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?
- Title: Funny Story
- Author: Emily Henry
- Publisher: Berkley
- Publication Date: April 23, 2024
- Genre: Romance
- Source: Digital ARC via Netgalley
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: Neglect, Toxic Parents
- Rating: ★★★★★
Emily Henry’s books often feel like a warm cup of tea, and a warm hug — which was exactly what I needed, when I picked up my ARC of Funny Story. Funny Story is simply put, to borrow one of my dear friend’s common phrases, delicious. It’s charming and witty, and to borrow from its title: quite funny. Funny Story takes place after children’s librarian, Daphne Vincent, is stranded in Waning Bay, Michigan, with no family or friends, and with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex, Miles, as a roommate. When Daphne receives a call from Peter, her ex-fiancé about her RSVP to his wedding, one thing leads to another and before she knows it, she’s telling Peter that she’s now dating Miles. Miles is more than happy to play along; getting back at his own ex in the process.
Unlike Emily Henry’s other books, Daphne isn’t so much struggling with millennial ennui, as she dubs it in People We Meet on Vacation. Instead, Daphne’s searching for what it means to create a home for herself, and how to rebuild a life after loss — like all other Emily Henry protagonists, except this loss is different. Funny Story is a story centered around loss in a different way; the loss of familiarity, and the mourning of expectations of someone. But the Emily Henry Adult Romance thematic staple of rebuilding your life after everything fell apart, and putting the pieces back together is still very much there.
If I’ve ever met a character that was the embodiment of Taylor Swift’s The Archer, Daphne would be it. “Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?” and “Can you see right through me?” seem to be the guiding questions in Daphne’s relationships. Over the course of Funny Story, Daphne’s reluctance to let people in — in part due to her own complicated relationship with her father, and also the end of her relationship with Peter — shifts and we get to watch Daphne as she builds a life for herself in Waning Bay. While initially her entire social circle revolves around Peter, she learns to grow to love Waning Bay and its residents, with the help of Miles. Beach Read affectionados will appreciate Miles and Daphne’s standing Sunday dates, where Miles is determined to introduce Daphne to his favorite spots in Waning Bay. Daphne starts to integrate herself into the community — not just through Miles’ tour, but also through her work. And as much as I loved reading about the broader Waning Bay community, I just as much loved the dynamic regulars at the library, and Daphne’s coworkers. Emily Henry does best, I think, when she focuses on a central couple, and peppers in a fun, smaller community — similar to Beach Read’s North Bear Shores, and Book Lovers’ Sunshine Falls. While I am every bit a city person, there’s something about Emily Henry’s books that make me think that I’d be happy moving to a tiny town.
As for Miles, I adored him. While he’ll never be my favorite Emily Henry love interest (no one can ever top Charlie Lastra, his snark, his organized lists, and his beautiful rent stabilized New York City apartment), he’s just so charming that I couldn’t help but love him. I loved how Daphne and Miles started out as reluctant roommates, then became unwavering friends. No matter the underlying tension between the two of them, they always had each other’s best interests at heart, and were friends before anything else.
I absolutely adored Funny Story — ranking it just below my top two favorite Emily Henry’s, Book Lovers and Beach Read, respectively. But then again, there’s no such thing as a bad Emily Henry, is there? I couldn’t recommend it more highly, and will definitely be revisiting it come publication day!
Links for Funny Story: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop
