Book Details:
Author: Emily Henry
Series: Standalone
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Chicklit, Adult
Page Count: 388 pages
Publisher: Penguin
Published: April 25, 2023
Blurb:
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Except, now they don't.
They broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone.
Which is how they end up sharing a bedroom at the cottage that has been their yearly getaway with their best friends for the past decade. For one glorious week they leave behind their lives, drink far too much wine and soak up the sea air with their favourite people.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth. The cottage is for sale so this is the last time they'll all be together here and they can't bear to break their friends' hearts. So, they'll fake it for one more week.
It's a flawless plan (if you look at it through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses).
But how can you pretend to be in love with someone - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best?
Review:
Rating: ★★★
On 3rd November, I got an e-mail out of NOWHERE that went something like this-
Hello lovely reader,
We’re popping into your inbox with an early Christmas present . . . the new novel from Emily Henry on NetGalley!
Because you read and enjoyed Book Lovers by Emily Henry, we thought you would like early access to Happy Place before anyone else.
!!!!A NEW EMILY HENRY BOOK AND I AM GETTING EARLY ACCESS!!!!
(Needless to say, I bragged about it to my besties)
I started reading it the very night and finished it the very next day(4th Nov) and it was...well...underwhelming.
I loved the characters- It felt like Emily Henry cherry picked some of my traits and then liberally spread it among the characters. I related to at least one trait of every single character of the main friends group. Harriet, my darling darling Doctor, is the character who I felt like was this vision from future for me as a medical aspirant. The things she was facing/agonizing over were the very things that me and my besties (who are medical aspirants) have discussed and worried about.
It was as if these characters were written just for me.
The writing is as good as always. EH, you are really one of the best!!!!
So, why rate it 3 stars?
...Because I disliked it more than I liked it...
It was as if this book had all the ingredients it needed to potentially surpass Book Lovers as my fav EH book but the finished product didn't pass my taste test. Throughout the duration of reading, I was unsure about its rating even though the characters felt so relatable.
When I first read the synopsis, I had pictured a sorta plot that Happy Place gave to me only in bits and pieces-- Maybe this book just isn't for me or Maybe I'm not the right reader for this book
My Ranking so far(16/11/2022):-
Book Lovers > Beach Read > Happy Place > People We Meet on Vacation
Final Thoughts:
