unaware of herself to the point of unbelievability for her age and experience in life and Wyn is just sad puppy hours through the whole book. He kinda made me feel like he wasn't worth it as he didn't want to fight for their relationship in the first place (neither did Harriet at times but at least she came around to it).
I guess I wanted more out of them finally talking their feelings out?
I dunno, I'll still keep up with my Christmas tradition, this one was sadly just not as fun as the other 2 I've read from Henry.
Graphic: Confinement and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy
jaynovara's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement and Pregnancy
mariposa517's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit
elledanie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
imds's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
3.5
"Love means constantly saying you're sorry, and then doing better."
There has been such a hype around Happy Place, and I honestly can't believe it has already got over 200.000! ratings on Goodreads. I mean, Happy Place has only been published for two months or so... Anyhow, I can't deny that I've been looking forward to read this one, because I really enjoyed my time with her previous books. I loved the sound of the blurb with the group of friends getting together and the Main cottage setting, and I had high hopes for it. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure if those expectations were actually met though... I'm not saying that it's a bad read and I initially did love my time with this story. There was something about this close group of friends that made me want to spend time with them. The main focus is on Wyn and Harriet of course, and they have the biggest character growth as a result, but I feel that the rest of them are still quite complex as well. I wish more time would have been spent in the present though, because the many flashbacks could get a bit tedious. The miscommunication trope ended up being a bit too much for me as well, because it was just too present not only in Wyn and Harriet, but in the group in general. It distracted from the other issues and only started to make me feel frustrated by the whole situation. Especially when it was not clear why they broke up in the first place and is was way too obvious they still love each other. That said, it was the last 20% or so of Happy Place that really let me down. Not only did I find this particular outcome to be highly unbelievable, but not satisfying at all either. I just couldn't believe that Harriet would make such a big decision on the fly, after only a week in Maine and without considering all her options. A slower build up would have made her decision a bit more credible, but still... This was NOT how I hoped this story would end. I can't deny that there were parts of the story that I loved, but Happy Place also ended up having more issues for me than expected.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
braveprincess11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content
kcarney86's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Abandonment
Minor: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism