funny story – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emily Henry
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

Thank you to Berkley #BerkleyPartner for the ebook and PRHAudio #PRHPartner for the free audiobook.

ENJOYABLE AS ALWAYS.

Audiobook notes: It was Julia Whelan who narrated. NEED I SAY MORE?

Emily Henry books are just good. I love picking them up and I enjoy the journey that the main character goes on. Daphne had plenty to work through (understandably so) and the issues she had with her Dad was a connection I felt deeply. I love when books provide that sense of being seen and understanding that there is someone out there who has felt the same way you have.

The romance was sweet. I liked the unconventionality of it and how Daphne and Miles came together. The crossing of worlds and showcasing all there is to do and be where they were at now, and where they could go.

I love the magic (not literally) woven into the story of those little moments that make a life. Getting milkshakes and fries, finding a new beach to explore and loving the job you have. I adored all of the librarian content and the wonderful relationship Daphne had her with Mom.

Daphne and Miles are imperfect people with the weight of the past holding them back (without them even knowing sometimes). I loved the messy, the sincere and the emotion this book brought as the happy ending was found.

Overall audience notes: