Skip to main content

REVIEW: Funny Story by Emily Henry


Daphne always loved the way Peter told their story. That is until it became the prologue to his actual love story with his childhood bestie, Petra. Which is how Daphne ends up rooming with her total opposite and the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra's ex, Miles.


As expected, it’s not a match made in heaven – that is until one night, while tossing back tequilas, they form a plan. And if it involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their 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?

"You, my girl, are whoever you decide to be. But I hope you always keep some piece of that girl who sat by the window, hoping for the best. Life's short enough without us talking ourselves out of hope and trying to dodge every bad feeling. Sometimes you have to push through the discomfort instead of running."

Emily Henry is just one of those writers that can take a handful of tropes that sound like they’re going to be a cheesy, cringy story and turn it into something so fun and refreshing with a contemporary twist on classic romcom styles. They’re books for book lovers (no pun intended)

It’s a story about female friendship, love, and about the different parts we all play in each other stories - it all depends who is telling it. And our main narrator was a hot mess in the most fabulous way, she’s in an entirely strange situation, her life is complete chaos but she was just full of love and let her heart lead her into all kinds of mishaps as she builds her life back together piece by piece - with some self-discovery, amazing friends.

Miles was the perfect Romcom love interest, I fell for him right away and his charm, their romance was warm and cute once the heartbreak and troubled past start to clear - with a little bit of steaminess as they get closed but it moved so naturally. The rest of the cast were absolutely delightful, each one was so loveable - aside from the exes of course, but even they were so well written to be confusingly loveable. They went from the classic romcom characters to fully developed people so quickly and while we might guess what they’re going to do next, it’s not a mystery novel so it keeps that cosy familiar vibes of a tried-and-true formula and mixes it with fun storytelling.

I read this entire thing in one sitting, it was perfectly paced and flowed seamlessly as the weeks moved on with a friendly tone that felt like our friend was telling us the story directly - this is Henry’s best work to date and it’s not just a funny story, it’s full of warmth, love and just a little silliness.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  • Funny Story will be available from April 25th with Penguin General/Viking. I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for a review.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair  Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...
Post a Comment
Read more

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+  Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...
Post a Comment
Read more

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

  " This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration.  But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...
Post a Comment
Read more