The best Emily Henry yet, 5 stars. From the outset I immediately felt connected to the characters, Emily does a fantastic job of writing people who are somehow simultaneously aspirational but also very real and relatable.

I think the reason this book in particular stood out to me were actually the other themes covered outside of the romance (though that was also fabulously done). You could feel the genuine passion and love for books throughout, and it was really refreshing that female friendships were prioritised, almost more so than the romance, which was the cherry on top.

I stared at the last page with tears in my eyes for longer than I'd care to admit. I think I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.

Miles and Daphne are thrown together after experiencing heartbreak. Daphne learns to strike out on her own and escape the past of her ex. Lots of romantic tension and an emotional read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy!
I was very excited to get access as I LOVE Emily Henry’s previous work - apart from the last one (don’t hate me, but I really didn’t like it and would have never guessed it was written by EH) - but despite not liking Happy Place, I was intrigued to see how I liked this one and was optimistic that she would be back on form!

Daphne has been with Peter for years, they moved to a nice house and are engaged and she thinks everything is going fine until Peter comes back from his Stag and breaks it all off with her for his childhood best friend Petra.
This leaves Daphne with no home, no happy ever after and very alone, however there is another person feeling the exact same…
Petra was not single and so she also dumped her boyfriend Miles, who now happens to need a roommate.
Both wallowing in their sadness, they get drunk after receiving wedding invites from Peter & Petra and have the great idea to RSVP yes. Peter calls to reassure Daph she doesn’t have to come, especially as she’ll be alone and angrily decides to tell him she won’t be alone she’ll bring her boyfriend who’s also invited: Miles.
Cue the faking dating & close proximity…

It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s hot, it’s charming, it’s EH! Maybe not as steamy as previous books, but I know some people prefer that!
I’m just so happy I got to enjoy this one! I knew EH wouldn’t let me down 2x in a row!
I really liked it, lovely story line, pace & characters too!
And I managed to read it in 24hours (possibly motivated to get book 15 of January completed) but I did throughly enjoy reading this one!

I read Emily Henry’s latest book, Funny Story, super quickly. It was engaging, as the rest of her work usually is, but I felt like it didn’t have the spark that usually characterises her work. It plays on common romcom tropes - the protagonist’s fiancé leaves her for another woman, and she falls for the other woman’s ex. Would recommend for an easy, beach read, but it wasn’t my favourite of Henry’s works. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

It was such a treat to receive an email to say that I had been sent an early copy of Emily Henry's latest book, Funny Story. This was one of my most-anticipated titled for this spring and, had the publisher not kindly sent a copy, I would certainly have pre-ordered it since Emily Henry has become one of a select group of "auto-buy" authors whose work I will always look out for and get hold of as soon as possible. This brings with it a certain amount of pressure for the book to live up to my high expectations, but I'm pleased to say that Emily Henry has always delivered.

Funny Story starts with an ending: an abrupt break-up places our protagonist in pretty unusual circumstances and the reader is plunged straight into a compelling plot. Although this is a love story, with many of the tropes and features readers have come to expect, I also appreciated the insights into family and friendship and finding one's purpose and identity as an individual. What I particularly like about all of Emily Henry's novels is her depiction of the wider community, with a fully fledged cast of loveable and sometimes quirky characters.

I'd highly recommend this for readers looking for a pick-me-up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance copy of Funny Story in exchange for an honest review.

Ooh I was ridiculously excited when I saw the email for Funny Story in my mailbox!

So far I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Emily Henry. She never fails to write a story that engages me. Her characters have so much depth and her writing style is perfect for me as a reader.

Funny Story is about Daphne and Miles, two people who are very different but have one awful thing in common: their significant others have realised they are more than just childhood best friends. Suddenly Daphne finds herself homeless and living in Miles’ spare room. Despite having little in common, the pair build up a friendship and a plan on how to deal with their current situation, which just so happens to involve some fake dating.

As with most of Emily’s books, Funny Story is about relationships and how they shape your future and the person you become. It’s a fake dating romance with a found family that features brilliant main characters both heavily influenced by their childhoods and their relationships with their parents.

I loved both Miles and Daphne but I have to say, Miles stole the show for me. What an absolute gem of a man. He is genuine and caring and I could not love him more. We need more people like Miles in the world!

I’m keeping my review spoiler-free so I’ll leave it there but Emily is one of my favourite authors and I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next as it’s sure to be brilliant.

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (rounded up)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Viking Books UK for my early copy.

This was another wonderful Emily Henry romance story. I love the worlds she creates with vivid imagery. I can picture the beautiful scenery in which Miles and Daphne fall in love. I was rooting for these two the entire time. Their love story developed so naturally. I would highly recommend.

I’m not sure at this point if Emily Henry’s odd-numbered adult romances being better than her even-numbered ones is a real thing or just… some kind of psychological effect that numbering has on me because I’ve enjoyed her odd-numbered ones more consistently. Anyway, all this is leading up to the following: maybe this phenomenon is real. Funny Story joins Beach Read and Book Lovers as being the superior Emily Henry books in my eyes.

The start to this one is quite a bit messier than any previous of her romances (which, looking back on the other four, is quite impressive). That is to say, both the protagonist and love interest feel less put together than in previous books. I don’t know quite how to explain it further than that so I hope it’s clear enough, but what I’m driving at here is that I loved that mess. Add into that the sheer pettiness of Daphne and Miles’s campaign to post misleading photos together to get some form of revenge over their ex-fiance(e)s? So, messy.

At this point, I’m not sure I have much more to say regarding things like Emily Henry’s writing, or plots, or just… the books in general. I knew what I was getting into and I knew that I would like it. My only real worry would be how would the third-act break-up land for me (since Henry has a… strong propensity, let’s say, for inserting those). The worst so far for me has been in People We Meet on Vacation (a fact I know I’ve mentioned before), so at this point all I really ask is that it makes sense based on characters’ established motivations, pasts, and personalities. Here it did (although I maintain they’d talked things through just a bit much beforehand, so it almost toppled over into are you kidding territory).

I’ve probably been circling around the point up until now, so let’s get to it: the characters. As I said, they’re noticeably messier and less put together from the very beginning than earlier Emily Henry characters and I loved that. Along with the fact that they were petty and vindictive over what their respective fiance(e)s had done to them? Sign me up! And I liked that they balanced one another out in an opposites attract kind of way, almost harkening back to January and Gus and Beach Read for me (speaking of, I did feel a sudden urge to reread that and Book Lovers the moment I put this one down. I have, thus far, resisted).

To conclude, though, I think if you’re already an Emily Henry fan you’ll enjoy this just as much as the previous ones (and maybe it too will confirm your suspicions that the odd-numbered books just have something else in them). If you’re not, well you may just find it much of a muchness… but (to me) that’s in a good way.

I am not a regular reader of romance - not in a snobby way, but I generally don't find that it appeals to me. Emily Henry is very much the exception to this: after discovering her via a Netgalley arc of Book Lovers, I have avidly kept up with her new releases.

Funny Story has what I now know is a classic Henry set-up: throw two unlikely people together into a situation where they have to spend a lot of time together and romance (and sexytimes) ensue. In this case, the odd couple are librarian Daphne - newly dumped by her fiancée, Peter - and Miles - the now ex-boyfriend of the woman Peter has just left Daphne for. Forced by circumstances to live together, what ensues is a fairly predictable but nonetheless enormously enjoyable 'they were roommates!' romance.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. Emily Henry has done it yet again. Easily 5/5 stars, and I would recommend to absolutely anyone. I love her writing style, the characters and the way the plot unravelled. Yet again, absolutely loved it and cannot wait for her next book.

Emily Henry does it again. I’ve loved every single one of her books, each one better than the last, and Funny Story is no exception.

First, I want to thank EH’s team for the great honour of getting to be one of the first people to read this book. I am, once again, forever indebted to you for your kindness.

Every time I pick up a new one of Emily’s books, I’m immediately thinking ‘Wow, this is my new favourite book’. And that statement never fails to be true.

Daphne and Miles’ story is one for the ages. It’s always kind of crazy to me how EH manages to give relationships so many layers. They weren’t only falling in love, they were also becoming integral parts of each other’s lives all while finding love in the most important way; through friendship.
I loved that they grew together and I’m eternally grateful that they were a bit older but not too ‘adulty’, if that makes sense to anyone but me.
It’s also amazing that their heartbreaks and their love for each other wasn’t the main part at all times. It was finding friendship and companionship in other people as well. They taught each other to need and appreciate everyone in their lives, not just each other. I think it’s so important and very under-represented in many other books.

Anyway;
Emily, you truly are the one true love of my life. Whatever you write is gold in my eyes. I open one of your books and I’m immediately transported into a world of communication and love. Of understanding and problem solving. I wish the men you write were real because then I could still believe in love. Actually, scratch that, because of you I still believe in love. Thank you. I will appreciate you until my lungs give out and my heart stops beating.

Emily Henry does it again with a delightful romance, telling the story of two spurned lovers who actually end up falling for one another, but their path is hardly strewn with petals… Such a good read!

In my opinion, Emily Henry has discovered the secret to RomComs, because I enjoy it every time and then forget about it without any fuss. I guess that will be the case this time, too, and the next time I happen to request the ARC I will vaguely remember that I read almost everything she wrote.

Secondo me Emily Henry ha scoperto il segreto per le RomCom, perché ogni volta mi diverto e poi me lo dimentico senza patemi. Immagino che sará cosí anche stavolta e la prossima volta che mi capiterà di richiedere l'ARC mi ricorderò vagamente di aver letto quasi tutto quello che ha scritto.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Emily Henry once again delivered a perfect mix of romance, wit, fun and drama. I would say this is her best next to Book Lovers, I enjoyed it a lot!

"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.

Emily Henry keeps getting better! I don’t know how, but every new book I read from her elevates the emotional maturity. For one weekend, these characters were REAL for me. I love how she brings us in and gives us a romance you can feel as well as learn from. Miles is perfect. PERFECT. I say he keeps the beard!

This is now my favourite Emily Henry, don’t get me wrong I love all of them, but this one just felt like it had stepped it up a notch. I absolutely loved the plot, I loved the characters and how everything so perfectly fit together… I was so incredibly lucky to get an advanced copy (thank you Netgalley and Penguin!!)

I was incredibly lucky to have received a digital ARC of this book, and I want to start off by saying that I can’t wait until this novel is released into the world. Henry is back at it with her signature wit, emotional intelligence, and complex and loveable characters. This is a friends to lovers/opposites attract romance that I literally devoured within the day.

One thing about Henry’s writing style that amazes me is how each of her books feels totally unique, but also strikingly similar. It’s a testament to her talent and dedication to her craft that I just know that every single book I pick up by her is going to live in my mind and heart for the foreseeable future.

Henry navigates specific emotional and psychological challenges in this novel which deeply flesh out her characters into three-dimensional people (something which I don’t believe is done often enough in romance novels). Additionally, her characters’ chemistry is incredibly well-written. As with her previous novels, I loved the way that she also focused on her main characters’ platonic relationships, as well as their hobbies and passions.

If I had to complain about this book, I would honestly say that I wished it was longer. I was slightly disappointed by the pace at which I finished this, and I would have loved to have seen a couple more nuanced complications or scenes to really flesh out the narrative.

Overall, this one is up there with the rest of Henry’s amazing novels, and I’d recommend it to all fiction and romance readers. Check TWs before reading, I rated this book 4.5/5 stars.

I’ve been an Emily Henry super fan from the start! This might just be her best work. A story with everything you want and more. I couldn’t out this down! Imagine this as a series or film? Brilliant.