You are in all of my happiest places.
Happy Place
by Emily Henry
Genre: Contemporary Romance
About: Harriet is going to her happy place - the big house up in Maine that every Lobster festival she shares with her five best friends. Life has forced distance on them but for one week they can once again be together. All of them. Which means Harriet is going to have to pretend that her heart hasn't just been broken by Wyn, one of the five, who will also be there. She's going to have to pretend a lot of things, but she's good at that.
Thoughts
I didn't really get into this one until the halfway point. The beginning just didn't draw me in; I think because you're being told how relationships are or how life has been without having really experienced much of it. Of course we get flashbacks but meeting Harriet on the plane and then being thrown into the friendship group/ex situation was a little jarring. I think starting with her at work or alone in her apartment might have attached me earlier on.
But when I did come around to caring about the characters, I really cared about them. Harriet and Wyn's dynamic was sweet and sexy and funny. Emily Henry's banter is consistently great and really makes you feel the chemistry of her couples. There's always a lot of depth given to them as well. From their family, to their work, to their insecurities, so much thought is put behind every one of her characters. You really go on a journey with them. And yes, it does read like therapy towards the end, but it's satisfying to see people realise what makes them happy and to move forward in life.
This book had a lot of realisation moments and I think they were very relatable. It focuses on friendships drifting apart because you no longer live in the same city as well as having to move on from the carefree party lifestyle you met those friends in. There's also a lot of talk over careers. The pressure to use your degree or your talent to be someone important, to not waste your parent's sacrifices and the constant need to make others proud of you. It's incredibly relatable and the end has such a healthy viewpoint on these topics.
There were a few Mmm moments. As in, Mmm is that how that really happened? The set up for why Wyn was there gets a second reveal at the end and I just cannot imagine anyone actually doing this is real life. Then there's Harriet's 'I don't know how to argue' thing. This gets explanation and I see the perspective but it's hard to comprehend how Wyn and her could have been in such a long term, loving relationship without the No Arguments thing coming up. I don't want to sound toxic but arguments are pretty foundational to any healthy relationship - as a part of communication, not just yelling at each other. So their breakup and history of issues seems like something that would have been resolved years ago rather than at this point in their lives.
Overall, if you want romance that mixes therapy with steamy moments and will also make you laugh, Emily Henry is your girl. The friendships were strong in this one and I loved Harriet and Wyn's chemistry.
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