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Happy Place

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Happy Place Hardcover – April 25, 2023

by Emily Henry (Author)

4.2 83,416 ratings

Editors' pick Best Books of the Year 2023

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INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

“The beach-read master hooks us again."—People

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by BuzzFeed ∙ Paste Magazine ∙ Elle ∙ Southern Living ∙ SheReads ∙ Culturess ∙ Medium ∙ Her Campus ∙ Readers Digest ∙ Zibby Mag and more!

A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Berkley
Publication date

April 25, 2023
Dimensions

6.22 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches
ISBN-10

0593441273
ISBN-13

978-0593441275
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Get to know this book

What's it about?
A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel.
Popular highlight
My best friends taught me a new kind of quiet, the peaceful stillness of knowing one another so well you don’t need to fill the space. And a new kind of loud: noise as a celebration, as the overflow of joy at being alive, here, now.
2,355 Kindle readers highlighted this
Popular highlight
“No,” he says quietly. “In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you.”
1,548 Kindle readers highlighted this
Popular highlight
He’s become my best friend the way the others did: bit by bit, sand passing through an hourglass so slowly, it’s impossible to pin down the moment it happens. When suddenly more of my heart belongs to him than doesn’t, and I know I’ll never get a single grain back. He’s a golden boy. I’m a girl whose life has been drawn in shades of gray. I try not to love him. I really try.
1,195 Kindle readers highlighted this

From the Publisher

There are some places you fall in love with over and over again.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of May 2023: Emily Henry does it again with not only a beautiful, vibrant cover, but an immersive storyline to match. One of the things I love most about Henry’s writing is the sarcastic wit she brings to her characters. There is no shortage of snappy responses and quick-witted one-liners that make these reads so much fun. More than your standard second-chance love romance, Happy Place stands out from Henry’s other novels by not only focusing on the relationship between Harriet and Wyn—the couple who haven’t told their friends about their breakup—but also the dynamic between their close-knit circle of long-time friends. Harriet and Wyn are not the only ones who seem to be holding on to a secret—when the group gathers for their annual vacation, everyone can sense the energy is not quite right. This is more than a rom-com—it is about the beauty, pain, and joy that comes with biological families, chosen families, growing up and apart, and how as adults we handle and deal with this thing called life. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor

Review

"Henry's new novel is a slow-burn romance and an ode to the chosen family we need when everything gets too complicated...The beach-read master hooks us again."
—People

“Blur[s] the lines between women’s and literary-leaning commercial fiction, departing from the fantasy spaces of bodice rippers and misty moors to depict a world that looks a lot more like, well, our own…Henry operates at the top of her—and her readers’—intelligence, telling sophisticated, heartfelt stories that are conscious of the romantic comedy conventions without being overly meta about them…Henry’s dedicated readers know what to expect: wit, charm and heart, satisfying to the last page.”
—The Washington Post

“With tender insight and quick wit, Henry delivers prosecco and sea breezes alongside startling mediations on friendship, loss, and adulthood.”
—Oprah Quarterly

"Just in time for summer, Henry's latest rom-com is a charming, heartwarming read about second-chance romance."
—USA Today

“Here she is at last, a reigning queen of beach reads…Henry returns with another of her surefire-hit romantic comedies this spring, this one about a forced-proximity fake relationship…Expect to see it on vacationers’ Instagram feeds all summer long, and deservedly so.”
—Elle

“For the last couple of years, Emily Henry has been the queen of romance novels, and that is not changing any time soon.”
—Cosmopolitan

“The queen of beach reads."
—The Hollywood Reporter

"Another knock-out from the champ. The woman doesn't miss."
—Taylor Jenkins-Reid

"Emily Henry has done it again! Happy Place is a dazzling, poignant love story about the people and places our hearts call home. Bursting with warmth and wit, this unforgettable romance is one more reason my happy place is an Emily Henry book."
—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and Meet Me at the Lake

“This has the makings of a rom-com classic.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This sexy and profoundly romantic novel will satisfy fans of best-selling Henry’s thrilling trademark mix of witty banter and intensely emotional storylines.”
—Library Journal(starred review)

“Henry's novels are sparkling bestsellers, and her newest will be an immense draw for her fans and every reader looking for a stellar romance.”
—Booklist (starred review)

"As always, Henry’s dialogue is sparkling and the banter between characters is snappy and hilarious. Wyn and Harriet’s relationship, shown both in the past and the present, feels achingly real. Their breakup, as well as their complicated relationships with their own families, adds a twinge of melancholy, as do the relatable growing pains of a group of friends whose lives are taking them in different directions. A wistfully nostalgic look at endings, beginnings, and loving the people who will always have your back.”
—Kirkus

“Happy Place proves that Henry is a writer with “no skips,” her oeuvre as expertly crafted as a perfect summer playlist.”
—Bookpage(starred review)

"If you're looking for a magical second-chance romance that will make your heart ache and read compulsively to find out what happened to the perfect couple (and whether they'll get their happily ever after), then Happy Place is sure to keep you up all night!"
—The Nerd Daily

"...no matter how large your TBR list is, Happy Place by Emily Henry needs to be on it."
—The Everygirl

"Alternating between past and present, Henry crafts a tender, bittersweet story about the bonds that help define us and the inevitability of change."
—The Washington Independent Review of Books

About the Author

Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @emilyhenrywrites.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

Happy Place

Knott's Harbor, Maine

A cottage on the rocky shoreline, with knotty pine floorboards and windows that are nearly always open. The smell of evergreens and brine wafting in on the breeze, and white linen drapes lifting in a lazy dance. The burble of a coffee maker, and that first deep pull of cold ocean air as we step out onto the flagstone patio, steaming mugs in hand.

My friends: willowy, honey-haired Sabrina and wisp of a waif Cleo, with her tiny silver septum piercing and dip-dyed box braids. My two favorite people on the planet since our freshman year at Mattingly College.

It still boggles my mind that we didn't know one another before that, that a stodgy housing committee in Vermont matched the three of us up. The most important friendships in my life all came down to a decision made by strangers, chance. We used to joke that our living arrangement must be some government-funded experiment. On paper, we made no sense.

Sabrina was a born-and-raised Manhattan heiress whose wardrobe was pure Audrey Hepburn and whose bookshelves were stuffed with Stephen King. Cleo was the painter daughter of a semi-famous music producer and an outright famous essayist. She'd grown up in New Orleans and showed up at Mattingly in paint-splattered overalls and vintage Doc Martens.

And me, a girl from southern Indiana, the daughter of a teacher and a dentist's receptionist, at Mattingly because the tiny, prestigious liberal arts school gave me the best financial aid, and that was important for a premed student who planned to spend the next decade in school.

By the end of our first night living together, Sabrina had us lined up on her bed watching Clueless on her laptop and eating a well-balanced mix of popcorn and gummy worms. By the end of the next week, she'd had custom shirts made for us, inspired by our very first inside joke.

Sabrina's read Virgin Who Can't Drive.

Mine read Virgin Who CAN Drive.

And Cleo's read Not a Virgin but Great Driver. We wore them all the time, just never outside the dorm. I loved our musty room in the rambling white-clapboard building. I loved wandering the fields and forest around campus with the two of them, loved that first day of fall when we could do our homework with our windows open, drinking spicy chai or decaf laced with maple syrup and smelling the leaves curling up and dropping from branches. I loved the nude painting of Sabrina and me that Cleo made for her final figure drawing class project, which she'd hung over our door so it was the last thing we saw on our way out to class, and the Polaroids we taped on either side of it, the three of us at parties and picnics and coffee shops in town.

I loved knowing that Cleo had been lost in her work whenever her braids were pulled into her neon-green scrunchie and her clothes smelled like turpentine. I loved how Sabrina's head would tip back on an outright cackle whenever she read something particularly terrifying and she'd kick her Grace Kelly loafers against the foot of her bed. I loved poring over my biology textbooks, running out of highlighter as I went because everything seemed so important, breaking to clean the room top to bottom whenever I got stuck on an assignment.

Eventually, the silence would always crack, and we'd end up giggling giddily over texts from Cleo's prospective new girlfriend, or outright shrieking as we hid behind our fingers from the slasher movie Sabrina had put on. We were loud. I'd never been loud before. I grew up in a quiet house, where shouting only ever happened when my sister came home with a questionable new piercing or a new love interest or both. The shouting always gave way to an even deeper silence after, and so I did my best to head the shouting off at the pass, because I hated the silence, felt every second of it as a kind of dread.

My best friends taught me a new kind of quiet, the peaceful stillness of knowing one another so well you don't need to fill the space. And a new kind of loud: noise as a celebration, as the overflow of joy at being alive, here, now.

I couldn't have imagined being any happier, loving anywhere else as much.

Not until Sabrina brought us here, to her family's summer home on the coast of Maine. Not until I met Wyn.

2

Real Life

Monday

Think of your happy place, the cool voice in my ear instructs.

Picture it. Glimmering blue washes across the backs of my eyes.

How does it smell? Wet rock, brine, butter sizzling in a deep fryer, and a spritz of lemon on the tip of my tongue.

What do you hear? Laughter, the slap of water against the bluffs, the hiss of the tide drawing back over sand and stone.

What can you feel? Sunlight, everywhere. Not just on my bare shoulders or the crown of my head but inside me too, the irresistible warmth that comes only from being in the exact right place with the exact right people.

Mid-descent, the plane gives another sideways jolt.

I stifle a yelp, my fingernails sinking into the armrests. I'm not a nervous flier, per se. But every time I come to this particular airport, I do so on a tiny plane that looks like it was made out of scrap metal and duct tape.

My guided meditation app has reached an inconvenient stretch of silence, so I repeat the prompt myself: Think of your happy place, Harriet.

I slide my window shade up. The vast, brilliant expanse of the sky makes my heart flutter, no imagination required. There are a handful of places, of memories, that I always come back to when I need to calm myself, but this place tops the charts.

It's psychosomatic, I'm sure, but suddenly I can smell it. I hear the echoey call of the circling gulls and feel the breeze riffle my hair. I taste ice-cold beer, ripe blueberries.

In mere minutes, after the longest year of my life, I'll be reunited with my favorite people in the world, in our favorite place in the world.

The plane's wheels clatter against the runway. Some passengers in the back burst into applause, and I yank out my earbuds, anxiety lifting off me like dandelion seeds. Beside me, the grizzled seatmate who'd snored through our death-defying flight blinks awake.

He looks at me from under a pair of curly white eyebrows and grunts, "Here for the Lobster Festival?"

"My best friends and I go every year," I say.

He nods.

"I haven't seen them since last summer," I add.

He harrumphs.

"We all went to school together, but we live in different places now, so it's hard to get our schedules to line up."

The unimpressed look in his eye amounts to I asked one yes or no question.

Ordinarily, I would consider myself to be a superb seatmate. I'm more likely to get a bladder infection than to ask a person to get up so I can use the lavatory. Ordinarily, I don't even wake someone up if they're asleep on my shoulder, drooling down my chest.

I've held strangers' babies and farty therapy dogs for them. I've pulled out my earbuds to oblige middle-aged men who will perish if they can't share their life stories, and I've flagged down flight attendants for paper bags when the post-spring break teenager next to me started looking a little green.

So I'm fully aware this man in no way wants to hear about my magical upcoming week with my friends, but I'm so excited, it's hard to stop. I have to bite my bottom lip to keep myself from singing "Vacation" by the Go-Go's into this grumpy man's face as we begin the painfully slow deboarding process.

I retrieve my suitcase from the dinky airport's baggage carousel and emerge through the front doors feeling like a woman in a tampon commercial: overjoyed, gorgeous, and impossibly comfortable-ready for any highly physical activity, including but not limited to bowling with friends or getting a piggyback ride from the unobtrusively handsome guy hired by central casting to play my boyfriend.

All that to say, I am happy.

This is the moment that's carried me through thankless hospital shifts and the sleepless nights that often follow.

For the next week, life will be crisp white wine, creamy lobster rolls, and laughing with my friends until tears stream down our cheeks.

A short honk blasts from the parking lot. Even before I open my eyes and see her, I'm smiling.

"O Harriet, my Harriet!" Sabrina shouts, half falling out of her dad's old cherry-red Jaguar.

She looks, as ever, like a platinum Jackie O, with her perfectly toned olive arms and her classic black pedal pushers, not to mention the vintage silk scarf wrapped around her glossy bob. She still strikes me the same as that first day we met, like an effortlessly cool starlet plucked from another time.

The effect is somewhat tempered by the way she keeps jumping up and down with a poster board on which she's scrawled, in her god-awful serial-killer handwriting, SAY IT'S CAROL SINGERS, a Love Actually reference that could not, actually, make less contextual sense.

I break into a jog across the sunlit parking lot. She shrieks and hurls the poster at the car's open window, where it smacks the frame and flaps to the ground as she takes off running to meet me.

We collide in an impressively uncomfortable hug. Sabrina's exactly tall enough that her shoulder always finds a way to cut off my air supply, but there's still nowhere I'd rather be.

She rocks me back and forth, cooing, "You're heeeeere."

"I'm heeeeere!" I say.

"Let me look at you." She draws back to give me a stern once-over. "What's different?"

"New face," I say.

She snaps her fingers. "Knew it." She loops an arm around my shoulders and turns me toward the car, a cloud of Chanel No. 5 following us. It's been her signature scent since we were eighteen and I was still sporting a Bath & Body Works concoction that smelled like vodka-soaked cotton candy. "Your doctor does great work," she deadpans. "You look thirty years younger. Not a day over newborn."

"Oh, no, it wasn't a medical procedure," I say. "It was an Etsy spell."

"Well, either way, you look great."

"You too," I squeal, squeezing her around the waist.

"I can't believe this is real," she says.

"It's been too long," I agree.

We fall into that hyper-comfortable kind of silence, the quiet of two people who lived together for the better part of five years and still, after all this time, have a muscle memory for how to share space.

"I'm so happy you could make this work," she says as we reach the car. "I know how busy you are at the hospital. Hospitals? They have you move around, right?"

"Hospitals," I confirm, "and nothing could have stopped me."

"By which you mean, you ran out of there mid-brain surgery," Sabrina says.

"Of course not," I say. "I skipped out of there mid-brain surgery. Still have the scalpel in my pocket."

Sabrina cackles, a sound so at odds with her composed exterior that the whole first week we lived together, I jumped every time I heard it. Now all her rough edges are my favorite parts of her.

She throws open the car's back door and tosses my suitcase in with an ease that defies her lanky frame, then stuffs the poster in after it. "How was the flight?"

"Same pilot as last time," I tell her.

Her brow lifts. "Ray? Again?"

I nod. "Of sunglasses-on-the-back-of-the-head fame."

"Never seen him without them," she muses.

"He absolutely has to have a second set of eyes in his neck," I say.

"The only explanation," she agrees. "God, I'm so sorry-ever since Ray got sober, I swear he flies like a dying bumblebee."

I ask, "How did he fly back when he was still drinking?"

"Oh, the same." She hops in behind the steering wheel, and I drop into the passenger seat beside her. "But his intercom banter was a fucking delight."

She digs a spare scarf out of the center console and tosses it at me, a thoughtful if ultimately meaningless gesture since my bun of chaotic dark curls is far beyond saving after three back-to-back flights and a dead sprint through both the Denver airport and Boston Logan.

"Well," I say, "there wasn't a pun to be found in those skies today."

"Tragic," she tuts. The car's engine growls to life. With a whoop, she peels out of the parking lot and points us east, toward the water, the windows down and sunlight rippling over our skin. Even here, an hour inland, yards are dotted with lobster traps, pyramids of them at the edges of lots.

Over the roar of the wind, Sabrina shouts, "HOW ARE YOU?"

My stomach does this seesawing thing, flipping from the absolute bliss of being in this car with her and the abject dread of knowing I'm about to throw a wrench into her plans.

Not yet, I think. Let's enjoy this for a second before I ruin everything.

"GOOD," I shout back.

"AND HOW'S THE RESIDENCY?" she asks.

"GOOD," I say again.

She glances sidelong, wisps of blond snaking out of her scarf to slap her forehead. "WE'VE BARELY SPOKEN IN WEEKS AND THAT'S ALL I GET?"

"BLOODY?" I add.

Exhausting. Terrifying. Electrifying, though not necessarily in a good way. Sometimes nauseating. Occasionally devastating.

Not that I'm involved in much surgery. Two years into the residency, and I'm still doing plenty of scut work. But the slivers of time spent with an attending surgeon and a patient are all I think about when I clock out, as if those minutes weigh more than any of the rest.

Scut work, on the other hand, goes by in a flash. Most of my colleagues dread it, but I kind of like the mundanity. Even as a kid, cleaning, organizing, checking off little tasks on my self-made chore chart gave me a sense of peace and control.

A patient is in the hospital, and I get to discharge them. Someone needs blood drawn, and I'm there to do it. Data needs to be plugged into the computer system, and I plug it in. There's a before and an after, with a hard line between them, proof that there are millions of small things you can do to make life a little better.

"AND HOW'S WYN?" Sabrina asks.

The seesaw inside me jolts again. Sharp gray eyes flash across my mind, the phantom scent of pine and clove wafting over me.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; First Edition (April 25, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593441273
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593441275
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.22 x 1.3 x 9.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,975 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #151 in Contemporary Women Fiction
- #359 in Romantic Comedy (Books)
- #1,104 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 83,416 ratings

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Emily Henry

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Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Happy Place, Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.

Customer reviews

83,416 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the emotional tone light, sweet, and delicious. They also appreciate the witty banter and the writing is good. Readers describe the plot as well-paced, well-written, and requires no conscious effort. They appreciate the narrative that adds depth to every relationship with beautifully descriptive passages. Customers describe the romance as sensory, lovable, and perfectly captured the dynamic between couples and friends. They describe the storyline as sweet, comforting, and executed well. They find the characters understandable, deep, and real. However, some customers feel the premise is predictable, unrealistic, and forced.

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Storyline Characters Readability Romance Emotional tone Humor Narrative Premise

369 customers mention "Storyline"369 positive0 negative

Customers find the storyline sweet, cute, entertaining, and touching. They also say it's a good for the soul read and a perfect vacation must-have. Readers also mention that the book is well-written and would make a great RomCom.

"What a beautiful book! The characters are so understandable and so deep. There are so many good lessons in this book...." Read more

"...Overall, this was a great read. If you like contemporary romance that has a solid plot and emotional depth, then definitely check this one out...." Read more

"...They are stunning.)..." Read more

"...The story was well written and would make a great RomCom. I loved the friend group. Anyway, 4.5 stars for the writing and story development...." Read more

179 customers mention "Characters"133 positive46 negative

Customers find the characters quirky but not too.

"What a beautiful book! The characters are so understandable and so deep. There are so many good lessons in this book...." Read more

"...The setting was perfect. A beach cottage in Maine. Swoon. The characters were amazing...." Read more

"...easy to read but also carries a lot of deep feelings and it is highly relatable" Read more

"...The main character seems whiney and weak to me. I guess that's the whole point, she's scared to express her emotions. But I couldn't relate...." Read more

159 customers mention "Readability"133 positive26 negative

Customers find the book well-written, with complexities. They also appreciate the quick-witted, off-the-wall responses and the flashback format.

"What a beautiful book! The characters are so understandable and so deep. There are so many good lessons in this book...." Read more

"...Light and easy to read but also carries a lot of deep feelings and it is highly relatable" Read more

"...This was my first Emily Henry book. I mostly enjoyed it and found it well written with some beautifully descriptive passages...." Read more

"...Great writing Ms. Emily Henry!" Read more

148 customers mention "Romance"123 positive25 negative

Customers find the romance in the book beautiful, stressful, and lovable. They also say the plot is perfectly paced and well written. Customers also mention that the dual timeline is the perfect execution and the flashback format is well set up.

"...I had angst and heart break. But I also had hope. The dual timeline was the perfect execution to give us these emotions...." Read more

"...It's your classic beach read romance with forced shared bedroom and behind the scenes drama...." Read more

"...The trope also played out very well for the characters that I felt like I knew personally!" Read more

"...They’re sweet romances with plenty of pop culture references, that make you cry a bit and then have a mostly happy ending...." Read more

143 customers mention "Emotional tone"111 positive32 negative

Customers find the book's emotional tone surprising, sad, poignant, and warm. They also say it breaks their hearts and warms their souls. Readers describe the book as light, sweet, inviting, gut wrenching, and good.

"...The close friendships of the three main girls is really heartwarming, and their friend group dynamic reminds me a bit of my own friends...." Read more

"...It's her most emotional book yet. I think Emily described it best in the book: "Breathless happy-sad."..." Read more

"...Light and easy to read but also carries a lot of deep feelings and it is highly relatable" Read more

"...Book Lovers, so I thought I'd love this story, but it was way too much angst for me. The main character seems whiney and weak to me...." Read more

84 customers mention "Humor"68 positive16 negative

Customers find the humor in the book witty, engaging, and hooked. They also appreciate the lyrical writing and philosophical themes.

"...Laugh out loud funny. I even enjoyed Wyn and Harriet's sarcastic jabs towards each other, which I've seen some people didn't appreciate...." Read more

"...of sweet love declarations, quiet moments, fierce attraction, and witty banter...." Read more

"Lyrical, philosophical, happy. The kind of fiction some people make fun of...." Read more

"...that said, this book brought me to emotional levels and laughter with the witty dialogue and nostalgic feels.#..." Read more

79 customers mention "Narrative"79 positive0 negative

Customers find the narrative adds depth to every relationship, making it relatable. They also say the book provides good lessons and messages about communication. Readers also say that the world building is perfect, the characters are amazing, and the book correlates to real life problems. They appreciate the lyrical, philosophical, and happy narrative. They mention that the book includes talks on depression, marriage, divorce, death, and found family.

"...There are so many good lessons in this book. The biggest lesson being to find your own happiness and stop doing things to make others happy...." Read more

"...They’re sweet romances with plenty of pop culture references, that make you cry a bit and then have a mostly happy ending...." Read more

"...I mostly enjoyed it and found it well written with some beautifully descriptive passages...." Read more

"...The relationships are flushed out and the Happy Place at the cottage truly feels like it would be a great vacation spot...." Read more

65 customers mention "Premise"8 positive57 negative

Customers find the premise of the book predictable, silly, and repetitive at times. They also say it's unrealistic, lacking in objectivity, and has inconsistencies.

"...It is full of all sorts of contradictions: Protagonist refuses to give up her identity, but That’s exactly what she does in the end...." Read more

"...The story felt forced, stretched, and repetitive at times."..." Read more

"...The friendships felt so undercooked and forced throughout the book… I’m shocked they were as tight as they say...." Read more

"...book will result in something blissfully incoherent, lacking completely in all objectivity, and high on whatever drug Emily Henry puts into the..." Read more

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Piano Teacher

Wow

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2024

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What a beautiful book! The characters are so understandable and so deep. There are so many good lessons in this book. The biggest lesson being to find your own happiness and stop doing things to make others happy. Others who love you will be happy when you find your happiness and do what you love to do. In life and in love.

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2024

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📚BOOK REVIEW📚

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️/3
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: “only one bed”, fake dating, second chance romance, vacation with friends, dual timeline, found family, witty banter

Harriet and Wyn met in college and have been the “perfect” couple ever since. At least according to everyone they know. They actually broke up five months ago, and still haven’t told their friends or family.

When it comes time for their friend group to go on their yearly getaway, Harriet agrees because she doesn’t think Wyn is able to go. To her surprise, he shows up there as well. And because all their friends think they’re still together, they get put in the same room.

This trip is supposed to be the group’s annual respite from the world, where they can leave their troubles behind and just have fun. When it becomes clear that everyone in the group is struggling with something just as big as Harriet and Wyn‘s breakup, they decide to keep it a secret and pretend to still be together. They were in love for years, how hard can it be to fake it for one week?

Throughout the story, the reader gets to see bits of their past relationship and piece together what happened to cause their breakup (dual timeline).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really enjoyed this one. It’s definitely different, and more emotional, than the author’s other books. The close friendships of the three main girls is really heartwarming, and their friend group dynamic reminds me a bit of my own friends. The emotions of close friends starting to become more distanced as their lives take them in different directions is definitely something most people can probably relate to, which is what makes this book so hard to put down.

I really enjoyed the “mystery” kind of aspect of it, because the reader doesn’t know what caused their breakup until right towards the end.

The witty banter between all of the characters is also super fun and entertaining.

Overall, this was a great read. If you like contemporary romance that has a solid plot and emotional depth, then definitely check this one out.

2 people found this helpful

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Celene

Another year. Another amazing Emily Henry book. My favorite yet.

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2023

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"I got rid of every single piece of you, like that would make a difference, like I could cut you out of me, and instead, I just see everywhere you're supposed to be."

👏Emily.👏 Henry. 👏 Yall. 👏 I would first like to thank the author for yet another marvelous masterpiece. And dare I say it... my favorite of hers yet?? Every year around this time, I anxiously await Henry's latest book to drop. I normally hold off and read it on vacation, but hearing all the good things about this book and knowing it had all my favorite tropes...second chance, friends to lovers, AND a dual timeline...I knew I couldn't wait. And I'm so glad I didn't. I don't think I would have been able to focus on it as well if I was on the beach distracted by other things around me. This book deserved and was more appreciated by reading it in the quiet setting of my home. I was immersed in the words from page one. I zoned out and tuned out everything around me. I couldn't get enough of it.

I will say I believe Henry's covers are always a little misleading (I love them don't get me wrong! They are stunning.) But they look like they'll be superficial fluff, an easy breezy romance, but they are so much more than that, or at least this one was for me. It's her most emotional book yet. I think Emily described it best in the book: "Breathless happy-sad." That exactly how I felt while reading this book. I had butterflies. I had angst and heart break. But I also had hope. The dual timeline was the perfect execution to give us these emotions. You see what Wyn and Harriet once had and you want them to find that again with one another so bad! 🥺

The setting was perfect. A beach cottage in Maine. Swoon. The characters were amazing. Every one of the characters had layers and depth with struggles and emotions. You felt like you were apart of that friend group and knew them all so well. But my favorite part, which is always my favorite part of Emily Henry's books, was the witty banter. Laugh out loud funny. I even enjoyed Wyn and Harriet's sarcastic jabs towards each other, which I've seen some people didn't appreciate.

All of that to say, I loved it. I'm sad I flew through it in a day and will never have the moment I read this for the first time again and now I will be anxiously awaiting on Henry's next masterpiece this time next year. 💗

45 people found this helpful

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Keklel

Not my favorite

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2024

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I really liked Book Lovers, so I thought I'd love this story, but it was way too much angst for me. The main character seems whiney and weak to me. I guess that's the whole point, she's scared to express her emotions. But I couldn't relate. There was some comedy sprinkled in that made me laugh. The story was well written and would make a great RomCom. I loved the friend group. Anyway, 4.5 stars for the writing and story development. I just didn't like the fmc. She found herself in the end. It just took to long to get there for me.

2 people found this helpful

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Rebekah Chaney

A Classic Summer Romance

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2024

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Harriet and Wyn have always been the perfect couple for many years. They met within their friend group that takes a beach vacation together every year. This year's vacation will be quite difficult however, because they broke up several months ago and have yet to tell their friends. They quickly realize this beach vacation is different for their friends and realize it is still not the time to tell them. So they pretend they are still together! They quickly realize things may not be as over for both of them as they thought.

This is a great summer, beach read. I thought it dragged a little at the beginning but did pick up quite a bit halfway through. It was my first Emily Henry book and I have heard that all of her other novels are a lot better. It's your classic beach read romance with forced shared bedroom and behind the scenes drama. If you are looking for an easy beach read, then this one is for you!

One person found this helpful

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crystal

Great book

Reviewed in Canada on June 28, 2024

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Such a great book! Can’t say enough good things about this book. Finished it in one day! Loved it

2 people found this helpful

Julia Vittória

Oh how I love this book!!!

Reviewed in Brazil on May 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

“It doesn’t matter how busy life’s been, how long the five of us have gone without seeing one another: meeting at the cottage is like pulling on a favorite sweater, worn to perfection. […] Our love is a place we can always come back to, and it will be waiting, the same as it ever was.”

“The feeling of being so grateful to have something worth missing”
. . .
I can’t even express how much I loved this book! Emily Henry’s writing has the power to make me feel seen every single time!

This is a book about friendship, about love and what it really means to love someone, about finding yourself and having the courage to let go of the things that don’t fit you… it’s about growing, about making space for who you are and for the people around you as they grow too!

I cried, laughed, giggled and kicked my feet 🥹
I rooted for Wyn and Harry every step of the way! Felt their love for one another, and the hurt of being apart, in every page!
Rooted for the friendship turned found family they all had, like it was my own group of friends 🤞🏻

This book is more than a beautiful heartfelt story, it teaches you lessons, it makes you feel, it makes you think, it reflects our humanity in so many different ways -or at least it did for me… it’s perfect ❤️ and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time!

Carocienta

Este libro es una joya.

Reviewed in Mexico on July 11, 2023

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Creo que este libro se acaba de convertir en mi favorito de la autora.

La trama principal se centra en la relación de Harriet y Wyn intercalando el pasado y el presente. Podemos ver cómo se conocen, la atracción inicial, la devoción, el afecto, la ruptura repentina y devastadora y el presente mientras intentan fingir ante sus amigos que todo sigue bien, mientras cada uno sufre la perdida a su manera.

También vemos cómo Harriet conoce a Sabrina y Cleo, luego a Wyn y, como se vuelven los mejores amigos y cómo pasan una década juntos volviéndose como una familia.

Harriet me ha encantado, es una mujer fuerte e inteligente pero también alguien sensible con el corazón roto mientras intenta mantener a flote su vida como residente en un hospital y cumplir con las expectativas de su padres. Me gusta que este libro además del romance trata de cómo ella crece como persona y encuentra lo que le hace feliz pero también lo que no la hace feliz y aprende a soltarlo.

Sin duda Wyn es el que ha robado mi corazón, el tipo es lindo dese el primer momento con su encanto juvenil y su coqueteo constante pero a medida que la historia avanza también descubrimos sus miedos e inseguridades. Me encanta que sea tan genuino y abierto al momento de expresar sus sentimientos y sobre todo que él también encontrara paz consigo mismo, su carrera y su vida en general.

La relación de Wyn y Harriet me atrapo desde el inicio con su química natural, viendo cómo su relación va creciendo, me partieron el corazón con su ruptura pero también lo sanaron, demostrándonos que con el paso de los años cambiamos, nuestras prioridades y sueños también cambian pero la comunicación asertiva es la clave en toda relación. Mientras leía no podía dejar de pensar que quería que tuvieran su final feliz porque lo merecían muchísimo.

Siento que este libro golpea una fibra sensible también con las amistades longevas, la gente cambia con el tiempo y no se puede seguir viviendo cómo 10 años atrás pero cuando las personas son importantes para ti siempre se encontrara la manera de conservarlos en tu vida. Este libro también trata sobre ese cambio de adulto joven al inicio de los veintes con un montón de planes y sueños a adulto de los 30s donde tu vida ya esta más plateada y las cosas son mas calmadas.

Me ha gustado que este libro trata relaciones tanto entre amigos como de pareja (tanto hetero como una lesbica) todas diferentes pero todas sanas, con sus altibajos pero bien planteadas.

3 people found this helpful

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Maggie

An easy read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2024

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This does exactly what it's meant to, it's an easy holiday read that captures you from start to finish and is a wonderful distraction from reality while sunbathing. The kind of read where you think it will be predictable, then you're unsure and have to keep reading to find out.

One person found this helpful

Riya

A beautifully written, heartwarming story.

Reviewed in India on July 10, 2024

Verified Purchase

For a while I was looking for a woman centric love story that was not preachy or unrealistic, and i found this book. From the first chapter, i was so hooked. From friendship that tested time and growing apart, complicated relationship with family, love that seems impossible but still makes you hopeful.

And especially, the way Emily expressed Harriet. so elegantly. i have saved so many quotes from this book that hit home so many times.

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