Title: Funny Story

Author: Emily Henry

Genre: Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Why I read it: Lit Happens Book Club pick for April

Funny Story by Emily Henry has been on the book club’s book selection list for months, and it finally got its moment to shine. Because of all the hype I saw online, my expectations could not have been higher. The EmHen super fans of bookstagram told me this was a winner, even though it’s not her most beloved title (that honor is highly contested online, though). 

The story opens with Daphne getting dumped by her fiancé, Peter, and then she immediately moving in with Miles, who just so happens to be the ex of Peter’s new boo, Petra. Talk about complicated living arrangements. From there, chaos (and romance) ensues, as Daphne grapples with her newfound singledom and makes the most of the situation she finds herself in. 

I’ll cut right to the chase – it’s cute, no doubt, and it kept my interest. That alone brings it to the top of the rating scale. And as far as writing style goes, Emily Henry and I seem to mesh well, as I found myself folding into the characters quite seamlessly. I doubt this will be the last of her books I’ll read. 

Where things started to fall apart (for me) was the near-constant moaning over food. We get it, Daphne, you like to eat. But for my gosh, no need to make a scene about it (she seriously moaned over nearly every bit of food she put in her mouth). 

Then there was the author’s choice of using the word “trapezius” not once, but twice (and maybe even a third time?). Maybe it’s because I hardly ever encounter that word, but it took me right out of the story and made me roll my eyes a smidge.

I did think it was super cute that the chapters were accompanied by a countdown that progressed throughout the book to show how Daphne’s attitude toward her situation was changing. I love a good countdown, and I thought this was a nice touch. A bit on the nose to make sure the reader knew what was going on, but it’s a romance. I expected a little bit of cheesiness. 

I thought the more sensual scenes were tastefully done, and I appreciate a good slow burn. HOWEVER, one major complaint was the continuity error during the much-anticipated hook up in the back third of the book (sorry if this is a spoiler, but come on, it’s a romance). We go from him very obviously eating her out to then, a few sentences later, taking her underwear off. Now, I’m no prude, and I know there are ways to accomplish this, but I read this scene multiple times (for science) and it was bugging the crap out of me that there was no additional explanation for this sequence of events. It brought me out of the story and kind of ruined the moment, but I think that was a “just me” problem because the rest of the book club either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. 

Surface-level stuff aside, I would be remiss if I didn’t give props to Emily Henry’s depiction of the importance of female friendships throughout the book. I didn’t expect to get deeply into underlying themes, but I was very appreciative of how she navigated this topic throughout Daphne’s story. First, in the progression of her relationship with her mother, then Daphne’s struggle to grapple with the loss of her friendships due to her relationship failing, then her building back relationships with her coworkers (found family), to ultimately learning her lesson of not letting fancy new romances drive a wedge between you and your friends. The trope (that, unfortunately, many of us can relate to) of getting swept up in the excitement of a new relationship and leaving your friends in the dust was directly discussed, and I appreciated the author for calling so much attention to it. One (minor) complaint, though, Daphne is speaking of her strained relationship with Sadie (her former best friend) and states, “Sadie was the closest to that I ever got, but she’d grown up with brothers and always had more guy friends than girls. She was talkative and funny, but never open about things like this.” As someone who grew up with brothers who has managed to have flourishing female friendships, this rubbed me a bit the wrong way, as it seemed a little too critical and dismissive of Sadie. A redemption arc would have been nice here, but I can let it slide.

The ending was adorable and made me smile, as I love a good “full circle” moment. But, as someone put it in our book club discussion, as an avid reader of thrillers, I kept waiting for some big twist or dramatic moment, but it never came. That’s no fault of the author, though. That’s just me not being able to separate genres in my head and create realistic expectations. 

Last, but not least, I have to mention the floor plan debacle. I did not notice this AT ALL, but apparently, multiple people in our book club found the description of the floor plan to be confusing. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but there was great discussion about whether the apartment had two bathrooms or just one, and where exactly the living room was located (Was it down the hall? Off the kitchen? Both?). If anyone out there has drawn a map, please let me know, because I am dying to figure out this mystery.

General consensus was that we all enjoyed the book, even though there were a few minor annoyances here and there. Four stars from me!

TL;DR: Would I recommend it to a friend? Absolutely! It’s super cute and, aside from things that most readers probably don’t care about, it’s a great read.