Description

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer 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?

(Source: Goodreads)

Review

Okay! So, the plot of this book is a bit complex, but it sounds great, doesn’t it? The story revolves around Daphne, whose fiancé tells her he is in love with Petra, his childhood best friend. Daphne needs a place to stay, so she ends up staying with Petra’s ex, Miles, and they ultimately decide to fake date.

This story has many tropes, including fake dating, friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, and forced proximity. This sometimes makes it feel very rom-com, but a lot of substance is also thrown into the mix.

Honestly, substance is what I enjoyed the most in “Funny Story.” The character development of both Daphne and Miles was quite good, and there was a lot of focus on family dynamics. I listened intently during these moments and related to certain aspects of their histories. Honestly, I also loved the readathon planning portions because I was planning my readathon at the time. So, I think book lovers will enjoy the book-loving aspects! Unfortunately, I admit that the book dragged for me at times, particularly in the middle portion, and I felt like the tone of the narration was sometimes a bit flat. Perhaps it’s just my preference, but I was hoping for more vibrancy in the narrative tone of voice.

While it’s not my favourite EH novel (that goes to “People We Meet on Vacation!”), it’s still a great read, and the ending was pretty satisfying. Overall, I enjoyed this book by Emily Henry! Many romance readers will be happy to have another EH book, and if you’ve enjoyed her previous books, this is a great one to add to your library.

Content Warnings

This Book in Three Words

Very. Cute. Story.

Values/Themes

• opening oneself to love
• family
• finding oneself

Favourite Part

I enjoyed listening to their backstories. Also, being Portuguese-Canadian, I enjoyed the pastéis de nata reference! And yes, Daphne, is correct — Portugal does have beautiful beaches!

Feelings

• emotional
• hopeful
• reflective

Overall Rating

Numerical Rating: 3.5 stars

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

QOTD: Have you read Emily Henry’s novels? What’s your favourite? Let us know!

The writing of this review was edited/enhanced using Grammarly AI.