Happy Place by Emily Henry

Book Review May 14, 2024

My review

4/5 stars

The premise of this story was quite entertaining, a version of forced proximity that is slightly more on the realistic spectrum than others I have read. Harriet and Wyn had an obvious connection from the start that was written in such a way that exploiting it felt very natural. The build up of their relationship was cleverly interspersed with the unfolding of their breakup.

Their relationship, while believable, fell a little short for me, however. The reason for their break-up felt contrived and untrue to the romance that we were supposed to have been championing throughout the book. While it's true that life can often get in the way of many things, this level of miscommunication in a seemingly stable and passionate long-term relationship felt a step too far.

I liked the undercurrent of friendship that ran throughout the story, and found myself really investing in the subplot that explored how school friendships develop into something that makes sense for adults. The relationships of the friends were less easy to invest in, but made for decent filler.

Fun, light, romantic, layered and interesting. A good read overall.

Book blurb

Two exes. One pact.
Could this holiday change everything?

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world.

Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone.

But the cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be here together. They can't bear to break their best friends' hearts so they'll fake it for one more week.

But how can you pretend to be in love - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best?