Happy Place

"I got rid of every single piece of you, like that would make a difference, like I could cut you out of me, and instead, I just see everywhere you're supposed to be." 👏Emily.👏 Henry. 👏 Yall. 👏 I would first like to thank the author for yet another marvelous masterpiece. And dare I say it... my favorite of hers yet?? Every year around this time, I anxiously await Henry's latest book to drop. I normally hold off and read it on vacation, but hearing all the good things about this book and knowing it had all my favorite tropes...second chance, friends to lovers, AND a dual timeline...I knew I couldn't wait. And I'm so glad I didn't. I don't think I would have been able to focus on it as well if I was on the beach distracted by other things around me. This book deserved and was more appreciated by reading it in the quiet setting of my home. I was immersed in the words from page one. I zoned out and tuned out everything around me. I couldn't get enough of it. I will say I believe Henry's covers are always a little misleading (I love them don't get me wrong! They are stunning.) But they look like they'll be superficial fluff, an easy breezy romance, but they are so much more than that, or at least this one was for me. It's her most emotional book yet. I think Emily described it best in the book: "Breathless happy-sad." That exactly how I felt while reading this book. I had butterflies. I had angst and heart break. But I also had hope. The dual timeline was the perfect execution to give us these emotions. You see what Wyn and Harriet once had and you want them to find that again with one another so bad! 🥺 The setting was perfect. A beach cottage in Maine. Swoon. The characters were amazing. Every one of the characters had layers and depth with struggles and emotions. You felt like you were apart of that friend group and knew them all so well. But my favorite part, which is always my favorite part of Emily Henry's books, was the witty banter. Laugh out loud funny. I even enjoyed Wyn and Harriet's sarcastic jabs towards each other, which I've seen some people didn't appreciate. All of that to say, I loved it. I'm sad I flew through it in a day and will never have the moment I read this for the first time again and now I will be anxiously awaiting on Henry's next masterpiece this time next year. 💗

📚BOOK REVIEW📚 Happy Place by Emily Henry Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Spice level: 🌶️🌶️/3 Genres: Contemporary Romance Tropes: “only one bed”, fake dating, second chance romance, vacation with friends, dual timeline, found family, witty banter Harriet and Wyn met in college and have been the “perfect” couple ever since. At least according to everyone they know. They actually broke up five months ago, and still haven’t told their friends or family. When it comes time for their friend group to go on their yearly getaway, Harriet agrees because she doesn’t think Wyn is able to go. To her surprise, he shows up there as well. And because all their friends think they’re still together, they get put in the same room. This trip is supposed to be the group’s annual respite from the world, where they can leave their troubles behind and just have fun. When it becomes clear that everyone in the group is struggling with something just as big as Harriet and Wyn‘s breakup, they decide to keep it a secret and pretend to still be together. They were in love for years, how hard can it be to fake it for one week? Throughout the story, the reader gets to see bits of their past relationship and piece together what happened to cause their breakup (dual timeline). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I really enjoyed this one. It’s definitely different, and more emotional, than the author’s other books. The close friendships of the three main girls is really heartwarming, and their friend group dynamic reminds me a bit of my own friends. The emotions of close friends starting to become more distanced as their lives take them in different directions is definitely something most people can probably relate to, which is what makes this book so hard to put down. I really enjoyed the “mystery” kind of aspect of it, because the reader doesn’t know what caused their breakup until right towards the end. The witty banter between all of the characters is also super fun and entertaining. Overall, this was a great read. If you like contemporary romance that has a solid plot and emotional depth, then definitely check this one out.

“And I’m fading thinking, do something, babe, say something! Lose something, babe, risk something! Choose something, babe, I got nothing to believe unless you’re choosing me.” Taylor Swifts new song, You’re Losing Me, describes Happy Place so perfectly. • • Three best friends from college and their significant others are all best of friends. Every year, they get together for vacation. But this year, everything is changing, because Wyn and Harriet broke up. Except, they haven’t told their friends yet…. And now they’re stuck sharing a room, because they want to wait until after their vacation to break the news to their friend group. But in doing so they are only digging in the wounds of their painful breakup and slowly breaking each others hearts all over again. • • This book was painful to read, in the best possible way. It slowly shattered your heart in a million pieces, while working to mend it back together piece by piece. Let’s start with Wyn and Harriet’s relationship. Loved it. Their back and forth chemistry, the way they always have a funny response to each other, even after they broke up, was just so good. I am normally not a fan of alternating chapters between past and present, but in this book it just made you feel everything so much deeper. During the chapters in the past you felt the butterflies and all the swoony moments, and as it switched to present you were quickly reminded how painful it is to lose something you loved so much. Another aspect I loved so much was the friendship dynamics. A huge reoccurring theme throughout the book is how as you change through different stages of life, your friendship dynamics will change as well. It doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends, it just means you have to change the way you are friends. It was such a relatable aspect to the story. • • Even though this book was an extremely slow start, once I hit 65% I had waterworks flowing till the end of the book, and from 70% on? The book just really picks up with the drama. Once you get to the end, you completely understand the slow start, and how it played a roll in the final chapters.

Happy Place is the kind of romcom you would see in the aughts. A Maid in Manhattan or 27 Dresses. That is to say, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Happy Place. But it also breaks absolutely zero new ground. A beach read that doesn't pander down but also doesn't punch up, Happy Place is a serviceable read if you're looking for easy, fun reading this summer. The conceit of the story revolves around Harriet and Wyn who broke up but haven't told their closest friends. When their closest friends invite them to a beach week to say :so long" to an oft visited, but soon to be sold vacation home, Harriet and Wyn decide to pretend to still be together for the sake of their friends. It's a fun and silly premise, that is somehow sustained for 400 pages. It helps the reading is breezy. Without much effort, I ended up reading this in just two sittings. It's such a bingeable text. Most chapters are also fairly short (rarely more than 10 pages), so it's easy to pick up or read just one more chapter. The cast of characters here are charming enough. I can't say I was ever over-the-moon about any of them. They're not the immediately loveable bunch of this month's delightful release Imogen, Obviously. Instead, they're fine. Vaguely hipster-ish, but for lawyers, doctors and a Montana farm boy, they oddly congeal into the same symbiote. And rarely are you seeing a demonstration of their abilities or intellect other than them blatantly telling you that they're hard working, intelligent or (insert characteristic here). But I enjoyed their general antics, and their dialogue was interesting enough. If I had one word to describe Happy Place, it would be "fine." I never felt emotionally connected enough to the situation, but I was genuinely curious how they would finagle the more difficult moments of their relationship. The pace of the text, whether in present or past, always made me wonder what would befall our characters. Those looking for profundity or cleverness should probably look elsewhere. But those looking for the satisfying beach read or those looking to turn their brain off and just have fun will find plenty to enjoy here.

Happy Place by Emily Henry 4 stars Spice: 🔥🔥/5 I was not expecting to be as emotional as I was reading the Happy Place by Emily Henry. My emotions overtook me multiple times with reading Wyn and Harriet’s journey. My chest physically hurt at times with the hurt and angst that Harriet was feeling during the present timeline. The past timeline helped develop the relationship, showcase their chemistry, and their connection immensely. How their friendship bloomed into a relationship that was mixed in with this group of friends that were like family. Everyone was so worried about their relationship ruining their large friendship, rightly so. The Happy Place was surprisingly kind of sad, but poignant, because we all have those happy places in our lives that make us feel nostalgic. This cottage in Maine where this group went to yearly was that Happy Place for Harriet. She was doing everything in her power to keep it. The pace was slow, but I think helped with fleshing out all the dynamics in all the friendships. I can understand how someone else might find it annoying, but I kind of enjoyed really getting into the nitty gritty of their relationships with dialogue, inside jokes, and heartfelt friendships. The main plot was the love story between Wyn and Harriet, but I think another secondary plot line of the story was the love these friends had for each other for years. How some friends really become family, and what effort you must take to nurture those friendships. A lot of good lessons and messages given to us by the wonderful Emily Henry. I was pumped for this book. Did I love it as much as Book Lovers, no. I don’t think anything can bypass Book Lovers for me. With that said, this book brought me to emotional levels and laughter with the witty dialogue and nostalgic feels. #avidreaderbookblog #readingislife #booklover #bookrecommendations #bookaddict #bookaddiction #bookworm #angst #heartfelt #angsty #emotional #secondchance #secondchanceromance #romancebookstagram #romancebookstagrammer #romanceaddiction #romancebooks #chemistry #emotion #emilyhenry #emilyhenrybooks #emilyhenryauthor

Told in dual timelines: a current timeline where a group of friends are taking their annual trip to a small town in Maine. Harriet has recently gone through a breakup (her ex, Wyn, being one of the friends on the trip) but they haven’t told the friends yet about the split. So during the trip they get sucked into faking that they are still together. The other timeline tells the story of how Harriet & Wyn met and fell in love. Emily Henry can tell a story. It wasn’t the most unique bones and of course there were things that were predictable but this story immediately had me by the throat. I kind of couldn’t function all day because I couldn’t put this down. How I could immediately be nostalgic for characters I didn't know yet was beyond me. These two are very quickly drawn to each other and so in tune with each other, yet somehow they are very bad at communicating their vulnerability with one another. Honestly. I could relate to Harriet so much with her insecurities and how she handles stress in a relationship. Wyn was not who I expected at first and I enjoyed the way his character unfolded. He was very insecure about his lack of bookish smarts and his small town upbringing. His feeling of not being good enough for Harriet and not knowing what to do with his life led us to watch the "noble idiot" play out in real time and it was heartbreaking. Harriet’s love for Wyn was just dripping off the pages. It was so clear right from the start that all she wanted was to love him her whole life. It was also so sweet and heartbreaking. This book just felt like EH’s most romantic. Full of sweet love declarations, quiet moments, fierce attraction, and witty banter. Harriet describes Wyn’s childhood room as a museum dedicated to her favorite subject. Wyn tells Harriet he didn’t understand why he went to college but looking back maybe it was so he could find her. Life happens after college, there’s big and little things that lead to them losing each other. Growing pains in a time of life when they were just trying to figure themselves out. There is a degree of miscommunication but it comes from a real and human place. I really was rooting for these two to find a way to be honest with each other. This is a story about love and a story about finding your happiness and I freaking loved that Harriet’s happy place was being with Wyn. Especially because we see that from her in the whole book. She loved him fiercely. It was such a departure from the women’s lit/romance novels of the day and refreshing. Maybe she doesn’t need a man, but this was the man she wanted. I finished this and then immediately wanted to start it over again (and that is not a thing I ever do!)

I read this in one day because Emily Henry is that kind of author. I'm going to think about this book for a long time, but I'll try to put down my thoughts here. It's one of those angsty romance books where I worried almost the entire book that the story would not have a HEA (I mean, gut-wrenching, want to throw up worry). And while the romance part was great because Harriet and Wyn are one of the best couples ever, this is also very much a story of friendship, family, and expectations. Despite new romances and life changes, Harriet and her two college roommates stay best friends. Harriet means to become a brain surgeon because that's what her family expects. Wyn feels he doesn't live up to what his two sisters and friends are doing with their lives. The story is first-person from Harriet's POV and flashes back and forth from the present - their annual vacation at a Maine cottage - to their college and post-degree lives. It's sometimes frustrating not to get the others' POV, especially Wyn, but this also keeps you reading frantically to see what happens next. The reader knows from almost the beginning that Harriet and Wyn have ended their engagement but is hiding it from their friends. Emily Henry never disappoints, but I think Happy Place might be my favorite of her books so far. The writing is beautiful, and every word has meaning to the story. She perfectly evokes the Maine seacoast's setting (yes, I live there) through sight, smell, touch, and sound. I can't recommend this book enough.

Like this book. Started a little slow but picked up. I laughed and cried during this book.

Good book

This book was simultaneously gut-wrenching and heart warming. I adored reading a love story about two people who had loved each other so wholly for such a long time. I did NOT adore the pain and anguish of feeling Harriet wonder how she'd lost it. Add to that beautiful, complex friendships, the constant banter and the very relatable theme of not knowing who the f*** you actually are... Wow. This book really scratched an itch in my brain that I didn't even know was there.

Toll geschrieben, gutes Englisch

✨ In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you. ✨ Somehow, Emily Henry has the ability to absolutely and completely destroy me in the best possible way. Happy Place is everything. I cried. I sobbed. I love Harriet and Wyn so much. My heart broke and my heart healed. I put this off for the longest time because I knew it was second chance as they’d broken up (and apparently I have an aversion to that). But Happy Place was everything and more, and my heart couldn’t take it. To say I adore Emily Henry’s writing would not even begin to capture just how much her stories and characters mean to me. There is so much depth to Harriet and Wyn. They are characters who are so flawed but it’s so them, and they are fuelled by who they are and their insecurities, which is something I love most about Emily’s characters—they’re real, they’re relatable, they’re authentic. I love real characters, who have their flaws, their hangups, and these elements are the foundation of who these characters are, what motivates them, drives them, fuels them. And while I get that some people might not like their characters having flaws, but no one is perfect, we are all unique and have our own histories and personalities that come out as we live, and this is the beautiful case for Harriet and Wyn. But one thing is clear, and that is how impossible it is for Harriet and Wyn not to be together. Again, Emily’s writing captivates you, transporting you into her world where you live amongst her characters and in their lives. I think that’s the power of Emily’s writing, it’s so beautiful, so stunning, you can’t help but be a part of the narrative, and it’s safe to say that this is a story I’ll never forget. A gorgeous second chance romance that will stay on my mind forever. But Happy Place is a story of love and loss and friendships and massive life events. I connected so deeply to Happy Place and Harriet and that’s so special to me.

It was delivered very fast and in perfect condition