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Book Summary and Reviews of Funny Story by Emily Henry

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Funny Story

by Emily Henry

  • Published:
  • Apr 2024, 400 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

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?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Reliable bestseller Henry has written another surefire hit that manages to be dramatic, sexy, and fun....As always, Henry's biggest strength is the sharp, often hilarious dialogue that makes the story a joy to read. Henry fans, rejoice: This is her best yet."  —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"With her latest impeccably written rom-com, literary supernova Henry continues to gracefully dispense wit, whimsy, and wisdom in equal amounts. Fans of opposites-attract love stories will revel in the buoyant banter and swoonworthy romantic moments, not to mention Henry's delightful pairing of a precision-driven children's librarian and a jack-of-all-trades winery employee who could give Matthew McConaughey lessons in chill." —Booklist (starred review)

"This opposites-attract meets fake-dating plot has vividly drawn characters, emotionally charged storylines, and a beautiful small-town Michigan setting that will captivate devoted followers of Henry's work and convert new readers into ardent fans." —Library Journal (starred review)

"Bestseller Henry takes on fake-dating in this equally poignant and charming tale of love after loss… Henry perfectly balances sorrow and discord with love and humor, and romance fans will appreciate watching the growth of the characters' relationships and of Daphne as a person. This is a heartwarming take on summer love." —Publishers Weekly

"With her signature laugh-out-loud banter and flawed but lovable characters, Henry has created another novel that's everything her readers have come to expect, without falling into predictable patterns. Funny Story is Emily Henry at her best." —BookPage

"Henry doesn't disappoint. It's sweet, passionate, and just hot enough to steam up the book, if not set it on fire. Just like in her other novels, the author's characters are deep, realistic and relatable…Henry is so particularly talented at creating romance that eschews tropes and clichés but still satisfies our innate desire for predictability and happy endings in this genre. It's certainly not easy to balance the comfortingly formulaic with the tantalizingly unique. Funny Story might hit the mark best of all of Henry's books so far."  —USA Today

This information about Funny Story was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Emily Henry

Emily Henry is the #1 New York 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.

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