Why did this have to end and what do I do with my life now that it’s over?

I was not expecting this one to make me cry more than Happy Place did… but here we are ❤️‍🩹

Emily Henry’s writing holds such a special place in my heart. It feels like she writes characters for me to relate to and connect with as I read their stories. Every book of hers I have read, I have related to the main character in some way and this one was no exception. I saw SO much of myself in Daphne right down to being a children’s librarian. And the character development!! You get to see these characters grow together and separately and it was so incredible to read.

You can FEEL the love radiating through the pages (ereader, but we’ll ignore the technicality). I got butterflies so many times reading the scenes between Daphne and Miles. I was giggling, internally screaming, and kicking my feet in the air. THE TENSION BETWEEN THESE TWO 👩🏻‍🍳🤌🏻💋!!!! The vulnerability and how they opened up to each other about their pasts and family history made me want to jump through the pages and hug them both. The way they talk about and to each other makes me crave the kind of the love they have.

I love me a good found family moment and Funny Story delivered in that department with Daphne and her coworkers at the library, Miles and his sister, and everyone else we’re introduced to along the way. They’re all just one big chosen family 🫶🏻

The way Daphne talks about her job and the children she gets to work with had me thinking about my own job as a children’s librarian and of the regulars we have at work and the bonds I’ve formed with them and their parents.

This book is for the girls who want to make everyone else happy, but don’t do enough for our own happiness. This book is for the girls who would do anything for people to stay even when they know they won’t. This book is for the girls who want nothing more than to be wanted and loved by certain people despite knowing they’re eventually going to leave. This book is for the girls who avoid getting too close to people because they know it won’t last.

Everything about this book was perfect.

I am so conflicted writing this review because there is a lot I enjoyed about this book but I did lose interest when I was about 60% into the story. Hear me out, this could have been one of my top romance books if 30% of the book was left out. It just felt a little chaotic in my opinion and it works out for some books but in my opinion it just did not this time.

I´ll give it to Emily she did make me smile with the last line of the book.

I would still recommend it to everyone because like I said before there were a lot of things I enjoyed. I thought watching the FMC, Daphne, come out of her shell, grow and become confident was really fun. I also enjoyed the banter between Daphne and Miles. Additionally, I thought it was fun that they ended up fake dating to get back to their exe's because I am here for the drama.

Overall, I guess I was just expecting more but I do think a lot of people are going to love it. It just was lacking feelings for me.

Thanks you netgalley and Berkley Romance for the ARC!

Whats a girl to do when her fiancee cheats on her with his childhood best friend then to fake date said childhood best friend's now ex boyfriend. Daphne was engaged to Peter, their romance was a cute story... up until the moment he tells her he cheated on her with his childhood best friend, Petra, during his bachelor party and now is in love with her and wants to end the engagement. Not to mention the fact that Petra was also in a relationship with her boyfriend Miles and cheated on him to run off with Peter. Daphne is in a predicament, Peter essentially owns their living space and is giving her until the weekend to move out and that's when Miles, Petra's ex, offers Daphne Petra's old room and to be her new roommate. Daphne can't say no as Miles is the only person who really knows what she's going through, and what was only suppose to be quick roommates turns into something more as they begin to become friends,,, and funny story, when Peter calls Daphne she just lies and says she's dating Miles, who is all too happy to play along. Yet what started off as fake is becoming very real as Daphne and Miles begin to form a strong friendship that is becoming something more as they spend the summer adventuring together.... but they both have their own difficulties and family issues... and if they want this to be real they'll have to face their differences and see if they really can make this funny story work. This was a super cute rom com and it's my first Emily Henry book! Miles was very Nick Miller (from New Girl) coded and I adored him and Daphne together. Daphne is a librarian and Miles works at a winery, Daphne is used to having people disappoint her and Miles is use to running away from his problems... both of them have so much heart but are going through so much. I loved the fun friendship growing between them and how they really felt like a good couple. They had good banter and chemistry and I was so happy to read this book. This is definitely a fun read and I definitely see it being a good one to recommend anyone who wants a nice romcom with a bit of heart.

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Emily Henry writes some of the most witty and hilarious banter. I had a huge smile on my face for so much of the book. I found myself walking my dogs for longer and longer just so I could keep listening. The set up hooked me right away and showcased the forced proximity and friends to lovers tropes very well. The book does fall more into the women’s fiction genre than romance for me though, since so much of the book focuses on Daphne’s healing and growth.

I found the discussions and commentary about adult friendships (as well as child/parent relationships) really interesting. The progression of Miles and Daphne‘s relationship worked really well for me and I loved how things unfolded between them. It’s a slow build with some starts and stops, but the steamy scenes were well worth the wait!

I wasn’t a big fan of the third act conflict, but I could understand why the characters might act and react the way that they did. I also felt that there was a bit too much ex drama and I wish Peter and Petra would have just disappeared. It just felt like too much since Miles and Daphne already had so much baggage of their own to sort through. I’m not even sure they did resolve those personal issues (or if they did it was glossed over/I missed it). While this isn’t my favorite book by Emily Henry, it was still very entertaining and heartfelt. Her writing truly is amazing!

I mainly listened to the audiobook of Funny Story and Julia Whelan is the GOAT. Her performance heightened all the emotions and feelings and truly elevated the story. I will listen to anything she narrates!

Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 4 stars

CW: cheating ex, grief, parental estrangement, parental abandonment, emotionally abusive parent, panic attacks, marijuana use

*I voluntarily read and listed to an advance review copy of this book*

Thanks for the free book @berkleyromance @netgalley #berkleypartner #berkleybooks !!

I applied to be in the #berkleybookstagram influencer program because of the mere possibility that I could get an ARC of an @emilyhenrywrites book. I’ve not made it a secret that she’s one of my favorites, a must read, and I think it’s because her characters are so lovingly flawed and regular, and she writes them (and banter) so incredibly well. This story is one I was dying to read ever since I read the first synopsis, and I was not let down for even a second.

Daphne and Peter have been together for a couple of years, their lives seamlessly folding into their life as a unit, and they even move back to Peter’s Michigan hometown where he’s just gotten a new job. He buys a house, she gets a job. And now they’re engaged! All Daphne has ever wanted was stability and somebody who would choose her, with as little drama as possible.

Peter’s bachelor party enters the chat. Peter’s childhood bff Petra says, “hold my beer.” After denying there was anything romantic or sexual for years, suddenly Peter and Petra are in love. Daphne’s *entire life* is thrown into complete disarray. When Peter *kicks her out of their house* because he wants Petra to move in (cough, ASSHOLE), she crashes with Miles, Petra’s very recently made ex, too.

Miles is a mess, in a newly dumped 36 year old wine bar manager kind of way, which is to say he’s busy smoking himself into the next stratosphere to handle his feelings. Underneath all of that maladaptive coping that he quickly ditches, he’s funny and open and kind in a way Peter never was. Daphne has dealt with abandonment before, and this sitch is only for a couple of months before she can leave Michigan. What she doesn’t expect is to see Peter suddenly and announce she’s dating Miles. We love a fake dating!

Daphne doesn’t expect like Miles so much, as she opens up both to him and he shows her the life she’s been missing while with Peter.

The chemistry and sexual attraction between Miles and Daphne is INTENSE, and I was dying as they will-they-or-won’t-they’d all over this makeshift roommate situation. Read this, and join my Emily Henry support group.

Even though the title of this book gives off a vibe that it's going to be 'funny', I did not find it that at all.

Daphne is dumped by her fiance Peter days before they were supposed to get married, when the latter realized that he's in love with his long-time BFF Petra. This leaves Daphne with no place to stay, asking to be roommates with the story's other dumpee, Petra's ex, Miles. To get revenge on their exes, Daphne and Miles decide to fake-date.

I can't say I did not enjoy this book. There are moments I found to be deeply affecting and relatable. I love that Daphne, at her age, doesn't have it all figured out. That gives so much room for me as a reader to explore her character and grow with her. She struggled without Peter because she always thought she was a nobody without him. Enter Miles, who is the complete opposite. I wasn't sold on either of them, to be honest. And I found the plot to be predictable and underwhelming. I just wish I was more invested in how things slowly came to be, or how the end made up for the somewhat predictable chain of events leading to it.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an advance copy of this book. Funny Story comes out April 23rd!

I'll preface this review by saying that I absolutely love Emily Henry's books. I have read all of them multiple times. She writes with such heart that her stories draw me right in. That said, this was probably my least favorite book so far. But that DOES NOT mean it's not good.

I can't really put my finger on *why* it just didn't click with me. The witty dialogue is there, there is chemistry between the characters. In fact, there are probably the most "romantic" scenes and situations in here of all her books. But first, I think I had an issue getting a good read on the characters, like even <i>they</i> don't know who they are. And it's hard to connect with an ambiguous character. And second, I honestly think there just wasn't enough <i>anger</i> for me. Like, both Daphne and Miles are way better people than I am; I would not have been so kind to <spoiler>the exes</spoiler>.

I will give this a second read, though. I liked <i>Happy Place</i> better on second read, and will definitely give this one another try.

This is exceedingly cute! I absolutely adored Miles and I found Daphne incredibly relatable (especially the dad issues omg, that was way too real!) They're chemistry and banter was top tier for me! I did find the middle of this book a little slow but I did love how it wrapped up in the end.

I am usually not one to pick up contemporary romance. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Beach Read and thought it was an average book, but I can definitely say that I am very impressed with this book. I love the whole concept of dating each other’s exes. It was super confusing at first but it was just hilarious and was an original idea that I haven’t read before.
This book definitely pulled me in and I went on an emotional journey. It was cute funny adorable all the “ooo’s” and “aww’s” were said.
The character building and world building and just the wanting the characters to be together was beautiful. this book just took my emotions to so many places and it was the right amount of spice, romance, and character development. The balance between everything was great. Emily Henry did an amazing job with writing this book and I really enjoyed it.

A big thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC exchange for an honest review

Every new release that Emily Henry has is my new favorite. Just when I think she can't get better, that I can't possibly love the new book as much as I loved her last, it happens, and Funny Story captured my whole heart. I love Daphne and Miles and the crazy situation they find themselves in as roommates. I loved how they became friends first, and I loved their friends, Miles' sister Julia, and the fact that Daphne works in a library. Really, Funny Story is just perfect, from the very first sentence to the very last.

When Daphne's fiancé, Peter, dumps her the night of his bachelorette party for his childhood best friend, Petra, she's immediately kicked to the curb. With nowhere to go and the small salary of a children's librarian in the expensive vacation town where Peter grew up, she moves into the spare bedroom of Petra's ex-boyfriend, Miles. The sad stoner is not her type, but when Peter catches her in a vulnerable moment, she lies and says they've happily moved on... together. In an effort to get to know the city Daphne moved to really only for Peter, and sell the lie she told him about her new relationship, Peter and Miles begin spending weekends together exploring the city and posting photos. Daphne finally starts to feel like her own person again, and is making friends on her own, but she's not sure it's enough to keep her in the town that was never hers to begin with.

Well, folks, it's no surprise that Emily Henry has written another stellar novel. It doesn't have quite the same ingenuity of Book Lovers or heartbreak of Happy Place, and it probably feels somewhat redundant to read it immediately after Abby Jiminez's Just for the Summer, to which it shares some plot points. But it's Emily Henry, so it means that even when it doesn't hit it out of the stratosphere, it still hits it out of the park. And it's my own fault for reading two similar books essentially back to back--where's a good mystery thriller when you need one? I have no complaints about this book, it's a classic, well-written rom-com, and a great installment in the Emily Henry universe (though Book Lovers will always be my favorite).

Thanks to Berkley and Berit Talks Books for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Quite possibly Emily Henry's best work yet! No Notes✨

Give me a swoon worth MMC and a forced proximity, fake dating, slow burn romance all day everyday.Everything about Daphne and Miles' story was so loveable. It was witty and clever, while also being a bit messy. I laughed and cired, and quite literally could not stop giggling.

The characters were so incredibly relatable. Our main characters are all in their mid 30's which was such a breath of fresh air! I felt Daphne's struggle with social interaction around strangers and meeting new people to my core. The overall growth and healing between each character was so refreshing. This story explores topics of finding oneself, working through abadonment issues, and self love.

Just go ahead and proactively add Miles Nowak to your list of Book Boyfriends because he will infact steal your heart! This man had me blushing everytime he was even mentioned on the page. He is so incredibly easy going with the best sense of humor and the biggest charmer around. But ultimately he cares BIG!

As always, Emily Henry never disapoints when it comes to the banter and chemitry between her characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing a copy of this book with me in exchange from myn honest thoughts.

Emily Henry reigns as the queen of stories about millennials who are feeling confused and left behind by their peers and Funny Story is nothing but a triumph in that department.

In classic Henry fashion, the title of the book is hardly a funny story as we begin with two jilted fiances whose former partners are best friends and have run off to marry each other, leaving Miles and Daphne stranded and roommates by circumstance. As both heal from their respective breakups, they build a beautiful friendship that blossoms into something more slowly but surely as they fake a relationship for appearances after they receive an invitation to the wedding of their former partners.

The brilliance of this story is the character development. The plot chugs along fairly predictable lines for a contemporary friends to lovers/roommate romance, but being inside Daphe and Miles' heads is a treat. Their mundane and relatable struggles with their jobs and friendships really make this a book that doesn't boast or flash, but rather keeps you close and says "I see you". Or maybe that's just my slightly plastic-bag-in-the-wind millennial heart talking. There is a quiet confidence to this book that her previous works didn't, and I loved the story.

One small criticism is for Henry's continued tokenization/stereotyping of BIPOC and LGBTQ characters, which has happened in her previous works and happens here as well, unfortunately.

Emily Henry does it again in giving me exactly what I want from her books; a feel good story with some not-so-perfect characters. While I appreciated the love story in this one, I more so loved the story of friendship. Both main characters had a hard time sharing themselves with other people; keeping secrets and harboring childhood traumas, so I loved the role the secondary characters played in supporting and allowing especially Daphne, to come out of her shell. I wasn't loving Miles in the first couple chapters, but the author made you feel the exact way that Daphne felt, which was that he grows on you.

Aside from all this, I am a midwesterner, and my husband is from Michigan, so although Waning Bay may be made up, I loved all the references to Mackinac Island, Cherry picking, lake life etc, because all that was very real and warmed my Wisconsinite heart.

yuuuuup, emily henry does it again! I read this book in one day, I couldnt put it down! This book follows Daphne & Miles who wre both put into a situation when their current partners decide that they are in love and run off together.
Daphne, with no place to go, ends up living with Miles!

This has it all - friends to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating!!
I wont be giving spoilers for this one as it doesnt come out till the end of the month, but my goodness Emily Henry knows how to write banter and tension. I connected on a deep level with both of the main characters, I could see so much of myself in both of them. The desire to be loved for who you are and valued!!
Might I argue that Miles could be a top tier boyfriend in the emily henry book universe?!?

Thank you to Emily Henry & Net Galley for giving me access to this arc! I cant wait for you all to read and gush about these characters!

FIVE MILLION STARS. This is without a doubt my favorite and best Emily Henry. The plot point of the “others” after someone else gets their happily ever after, fake dating, forced proximity, opposites attract - just ALL OF IT.

Ugh. Just - go read this one 😍😭

Of the works by Henry I've read I might say that this is the most successful?

That does come with a few caveats though, because it's me and of course it does.

I'm a girlie that wants dual POV in a romance and I think that's important to note because a lot of this feels like Daphne's story. Which in the context of the book and now characters view her, is important... but it doesn't necessarily feel like two characters shared journey. It doesn't feel like characters coming together, and at times it feels like a sequence of plot contrivances made up for a fictional story ( which is all a book really is, but truly good books transcend that into something that feels universal, y'know? ).

Anyway, this is the story of how Daphne's partner Peter leaves her for his childhood best friend, Petra. Now Petra being on this bachelor's trip should have already been a red flag, but Daphne moving into a house where her name was not on the deed despite the fact she was supposed to be marrying this man is wild. Hell, the fact that they bought a whole house before they were married seemingly so he could exclude her from having her name on the house should have been bad enough. But, newly single and not really interested in looking at the list of apartments that Peter left for her before running off to have a sexcation with his new girlfriend Petra, Daphne decides that it'd just be easier to move in with Petra's jilted partner Miles.

Now Miles really is the saving grace of this book. Daphne is almost too cookie cutter of a romance heroine, but that's fine. The two get along for the most part, giving each other as much space as is possible in the dingy two bedroom apartment that Miles used to call home with Petra.

It's not until a wedding invitation arrives for the pair that the duo decide to go out and drink at the utter absurdity of them getting an invitation. It's one of the first bonding moments the pair have. The next morning hung over Daphne realizes that she has RSVP'd to the wedding and when Peter calls to confirm that RSVP she makes up this lie about her and Miles being together....

It's here that we encounter our first issue. Dear Reader you might think that this little lie is going to be the premise for the rest of the book, that we are going to read about their fake relationship in the context of the book leading us toward that Labor Day wedding they RSVP'd to. I just want to do you the favor and let you know that's not actually what's happening.

You see when Daphne and Peter got together and were planning their life, they were living in the great Commonwealth of Virginia, the book is set in the great State of Michigan; more importantly Daphne's mother is living in the great state of Maryland. This is important because in the eighteen months she spent living in Michigan the only people she associated with were Peter's friends and she doesn't really have anything keeping her in this small town she finds herself in. Other than her job at the library and this fundraiser that was all her idea. It's this fundraiser at the end of the summer that we're really headed toward, something the narrative makes no secret about. It's this deadline that Daphne and Miles agree too when they set out to get Daphne to see just how great this small town can be.

The book is filled with some great side characters that you always get when you set your book in a small town and the main character has to get to know people. It's fun and cozy in the ways that you would expect and these friendship dates feel organic enough. Though on each one the reader and those around Daphne and Miles are always told that they aren't really together. Honestly the biggest plot hole in this book is everyone finding out that Daphne and Miles aren't really together and that fact never getting back to Peter or Petra; something that has to happen to keep the third act conflic in tact I suppose.

It's also important to know that Daphne and Miles' relationship with their parents are almost mirrored. I say almost because at least Daphne has a positive relationship with her mother whereas both of Miles parents were complicit in the abuse that his mother inflicted on him and his sister. The complex relationship that our main characters have with their various family members is explored for both, but only Daphne is able to get any kind of resolution. Partially because while we can't get his perspective, Miles' role in the narrative does seem to be to change into the kind of man that would be Daphne's perfect match. Not because he already is that already but because the narrative needs for him to shave parts of who he is to fit that.

The book does a lot of telling us who Daphne and Miles are, but the actions that each of them take don't ever really seem to match exactly this vision of who Emily Henry thinks that she's writing about. This feels really obvious with Miles and the way that we are meant to forgive him for some of the third act actions because he was also off being a manic pixie dream man.

Maybe I'm just a hater, but I do think that Miles knowing what he does and how he was supposed to be this champion for Daphne, good man or not and wanting to be helpful it does seem very silly to be helpful in the particular way he wanted to help in this story. Especially when he couldn't be bothered to say something...

Some of the issues with this book definitely have to do with wanting to use fake dating as a tool to incite these characters into being together, but it feels like almost anything could have pushed these two in that direction and as every character that crosses their path is immediately told the truth and all these excursions are framed platonically and extended to third parties it seems silly for it to even be part of the narrative. Even Petra and Peter's wedding serves as a plot contrivance that has nothing to do with the plot of the book, Peter and Petra have very little to do outside of being the boogeyman in our characters minds.

The community was fun to be in, and Ashley and Julia did a lot to make the book enjoyable. Miles really is a swoonworthy hero, but the fact we didn't get his persective did make a lot of what he was doing just feel off kilter and routinely undercut him as a character I was rooting for. Daphne... she might have been a little raggedy in the beginning and had a monologue moment at the end that seemed to say she didn't think Miles was going to be the one in a way most romance books want you to believe the hero will be the one... was ultimately fine? Just like the book. Lots of low lows, but it was ultimate a book that was easy enough to get through and definitely better than than pink book she tried to peddle as a romance last year.

I really loved this one! It was a bit of a mess which was one of it great qualities! The main character was fun and sassy as usual and I loved her! The main man was 😍😍😍😍 loved him too! I’m not sure if I love it more than Beach Story yet… I really connected with that story! I love how much Miles really morphed into this amazing and caring man when he started out as what seemed like this unmotivated bum! I think people are going to love this one!! So pick it up when it comes out in a couple weeks!

Thank you to the publisher for the eArc.

Emily Henry has done it again and I couldn’t be happier! Her books hold such a special place in my heart and I’m so happy that this one lived up to my expectations.

The chemistry between Daphne and Miles felt so real and the banter is back and just as good! Aside from the romance that had me kicking my feet, the friendships Daphne slowly forms in this book were just as cute and heartwarming. It was so nice to see the idea of having no idea how to make friends as an adult explored in such a relatable and grounded way.

I will continue to read absolutely anything Emily Henry writes and recommending it to everyone who will listen!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, PRH Audio, Libro.fm, and Netgalley for providing advanced copies of this! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Emily Henry just never misses for me. I find her romances to be so endearing and humor completely relatable. And this latest book was no exception.

This reads quintessential Emily Henry - humorous, slightly heavy themes, and relationship you can't imagine working out.

The relationship between the main characters was fantastic. I loved getting to watch them slowly get to know each other and develop feelings. By the time they finally got together it felt so impactful since we got to actually watch them fall in love.

And just like in her other books, both main characters have personal things they need to work through. I always appreciate when the relationship isn't the "fix" but a way to help them grow.

If you're an Emily Henry fan, this will definitely be another hit for you. Everything about was heartfelt and somehow so relatable.

And if you're an audiobook listener, Julia Whelan, one of my absolutely favorite narrators, narrates this book and is (as always) outstanding.