It’s been awhile…
I’m back though and I just finished reading Happy Place by Emily Henry and I have to be honest; it was not my happy place. I felt indifferent towards the novel (except for the few things that I thought were so bad to the point of ranting to those around me).
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️
If you’re a die-hard Emily Henry fan and you’ve loved all of her recent works, I’d say go for it. You must be seeing something I’m not. Full disclosure, Beach Read (2020) is one of my favorite books and one of the first I read when I got back into reading after college. I’ve noticed that my enjoyment of Henry’s books has decreased with each novel that’s followed, unfortunately for me as I thought she’d become a favorite author.
My biggest gripe with Happy Place is the writing. I was indifferent toward all of the characters (even Wyn, sorry) and found much of the dialogue and narrative to be cringey. It was honestly painful to read at moments, mostly because I don’t get the impression that the author was aiming for it to be cringeworthy at all. The premise of the book also seemed like utter nonsense to me—sorry if this is you, but after a decade of friendship, you’d better be able to actually talk to your best friends. This is one of the worst forms of miscommunication I’ve had the displeasure of reading.
Before I get into specific lines I felt particular distaste towards, I’d also like to take a moment to discuss the names in this book. Henry has been known to have some interesting names in her books, by contemporary standards, but this was too much! (No offense to anyone with these names, I just could not get my brain wrapped around it and stay grounded in the story).
- Our female protagonist: Harriet aka Harry. I can’t even picture a Harriet/Harry in my head. What I was picturing through the whole read though was that one interview Harry Styles did with Chelsea Handler where he responded “Harriet” when asked his favorite female name (iykyk).
- Our male protagonist: Wyndham aka Wyn. Um, like the hotel chain?
- A special guest and Wyn’s sister: Michael. His sister’s name is Michael. Need I say more? I get Emily Henry was going for the masculine names for female characters, but this just seems a step too far, right?
And drum roll please… I have a list of the lines that really just took me out (and some of my accompanying commentary courtesy of the notes app on my phone). Maybe this can help you decide whether or not this is the book for you. I don’t find any of these to be particularly spoilery either.
- “He’s a golden boy. I’m a girl whose life has been drawn in shades of gray.” (Chapter 10) | My thoughts the moment I read this: OH PLEASE, it’s really not that deep. I don’t think these characters are that well developed that this phrase has any impact on me as a reader whatsoever.
- “Emotions tangle in my esophagus.” (Chapter 18) | My thoughts the moment I read this: OK I GET IT SHE’S A DOCTOR, but can she not just say something that’s not medically accurate for a second? This is NOT a saying at all.
- “his pale coyote eyes” (Chapter 19) | My thoughts the moment I read this: ???
- “My heart flutters up through my esophagus, a giddy canary catching a breeze of cool air.” (Chapter 30-something) | My thoughts the moment I read this: WHAT IS UP WITH THESE DESCRIPTIONS EMILY?!
Some spoiler-heavy thoughts and questions I need to share (maybe come back to this after you’ve read the book if you are going to and instead skip to the next section):
- Why couldn’t Sabrina’s dad just sell her or gift her the cottage instead? He bought it for her mom so if his wife is so jealous, just give it to, I don’t know, his daughter maybe?
- Why are there multiple instances of the face transplant joke? It wasn’t funny the first time and it’s still not funny.
- When they’re trapped in the cellar… WHY would Wyn mention there’s a 911 emergency button and then just decide not to use it despite the fact he is claustrophobic? Why even mention that Emily Henry? What was the reason?!
- I’m sorry but in 2023, it is not that easy to just accidentally read someone else’s text thinking it’s your phone. Fine, maybe you have the same case, got confused, and picked up someone’s phone. But then to see that it’s from “Mom” and read it even though you can clearly see the phone lock screen is just insane to me. There is no way Harry and Wyn have the same photo as their lock screen image so for her to do that, read the whole text, and then break down crying in the shower because of it? When it was so vague and barely even incriminating at all? Nope.
- Then, Wyn’s big secret just being a low-quality budget version of the Jake reveal in Sweet Home Alabama? Wyn is nowhere close to being Jake and that’s just an almost direct comparison at this point; I don’t make the rules.
- Final thought: so all the friends were just lying and keeping secrets huh…
If you made it to the end, please let me know if you plan to read this book. If you do or have already, please share your thoughts and also let me know if you’re with me on any of my takes because I’m convinced this is Emily Henry’s worst book yet and too many of you are just too scared to say it. Controversial it may be, but true it is.
