Funny Story by Emily Henry
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?
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge
The Reason
It’s Emily Henry, of course I had to read it! And of course I waited for the audiobook because it’s Julia Whelan narrating it!
The Quotes
“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.”
“It’s a library, Daphne. If you can’t be a human here, where can you?”
“I’ve been reading since I was six. I’m getting pretty good.”
“You can’t untell someone your secrets. You can’t unsay those delicate truths once you learn you can’t trust the person you handed them to.”
“I believe you should and will have everything you’ve ever wanted, if you’re not too scared to go after it.”
The Narrator
Julia Whelan. She’s the perfect narrator for this book. I loved her interpretation of it and I’m just awed by her voice acting. The inflections and emotions that went into every single scene of the book was just perfect. I felt every feeling!
My Thoughts
This might be one of my favorite Emily Henry books! I love the jokes and the chemistry between the two MCs and I literally laughed out loud several times! I read this book with my book club buddies – it wasn’t a buddy read, we all just happened to get the book at around the same time, and it was so fun to see everyone reacting to and gushing about the book.
My Feels
It was just a plethora of feelings. Julia Whelan’s narration definitely did help with making me feel like I was right there and witnessing everything Daphne was going through; the good and the bad, and all the funny parts as well. It’s just so perfect and I loved it.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
