sarahyjackson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
5.0
So much about this book felt perfect: the setting, the execution of classic romance tropes, the conceit, the character development. Read by Julia Whelan? Perfect, perfect, perfect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Drug use
Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
korpney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Emily Henry has done it again! I’d love to live in the version of a cozy Maine town that Harriet and her friends love so much. This book is a new happy place for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content and Drug use
purplepenning's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Angst isn't my thing, but if it's your thing, you can kindly ignore my relatively mediocre rating for an Emily Henry book. If you also enjoy a strong friend group, a summer-in-Maine vacation setting (complete with a lobster fest), good-humored bit-style banter, opposites attract, forced proximity, only one bed, altruistic idiots, mental health rep, realistic life challenges, the excavation of the effects of childhood family dynamics, grown up "gifted" kids, personal emotional growth, people learning how to communicate with each other, and a slow-burn bit of steam — assume you can add another full star to my rating and dive right in for a beautiful, emotional romance read. More suited to Henry fans who preferred People We Meet on Vacation rather than those who preferred Book Lovers. And if you like this one AND Henry's more bookish books, definitely check out The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Pregnancy
tarajoy90's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
uranaishi's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Death, Classism, Confinement, and Chronic illness
Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Vomit, and Mental illness
watson_my_shelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
I’ve had mixed feelings about Emily’s books in the past, so when I started this and was annoyed by the miscommunication/lying premise in the first 20 pages, I assumed I wouldn’t like this one. But I ended up LOVING it!
I fell in love with the friend group & main character despite their flaws. This book does such a good job of showing how friendships evolve and change as we get older and enter into different stages of life. And the complicated romance in this book gave me all the feels.
Happy Place contains discussions of grief, depression, and other mental health topics. These topics were handled well in my opinion, and felt so real and raw.
The story is told in the present with flashbacks mixed in. I think this really added to the story!! I definitely got emotional reading this.
So glad the author included queer and POC side characters. We definitely didn’t need another mostly/all white and cis-het book from Emily.
I fell in love with the friend group & main character despite their flaws. This book does such a good job of showing how friendships evolve and change as we get older and enter into different stages of life. And the complicated romance in this book gave me all the feels.
Happy Place contains discussions of grief, depression, and other mental health topics. These topics were handled well in my opinion, and felt so real and raw.
The story is told in the present with flashbacks mixed in. I think this really added to the story!! I definitely got emotional reading this.
So glad the author included queer and POC side characters. We definitely didn’t need another mostly/all white and cis-het book from Emily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use
onthesamepage's review against another edition
emotional
funny
slow-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
Tropes:
Steam level: 🌶🌶
This book commits 100% to giving you all the angst, and let me tell you, I felt it. Parts of this had me so tense that my stomach started to hurt, but also compelled me to keep reading in the hopes that I would finally find out what had happened between Harriet and Wyn.
It takes a while before we get there. The story is told in two timelines, where we explore how they met and fell in love up until their breakup, while in the present, they are struggling to keep their single status a secret from their best friends. Of course, this goes about as well as can be expected when both of them are hurting but pretending they're perfectly happy.
Spoiler
fake dating, second chance romance, misunderstandings, dual timelinesSteam level: 🌶🌶
This book commits 100% to giving you all the angst, and let me tell you, I felt it. Parts of this had me so tense that my stomach started to hurt, but also compelled me to keep reading in the hopes that I would finally find out what had happened between Harriet and Wyn.
It takes a while before we get there. The story is told in two timelines, where we explore how they met and fell in love up until their breakup, while in the present, they are struggling to keep their single status a secret from their best friends. Of course, this goes about as well as can be expected when both of them are hurting but pretending they're perfectly happy.
“I have this gaping wound, and no idea how it got there. It’s killing me hearing how happy you are, without even understanding how I— how I—” My voice quavers, my breath coming in spurts. “I don’t know what I did to make you so miserable.”
Even though there were misunderstandings and lack of communication (not my favourite tropes), I found that these didn't bother me in this case because I understood why they hid certain things. There were a few moments where they were discussing their problems and opening up to each other that had me emotional, and even though a second chance romance doesn't always work for me, I was rooting for them. I do think the way it gets resolved was a bit weak—at one point Wyn says, "Because there's nowhere I wouldn't go for you," which completely erases their entire history and feels a lot like the definition of insanity.
As is usually the case, Emily Henry tackles a lot more than just the romance. In Happy Place we have a group of six friends who have been slowly growing apart, but so far refuse to acknowledge it. I really liked the focus on friendships and how much work you have to put into sustaining them, especially once you're in different physical locations or different phases of your life. The banter within the entire group was top notch as always—the snappy dialogue is definitely one of the reasons Henry's writing tends to work for me.
Oh, and if you've read Beach Read, there's a blink-and-you-miss-it easter egg in this one.
Happy Place isn't my new happy place, but it's another solid entry from Emily Henry, who has become an author whose romances I will always pick up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Grief
betsey's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
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
4.25
This book really kept me reading…interesting, loveable characters you really root for, cozy settings, some laughs and plenty of moments to tug at the heartstrings. I’ll definitely be recommending this to lots of customers this summer!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Drug use
alijoy94's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
I was going to say Emily Henry has done it again, bringing us another beautifully charming and emotional story, but in reality she just keeps getting better!
Happy Place follows Harriet, her college friends, and her (unbeknownst to the others) ex-fiance Wyn, through two timelines - the past, A.K.A. Harry's Happy Place, and the present, also known as Real Life, where everything seems to be falling apart. Over a week of kept secrets, forced proximity and second chances, our two timelines eventually converge to form a happy reality - though not necessarily in the way Harry expects.
This was an easy 4.5 star read for me!
Thankyou to Netgally and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC (as well as the physical copy I received through work)
Happy Place follows Harriet, her college friends, and her (unbeknownst to the others) ex-fiance Wyn, through two timelines - the past, A.K.A. Harry's Happy Place, and the present, also known as Real Life, where everything seems to be falling apart. Over a week of kept secrets, forced proximity and second chances, our two timelines eventually converge to form a happy reality - though not necessarily in the way Harry expects.
This was an easy 4.5 star read for me!
Thankyou to Netgally and Penguin Random House for the digital ARC (as well as the physical copy I received through work)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
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