You did me proud Emily Henry, BRAVO! I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Emily Henry’s newest release, “Funny Girl” and if you can’t tell by the 5 star rating, I LOVED it.

FMC Daphne is living the dream, she just moved to her fiance’s home town, in a beautiful Victorian house and started her dream job as a children’s librarian. Until all of that falls apart when Daphne’s fiance falls in love with his best friend, Petra. Given a couple of days to find a new place to live in a town where she knows none, what better solution than to move in with Petra’s ex-boyfriend. Enter our MMC Miles, the most charming, scruffy and romantic bartender you’ve ever met. Literally, Miles is the definition of cinnamon roll and may be leading for our leading MMC of the year…I said it. Will opposites attract?! THE TENSION!

Ugh, I love Emily Henry’s writing, but I especially loved this story and characters. I also enjoyed how Emily was able to build this romantic relationship while keeping the FMC’s independence in check. Also, have I mentioned the MMC?!!?

This is my favorite Emily Henry book to date, I cannot recommend an add to your TBR enough!!

Thanks to Berkley for the advanced copy!

Every single offering from Emily Henry gets better and better! This book was exceptionally readable and equal parts heartwarming and funny. I loved it.

I think this might be my favorite Emily Henry yet. Happy Place really bothered me due to lack of communication but I loved Funny Story!

I really loved Funny Story! I’m a fan of Emily Henry’s contemporary romances in general but this one is probably one of my favorites so far! Daphne and Miles were great! I loved them as characters and as a couple. The storyline and all the side characters were great as well. Another great one from Emily!

Daphne and Miles are in the unfortunate situation of having been dumped and now their partners are together. Which is how Daphne finds herself living with Miles in his spare bedroom. When their exes decide to get married, Daphne's put on the spot to say that she's bringing a plus one and that plus one is Miles. It's absolutely a romance, but it's also a book about friendship and identity. Daphne's whole life was built around her ex and now she has to figure out who she is without him. Her work as a librarian and her friendships are delightful additions to the story. I love the examination of how difficult it can be to make friends as an adult. The characters are nuanced and I love them all.

It should come as a shock to absolutely no one that I loved 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗬 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬. Perfect banter, a book-loving heroine, fun side characters... it has it all. And Henry's writing never fails the amaze me. The only issue I have with her books is debating whether to read them to to listen to Julia Whalen amazing narration. I opted for the audiobook but pre-ordered a physical copy because I know there are parts I'll want to re-visit.

4.75 stars rounded up.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the copy to review.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/🌶️🌶️

Berkley publishing, gave me an early copy and it 👏🏾 did 👏🏾 not 👏🏾 disappoint 👏🏾. This has officially become my favorite Emily Henry book (I haven’t read Beach Read yet so let’s see if it still holds up this summer.)

Funny Story follows Daphne and Miles who were both just dumped by their partners. The catch is that, their partners are now dating each other. Throughout Funny Story we get to see Daphne's personal growth from becoming a “we girl” to her own person. Miles learns to trust himself and know his worth which he’s struggled with from coming from a toxic family.

I became absolutely obsessed with Miles and Daphne's relationship arc. From strangers to friends to best friends to lovers, it was such a fun journey and beautiful to read. The slow burn was BURNING.

Also this book has turned me into a women’s fiction lover, so thank you Emily Henry!!!

Read if you love:
Forced Proximity
Summer Romance
Fake Dating
Opposites attract
Slow Burn
Women’s fiction

Check TWs before reading.

I've found myself completely captivated by the book I'm currently immersed in. It's a captivating blend of mystery, humor, and passion, which have woven together seamlessly to create an emotional journey that resonates with me on so many levels.

With each turn of the page, I'm drawn deeper into the lives of the characters, feeling as though I'm experiencing their joys and struggles alongside them. The mystery elements of the plot keep me eagerly guessing, while the moments of humor and levity provide much-needed relief, allowing me to connect with the characters on a more personal level.

Moreover, the steamy scenes in the book ignite a fire within me, making my heart race with anticipation. It's rare to find a story that manages to strike such a perfect balance between these different elements, but this book does it flawlessly.

As I continue to delve deeper into the story, I find myself completely engrossed in the rich tapestry of emotions it evokes. I'm constantly amazed by the depth and complexity of the characters and their relationships, and I can't wait to see how their journey unfolds.

In a world where every book I read seems to surpass the last, I'm thrilled to have stumbled upon this literary gem. It's a journey I never want to end, and I eagerly anticipate each new twist and turn that awaits me.

Funny Story has officially snagged my top spot for Emily Henry’s books, and truly cant find any fault with this story.

Miles is now the one and only book boyfriend that I need, and honestly, it’s because I felt so much of my husband in Miles and how he stayed and tried when no one else had… and honestly, I am Daphne, the broken girl that questions everything because of complicated parental relationships that sucks at friendships and just wants to be loved and enough but never spoke up for herself.

Read if you like:
💔 Heartbroken Characters
💋 Fake Dating
🏡 Roommates to more
🤗 Friends to Lovers
🤣 Banter

I don’t know about you but I’ve been exactly where Daphne was where she found herself single, the guy she thought was the one now dating the girl that he kept saying was just a friend, and realizing all your friends are actually his friends and so so so very alone, and not so shockingly with that ex, I too somehow convinced myself that lying saying I was with someone else was a good idea (luckily my fake dating was just a verbal lie and didn’t have to be acted out)

So all that to say, I felt so seen in how Daphne was written from this brokenness post break-up to the brokenness of the feelings of not being enough and having complex parental relationships that spur that on even more.

And then for Miles to be written as the golden retriever nice guy but has all the self doubts truly felt like reading a fictionalized version of my husband because I’m truly the grumpy to his sunshine especially when it comes to the way I see others viewing him and how he makes people feel so welcomed and open all while not believing he is enough even though he truly is so much more than enough.

All this to say, books that make me feel seen & make me cry, and laugh deserve all the stars and I really hope everyone that reads romance picks this one up and feels all the feels.

Also, I highly recommend the audio as Julia Whelan knocked it out of the park again! Thank you so much to Berkley for my ARC and to PRHA for my gifted audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and Ms. Henry for the opportunity to read an ARC of this story. An honest review was requested but not required.

I really enjoyed this. It was more on par with Beach Read for me than People We Meet On Vacation, which I was decidedly lukewarm on. Daphne is no manic pixie dream girl (THANK GOD), but instead, a buttoned-up children's librarian in a small west-coast Northern Michigan town. [Sidebar: as a Michigan native, I had to smile wryly at all the gussied-up west-coast Northern Michigan vibes. This would be a distinctly different story on Michigan's much less glamorous east-coast/Lake Huron side.] And Miles is no old-man in a young-man body, although like Alex of PWMOV he assumed a certain degree of responsibility for his younger sibling and harbored the resultant emotional baggage.

Daphne and Miles are pushed into proximity when Daphne's fiancee Peter leaves her for Miles' girlfriend Petra, who has been best friends with Peter since childhood despite vowing there was "nothing else" going on. In a panicked moment Daphne blurts out that she and Miles are dating and thus begins the Miles-and-Daphne show. Frankly I really enjoyed Miles and Daphne as friends. I'm still not entirely convinced that Miles was/is emotionally ready for a relationship, despite all Ms. Henry's hard work persuading the reader that he is. And to be COMPLETELY honest, I was more invested in Daphne and Ashleigh's friendship than anything else. Daphne has never made a true individual friend in her whole adult life, only "we" friends. Daphne, as Ashleigh points out, is a "we" person: i.e., "we go to the farmer's market every Saturday" and "we watch Stranger Things". Daphne doesn't really know how to be an I, and Daphne doesn't really know how to make her own friends: she's too used to making friends with her boyfriend's/fiancee's friends. Ashleigh and Daphne's fight nearly broke me. Way worse than any disagreement Daphne had with Miles, lol.

Overall I still enjoyed this a lot. Ms. Henry has a knack for authentic characterization, even when it's to build characters I don't personally love. Hey, she's not writing for me personally, so no complaints here. And she certainly did a nice job making NW Michigan sound like a great place to visit (to the point that I half-wondered if this book was sponsored). Four stars, highly recommended, especially to readers who enjoyed Ms. Henry's other books.

There is absolutely no doubt that people are going to love this. But me personally? I found it so boring. And unfortunately, very bland.

Coming from someone who has never read Emily Henry before, I was expecting, well, quite a lot. I understand her titles tend to have an ironic sound to it, as if the title is the complete opposite of what to expect in the book or how it can foreshadow certain emotions and feelings. But still, I was expecting this to be funny and entertaining. I can confidently say that for the first 30% or so, I was enjoying it. The humor was on point, the dialogue was entertaining, the banter felt enough, the characters were standing out, and the moral of the story was promising enough. But as we continue moving forward, the whole appeal lost the spark and I started losing my interest. It is never good to lose interest and motivation this early on in the story, and it doesn’t help that everything that was working for me before begins to lose its shine and feel dreadful.

People’s enjoyment for this are going to vary, as it does with every book, but I found this story really boring. Neither character stood out to me after a certain point, and I found myself reading for the sake of reading, not for pleasure and entertainment. It felt agonizing. The so-called humor felt no longer relevant, the dialogue felt like too much, and the characters didn’t grow on me. Adding on to that, while I am aware this author leans more towards women’s fiction with romance, I was still expecting to feel something between our two main characters, Daphne and Miles, but they added nothing. I could not feel the chemistry, and it felt like they were just roommates and friends who found each other hot instead. The fake dating trope felt extremely irrelevant to the story, as if it was never something that set up the plot in the first place. There’s really no…fake dating. Obviously that’s okay, right? It’s not like the blurb points out that this is a big element of the story or anything… It’s not like this is marketed as “two roommates whose exes are not marrying each other pretend to date.”

Speaking of plot, nothing happens. While I am a romance reader first and foremost and hardly ever expect an actual plot in a romance book (to me the romance is the plot), it felt like Daphne and Miles were just going in circles, doing mundane things, meeting mundane people, and feeling mundane feelings. Everything felt so mundane, with zero emotions, no depth, and absolutely no development. It was as if the forced proximity—of them fake dating because they’re roommates who kind of want to make their exes jealous—was a plot device to put them together but the author forgot to actually add development. Like, “Oh, we live together and we just got dumped so obviously we’re gonna be sad and horny and find each other hot!” All in all, I didn’t buy into the so-called romance. Daphne felt emotionally unavailable at first, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about her personal life problems after reaching the halfway mark; Mile’s felt like he was just there to add some value to her life. As characters, Miles stands out the most, and it might be because I haven’t read this author before so it’s not like I can make comparisons to her other heroes; still, I was a fan of Mile’s attitude for the most part. I think he stood out enough to become enjoyable but nothing memorable. And Daphne wasn’t any better. She was too plain and boring, feeling like she had no character and personality. I appreciate the author for making them feel like realistic adults with real jobs, real life problems, and real life situations, but at the same time, I was unable to fully appreciate the characters.

Overall, not a fan. I was bored, felt no spark, and could not feel the chemistry between the characters.

Emily Henry is an auto read author for me. As soon as I see her new book making the rounds, I jump on the opportunity to read it. Her romances are always deep enough to have substance but fun enough to be the perfect vacation and beach read. Happy Place last year was the only one I didn’t love so far. Book Lovers and Beach Read have been tied on my list for my, but I think Funny Story just topped them.

Daphne always loved the ‘funny story’ about the time she met her fiancé, Peter. That is until he cancels their engagement the day after his bachelor party to be with his longtime best friend Petra, who by the way has just broken up with her boyfriend Miles for Peter. Heartbroken, Daphne is forced to move out of the place she’s called home. With nowhere to go, Miles offers Daphne his extra room while she finds a new place to live. Months later, both Daphne and Miles have been invited to Petra and Peter’s wedding. In a moment of panic, Daphne lies and says she and Miles are dating, cue the shenanigans!

I’m not a huge fan of the love-triangle trope, and I only like a ‘fate dating’ trope if it’s done well. Henry has done it well on both fronts! I just completely adore Miles! He’s the best leading man I’ve read in a while. He’s honest, selfless, and unapologetically him. I’d read a whole book just about him. Daphne was a good main character as well, and enjoyed watching her come into her own with Miles. As always, I adore quirky side characters, and I can totally get on board with both of our main ones this go around.

I’m seriously considering moving to Waning now and I wish more than ever I could work at a library! I loved all the petty snark, felt that Miles and Daphne balanced each other out well, and would be the perfect addition to anyone’s beach weekend!


Funny Story comes out April 23, 2024! Huge thank you to Berkley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books or on Tiktok @speakingof.books

You can always count on Emily Henry for writing a fun contemporary romance full of banter, likable main characters with great chemistry, and an emphasis on friendship and family. While Beach Read and Happy Place remain the top tier Emily Henry books for me, Funny Story once again hit the mark.

The first half of the book makes it seem as if this book is one of Emily Henry's lightest books (and I do think that is true - I readers who love less angst and more rom-com in particular will love this). The whole concept of fake dating your ex-fiancé's new fiancé's ex-boyfriend is ridiculous in the best way and Daphne and Miles have an excellent roommates-friends-to-lovers arc. The second half brings in the usual emotional depth that you can always expect from Emily Henry's books - at its core this story is about two very guarded people learning to be vulnerable with each other and healing childhood wounds.

Personally I wasn't as invested in the characters (both main and side characters) quite as much as other EH characters but I did ultimately love how their story ended. I also discovered that as someone who works in a public library I do not enjoy reading about a character who works in one (not enough escapism for me!) - though the portrayal of public librarianship was pretty accurate which I appreciated.

This book was absolutely amazing. The ending REALLY got me so much I started to tear up!! I love the emotions Emily Henry makes us feel when we are reading.

Living in a small Michigan lakeside resort town, Daphne has her dream job as a children’s librarian, a handsome successful fiancé, Peter, and a wedding just one week away. Everything seems perfect until it isn’t; Peter turns into a frog rather than the prince he had pretended to be. Daphne’s devastation at Peter’s betrayal with his best friend, Petra, whom he has known since childhood, sends her into an odd living arrangement. After being essentially kicked out of Peter’s house, Daphne ends up living with Petra’s ex-boyfriend, Miles. Miles appears to be just a stoner gliding along through life as everyone’s best friend in the community. Daphne draws Miles into a plot to pretend they are together after her idiot ex has the audacity to send her a wedding invitation for his nuptials with Petra.

At the outset, Daphne and Miles seem to have nothing in common except their mutual heartbreak. Once Daphne gets to know Miles, she realizes that not only does he have a kind heart and fun personality, but a very similar type of emotional baggage thanks to bad parenting in each of their childhood homes. Daphne has a no show, feckless father who caused her to feel that she was not worth anyone’s attention or care. Miles’s mother did a number on him as well leaving him with a self-esteem in the negative numbers.

Daphne has been so emotionally locked up, so that once Peter’s unfaithfulness happens, she realizes that she is very alone even with friendly co-workers. Slowly with Miles’ help, Daphne begins to make a new life in this quirky community. To add to the fun, Mile’s wild child sister shows up to live with them, ostensibly to help Miles over his recent breakup. Daphne and Miles both need to learn how to let go of their wounds and trust someone else to not hurt them beyond repair.

Ms. Henry has a talent for drawing likeable and interesting characters, and then raking her readers over the emotional coals. The title is a bit of a misnomer because a lot of this tale is anything but funny though implicit in the story, the title can be seen as ironic as well. It is more heavily Women’s Fiction than romance. Daphne’s role as a librarian, since books were a haven for her growing up, and Miles’s appealing personality, are the parts where the author excels and will draw fans into the story all the while hoping for a happy outcome.

Emily Henry did it again!

Funny Story is my new favorite Emily Henry book! I love the characters, I love the romantic chemistry and the friendship chemistry. I love the town, and the vibe, and everything about this book.

Daphne and Miles are so cute, and their story is LITERALLY such a funny story! This is EH’s funniest book yet, and I loved it so much. The set-up of the fake dating is hilarious, and Miles is probably my new favorite book boyfriend.

The family dynamics in the book are great! I love Daphne’s mom, I love Julia, I love all the different types of families we see. I even, somehow, kinda like Starfire (iykyk).

Read this book if you love
💜 fake dating
💜 forced proximity
💜 strong friendships
💜 libraries
💜 being a tourist in your own city
💜 laughing so hard you wake up your cat

I love this book with my whole heart. 5 stars.

I will post my review on Instagram on April 18th, and on Amazon on publication day.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Pub for my e-ARC of Funny Story!

This was a pretty entertaining read right from the start. I loved the witty and sarcastic banter between Miles and Daphne as it reminded me of my own sense of humor. The sexual tension between them was so high and I was waiting for something to happen for a while. I loved Miles though. He seemed like such a sweet and genuine guy who deserved better than Petra. The ending was absolutely hilarious and I’m glad everyone got what was coming to them!

This is my new favorite Emily Henry novel!! I love the Michigan setting, I love the fake dating synopsis, I loved the banter, and I love the way Henry writes men!!

For fans of Emily Henry and a good romantic comedy, this novel is for you!!

The best Emily Henry book so far! I loved Miles and Daphne characters so much as well as the town of Waning Bay..

Oh how I adored this book!!! Emily Henry can write a character with the absolute best of them. To the point that even if there are flaws in her plots (which I didn't think there were in this one), you truly do not give a shit because you just love reading about the people she creates. Even if you can see where the story is going from a mile away, you DO NOT CARE because the journey is so freaking satisfying and joyful. She hit this one out of the park.

Also, I love Miles.