A review by ohtoasty
Happy Place by Emily Henry

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I liked Emily Henry's Book Lovers and found People We Meet on Vacation okay. I was hoping that Happy Place was going to be more like Book Lovers, but I found it feel more flat. I think the miscommunication trope is difficult for me to get into because I often largely (maybe falsely) believe that couples will talk to each other more than what books want us to believe. 

The plot of this book centers on the idea
that Wyn was depressed in San Francisco, he moved away from a large support system, and financially seemed to be struggling. Somehow, Harriet was able to support the apartment by herself, so I'm not quite sure why Wyn was working so incredibly hard, but I think we are suppose to ignore that factor. Wyn then goes home for a period of time to take care of his mother who has cancer. Harriet, trying to be easy going for him because he's struggling so much, tries to make everything easier when he tries to visit her but fails. Once he gets into a car accident. Once his mom fell. He couldn't make it back to San Fran. She said it was okay. He took that as not caring? I guess. They aren't talking on the phone as much either which doesn't help. She is actively trying to be a surgeon. Eventually after a night out, Harriet has a guy walk her home as a friend, and he kisses her. She rejects him immediately, runs and calls Wyn. He pauses for a moment, suggests they break up. She is floored and confused. The next day he sends her a box of stuff that he had (not sure why he had it in Montana, but I guess we are ignoring that too). She sends a box of his stuff, annoyed. She wants to call him multiple times in the months, but doesn't. Because of her hurt feelings she blocks his number. 

Harriet doesn't tell their mutual friends for months. She can't bring herself too. Wyn and Harriet decided in the breakup that they would take every other summer for the friend vacation, so she will tell their friend group about the break up at the friend vacation. (Emily Henry is obsessed with vacations?) She gets there, and Wyn is there. She is confused why he is acting like they are still dating, and it turns out that her friend Sabrina is engaged, to be married at the end of the week. Harriet and Wyn decide to pretend to still be together to make the week go smoothly. Wyn sometimes acts friendly and loving to her, but in private sometimes blows her off. She tries to purposefully flirt with him, make him "suffer" and it has mixed outcomes. 

Eventually, Harriet discovers that Sabrina and Parth knew Wyn and her had broken up. It seemed like the entire week was a big plot to get them back together. Harriet is understandably incredibly angry over this, because of how painful the entire experience had been. Sabrina very clearly has tramua over her own broken family, and was trying to make sure the friend group would remain close by forcing them to consider getting back together. Incredibly manipulative in my opinion and not a very good friend. Even after Sabrina explains it, she disappears and was not able to be found for most of the following day, making everyone have to go looking for her. She apologizes but I still found her character very frustrating overall. I found the lesbians much more enjoyable. Cleo was ready to give it when she needed to, Kimmy was very supportive of Cleo. I liked them.

Harriet finally tells Wyn all of her hard feelings. Wyn finally starts telling her some of his. They figure it out, want to get back together, completely unsure how to do so with their two different lives. Wyn now is selling thousand dollar wooden tables in Montana, and Harriet discovered shes unhappy and bad at being a surgeon (though good at being in school). He tells her not to follow him, because that made him unhappy. She does so anyway because she likes pottery I guess.


This book was frustrating. Couples of 8 years go through major shit and talk about it. They don't just fuck everytime they try to do the Sunday crossword. Their chemistry was focused
solely on how much they physically wanted each other
and that was frustrating.
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