I’m going to have to agree with some other readers that Happy Place is not my happy place when it comes to Emily Henry or my vacation reads. But I did enjoy reading it. I still laughed and sighed and felt the sizzle of a romance; this book just had some more issues for me than a couple of her other books, ended up feeling a little flat. I’ll still read Funny Story and then probably whatever else she puts out into the world because so far for me Henry is tops with romance and I enjoy getting lost in her stories now and again.

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple. They’ve been together forever and they’ve been engaged for like… I mean… how long has it been again? Every year they spend a week of their summer beachside in Maine with their best friends, but this year is going to be different. For one, they are now three couples and one of them has a big surprise. Two, it’s their last year at the house because it’s being sold soon. And three, well, Harriet and Wyn broke up several months ago and they’ve neglected to tell a single soul. But it’ll be easy to pull off the biggest lie of your life and share a room with your ex for a week straight in your favorite place in the world with all your favorite people, right? You can just fill them in later. Right after you hide all the anger and attraction that just won’t go away.

I keep returning to Emily Henry because I can trust that her romance novels are going to be solid. Enough. And sometimes I need a romance novel, especially when I have been reading some really serious (or sometimes just literary or classic) novels. I tend to reach for something lighter and more genre-driven on vacations, so I followed Normal People with the Emily Henry from last year–Happy People (Normal People wrapped up on Martha’ Vineyard and Happy People led out a trip to Syracuse).

Which means, yes, I am one year behind on Henry’s books. I’m just planning to stay that way and then I can snag the year-old paperback from summer to summer (instead of a brand-new hardcover). This year, most fans are reading the new Funny Story. I may need to expand my light/genre fiction author options, but I also have Rebecca Yaros and haven’t even begun ACOTAR (or anything Sarah J. Maas). If only Madeline Miller wrote faster… any suggestions? I just want the best writing for very little mental work with maximum addictiveness. Like not always or even most of the time, just when I am in a particular mood/situation.

Oh, you were hoping for a review of Happy Place by Emily Henry? I see. I… might have already said everything when I reviewed her first three adult books, Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers. I enjoy Henry’s books. I am simultaneously impressed by her mastery of the genre, thankful for her readable words, addicted to her characters and plots, and embarrassed by my addiction. (I have read worse. Far worse.) And she makes me laugh now and again. It’s book candy with some depth of feeling and issues and would make either a great Hallmark movie or an even better rom-com blockbuster with two of the hottest actors of the moment. Despite knowing from the beginning what will ultimately happen, Henry’s novels still sizzle and keep me turning the pages, keep me thinking about life and laughing along with the clever banter.

I don’t think it was my favorite of hers? I dunno. Her books are ranking consistently the same, for me. And there’s something to be said for consistency, but I wouldn’t be mad if I was blown away by just one of them. Maybe Funny Story will be that one.

I do have to agree with some other reviewers, however, that the miscommunication trope in this book is way over the top. Sure, some things happen in the present of the book to distract from proper communication, but what on earth happened six months ago that Harriet and Wyn couldn’t act like the grown-ups they were and talk to one another? Like even one conversation? I mean, the misunderstanding wasn’t even particularly clear. Why did it blow up like that? There was never a good reason so we were just supposed to be like That’s the way this trope works. Guess I’ll have to buy into a strange-as-butt miscommunication and a comically large and pointless lie. And if you do, you’ll be fine.

Actually, there was one really nit-picky thing that I couldn’t stand but that I haven’t seen a single, other review mention, and that was Harriet’s repeated description of Wyn as having a hard face (like rock, sculpted, whatever) and a soft mouth. She describes it as quicksand more than once. Ew! I wanted to run away from Wyn, definitely not kiss him. This is metaphor gone so wrong, Henry. Please don’t do that to me again. Pretty please.

Small, small note: the relationship was based a little too much on attraction for me, even after all the years the lovers had been together and apart. Bigger note: the relationship lacked commitment or an understanding of love as a commitment, which is related to that small, small note but also to some modern ideas of “love” as transient and, I would say, self-centered.

There is an element of mental health, there, but I don’t think it’s dealt with very deftly.

And the ending did get a little Hallmark-y for me, which had something to do with the main conflict being problematic to begin with… but it went further than that. There were some strange resolutions (read: strange choices), some really cheesy scenes, some timing that made zero sense, coincidental things that were driving the important events (and that is always a big no-no; see my future review of The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell). Some peeps called it rushed and it did feel a little bit that way, but I think sloppy is more like it, especially since the set-up of the whole book needed refining, as I’ve already mentioned.

But I had fun reading Happy Place and it’s probable you will too, if that’s the type of thing you read. I still haven’t found someone who does the rom-com-y book thing better than Henry and here’s hoping for her next drop to be another winner and only one year away.

“’I’m making them seem terrible,’ I whisper, ‘and they’re not. I don’t know why I get so anxious just being here.’ / His mouth nestles into my temple. ‘I’m here too. I’ve got you’” (p236).

“The only way I can bear loving anyone this much is knowing it will never turn to poison. Knowing we’ll give each other up before we can destroy each other” (p247).

“Every second of every day, I feel like I’m living with a piece of me torn out, and I didn’t even see it happen” (p283).

“Spent like seventeen years operating on fifty-five percent lung capacity without realizing breathing just wasn’t supposed to be that hard. Starting antidepressants was like that for me. I felt like shit all the time, and then suddenly I didn’t. And all this stuff seemed possible for the first time” (p288).

“I’ve tried so hard to be good, to deserve the people around me, and I’ve still managed to hurt all of them” (p310).

“What was school if not a chance to earn your worth? To prove, again and again, that you were measurably good. / One more deal I struck with a disinterested universe: If I’m good enough, I’ll be happy. / I’ll be loved. / I’ll be safe. / Instead, I’ve pushed away everyone I love” (p312).

“’Everyone fights with the people they love, Harriet,’ he says. ‘What matters is how you do it’” (p316).

“’It’s okay to walk away,’ he says. ‘Everyone says Don’t go to bed angry, but sometimes a person needs time to think. And if you need that, it’s okay, but you should tell me, because otherwise…’ His jaw flexes on a swallow. ‘Otherwise, the person might assume you’re leaving for good’” (p316).

“’More Hank wisdom,’ he says. ‘Love means constantly saying you’re sorry, and then doing better’” (p323).

Not a movie yet, but they are supposed to be working on one for this book (or all the books). (As of 2023 into 2024, it’s like a space race to see who will land a Henry movie on the moon first. J-Lo is involved. People We Meet on Vacation might be the furthest along. And there are no guarantees we’ll see even one.) There are theories that rom-coms don’t pull in silver screen viewers these days, but my husband and I will definitely be there when a Henry movie hits the big screen.