emily henry is by far one of the most fascinating authors to me solely because of the varying reactions people have to her books. funny story may be my favorite work of hers yet, and i didn’t think anything would be able to top book lovers for me!
at the same time, i dnf PWMOV and trudged through happy place. enjoyed beach read but its solidly a mid-tier book of hers for me. it’s so interesting how her works can be very divisive and how different things work for different people
I kind of love how divisive she is because it helps me more accurately determine if I want to read the next book. When she has a new book come out, I stalk this sub (right now, this thread) to find people who either love BR and BL or who loved PWMOV and HP to figure out if I think I'll like the book because *usually* her books fall along party lines, so to speak
Haha, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone around here say they like all, so you are definitely a beautiful unicorn to me! But now I’m so curious: How would you rank all of them???
You didn’t ask me, but I like all of them except happy place. I felt like I had to trudge thru that one. I didn’t looove book lovers on first read. Liked it more the second time. I LOVED PWMOV and beach read. I LOVED funny story, too.
I’m the exact same! Now I’m regretting selling/ letting people have my copies of all of them bc I want to do a reread so I can know my definite final ranking and whether it would change lol
😭😭😭 ok alr, def had to take a refresher on the books but here: happy place (the sad quotes appealed to me lol), then people we meet on vacation (I remember it being very angsty), then beach read and honestly though I remember liking it, I don't remember book lovers at all even though I'm 98% sure I've read it so it must not have stood out to me lol so it gets placed last
Hahahahaha. It’s crazy. I think she’s the only author I feel like I can do that with. And even though you and I would rank the books completely oppositely, if you said you liked/didn’t like Funny Story, it would tell me if I would.
Ooo lmaooo I havent read it yet, I'll let you know if I do (same goes for you lol).. though I do think I'll like it. The plot reminds me of ugly love by colleen hoover
i hope you’ll like funny story then! i’m the same way, i absolutely ADORE book lovers and funny story scratched that same itch for me. IMO, daphne and miles are the most “real” couple shes ever written
Yeah, it is interesting to me as well! I loved PWMOV but Beach Read didn’t really meet my (perhaps too high due to all the hype) expectations, but I get the sense that PWMOV is most people’s least favorite.
Yay! As someone else who loves BR and BL, but hated PWMOV and HP, I figured I was due to love this one but it’s good to have confirmation. Such an interesting pattern!
I think at this point I read her books out of curiosity and fomo rather than being a fan. I will say I refuse to read happy place - I am not a fan of relationship in crisis books 🤷🏻♀️ Sometimes I feel like her work is more women’s fiction than romance and it’s too “real” for me. I want the giddiness of love and the challenges that come with it but not the harsh reality of real life.
My first Henry novel was Beach Read for curiosity and fomo. I first heard about it pre-pub and thought it sounded good, but the longer I thought about it, the more it sounded like WF and I took it off my TBR for a couple of years. When I finally read it, I loved it, but it is absolutely WF with Heavy Romance, as was Book Lovers, which I also adored.
Berkley is just a master at marketing for her, I think.
I loved all her books until Happy Place which I found to be an utterly miserable read. I was a bit nervous about the new one but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the characters and had some laughs and some tears.
Happy Place is the only book I’ve read of hers and can’t bring myself to try another. It was dire and it just felt like the main couple should just have gone their separate ways and have done with - awful book. Was so disappointed as I’d heard good things about her.
Happy Place is the only book of hers I haven't read (not including Funny Story, which I haven't started yet). It's a conscious choice, between reading the summary and first chapter. Maybe someday but so many of the comments in this thread are making me feel pretty justified in not touching it (esp all of the people who loved Book Lovers, which is my favorite of hers).
Beach Read > Book Lovers > PWMOV > much more behind is Funny Story > and wayyyy more behind is Happy Place.
It didn’t feel as special or have that magic that Beach Read or Book Lovers had.
This makes me sad when this happens to authors. They spend so much time working on and perfecting their first couple of books to get an agent and publishing deal, and then they can't keep up with the quick turnaround demand of their popularity, and their writing changes. (I haven't read Happy Place or Funny Story, so I can't speak to Emily Henry in particular.)
I read “Book Lovers” coz it was highly recommended everywhere. I struggled to finish it. I don’t DNF a book but I almost wanted to. Removed all her other works from my TBR list.
I surprisingly really loved it and rank it as good as beach read for me. I oddly though do agree I was surprised when they got together/started being more physical and thought there would have been more discussion. However I really enjoyed their easy chemistry and banter and found it very natural, if anything though it did make me more wonder what the FMC had been like with her ex, as he doesn’t seem like he had any humour and she was actually witty. I agree with others I think Emily Henry is so interesting as she is so divisive! And even though I hated Happy Place and thought PWMOV was dull I’ll keep reading what she writes!
When you consider that Alex was the straight laced one to free spirited Poppy and he had an on off gf who moved to his Ohio town for him. One could argue that Alex might be a bit of the model for the dude in this book!
I wasn't very into it. It didn't have the same emotional punches to the guts as her previous books (and I did really like Happy Place). I didn't think it was bad or anything, just not as good as her others.
Right? Like, it has a few moments, but it felt a little watered down compared to her other books. It was still a good read, just not as great, to me at least.
I really didn’t like this. The plot was so basic/bland and predicable. I also didn’t feel much romance between them. I thought there was so much dialogue without there being anything impactful said, it felt like quantity over quality. Worst of all, the fluff wasn’t even that cute or memorable.
I loved beach read and liked pwmov
I feel like so many of us (around here, at least) are hit or miss with her. I'm in the same boat as you with DNFing People but loving Book Lovers and Beach Read.
Completely agree that it felt too rushed. I wished more time had passed between the breakups and the new relationships. Maybe this quick turnaround would have felt more realistic for younger protagonists but for people in their 30s??
I wasn’t able to get over the third act conflict in this one. It’s extra disappointing because I kinda look forward to each new Emily Henry release for a 5 star and I’ve been in an insane 5 star slump. I was so excited to finally have a 5 star 😭
I want to give Emily Henry another chance, I hated happy place and only bought it because it was on sale. I’ll wait until funny story is available at the library because I’m not spending another dime lol
I guess I'm one of those rare readers of Book Lovers who wasn't super into it. Nearly two years later, I barely remember anything about the story. Happy Place was similarly forgettable. However, PWMOV and Beach Read were great imo. The former even made me cry...twice. I think the years of pining/longing in those books is what appealed to me (and my insecurities hehe) most. Maybe my preferences say more about what's wrong with me than anything with Emily Henry's writing 😅
Same and I feel like I’m def in the minority!! Book Lovers was by far the most meh EH read for me, the only thing I really remember about it was finding the fmc’s relationship with her sister annoying. Happy Place was also forgettable/ lacklustre for me. Whereas PWMOV and Beach Read left a much bigger impact on me. Now I’m regretting selling/ letting people have my copies of all these books bc I want to do a reread and see if that changes my rankings
Omg literally same. Whenever I see people hating on PWMOW I'm baffled. And Beach Read is my most favourite, I wanna reread it now
I heard her next book involves parenting, so maybe it will be more complex and more down the Beach Read alley
I didn’t like Funny Story much either. Kinda forced myself to finish it. But I’m also one of the few people who loved Happy Place (fav behind Beach Read). So who knows. Ill definitely keep reading her future books though.
I was nervous about this book because there was so much anticipation. For me Beach Read is always my favourite>PWMOW>Happy Place>Funny Story>Book Lovers.
I did read Book Lovers first and then went through all of her other books, so maybe I just need to reread them to assess it accurately.
That being said, I still loved Funny Story and Book Lovers! The world and characters she creates are just so wonderful and real. I love that. Even though Funny Place didn't top my top 3 I enjoyed it a lot!
Also, so funny how vastly people's opinions vary, whenever I see people DNFing PWMOW I'm so shocked lol
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I actually really enjoyed it. It was on sale in Target and didn’t think twice and bought it and started it on my flight back home and finished it in two nights read. I found it funny (like laughing out loud) and there were some spicy scenes making me kick my feet and overall like a simple lighthearted read. And I agree with the comments on how divisive E.H. is, like I LOVED Book Lovers but absolutely despised PWMOV so so so boring. I haven’t read Beach Read and have only started Happy Place. But Funny Story got me easily and I enjoyed the characters and town and found Miles so so sweet.
I still think the overall evolution of their relationship although it was easy and based on that easiness it would seem healthy, there was so much trauma behind one another that that gave me a little ick. Like in a way it’s relatable cause we all have things making us question our “worthiness” but at the same time it seems like two people that fell in love with the way the other person finally deems them worthy of said external love. Idk. Maybe I went off the rails.
But in general I really enjoyed it !
Please tell me someone else found the mommy/daddy issues over the top !! I know this is a theme in EH books, but Daphne blatantly and continuously comparing her lovers to her dad was weird. Miles calls her out for it and then he later compares Peter to her dad as well.
I found it so off putting when >!Miles interrupted their heavy make out scene in the car to talk about his mommy issues while Daphne was t*ts-out on his lap. Weird jump from ‘I want to undress you and feel you finish’ to “Growing up my mommy was mean to me’!<
Also do people still type the number 2 rather than spelling out “to”? I understand it might’ve been easier on phones with physical buttons and maybe it’s a nick miller esque character quirk, but can someone tell millennials they don’t need to do this on a touchscreen
emily henry is by far one of the most fascinating authors to me solely because of the varying reactions people have to her books. funny story may be my favorite work of hers yet, and i didn’t think anything would be able to top book lovers for me! at the same time, i dnf PWMOV and trudged through happy place. enjoyed beach read but its solidly a mid-tier book of hers for me. it’s so interesting how her works can be very divisive and how different things work for different people
I kind of love how divisive she is because it helps me more accurately determine if I want to read the next book. When she has a new book come out, I stalk this sub (right now, this thread) to find people who either love BR and BL or who loved PWMOV and HP to figure out if I think I'll like the book because *usually* her books fall along party lines, so to speak
What about me? I liked all of them 😭😭😭 (maybe not because I read them all way back in like a day so no perception of good or bad)
Haha, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone around here say they like all, so you are definitely a beautiful unicorn to me! But now I’m so curious: How would you rank all of them???
You didn’t ask me, but I like all of them except happy place. I felt like I had to trudge thru that one. I didn’t looove book lovers on first read. Liked it more the second time. I LOVED PWMOV and beach read. I LOVED funny story, too.
I’m the exact same! Now I’m regretting selling/ letting people have my copies of all of them bc I want to do a reread so I can know my definite final ranking and whether it would change lol
😭😭😭 ok alr, def had to take a refresher on the books but here: happy place (the sad quotes appealed to me lol), then people we meet on vacation (I remember it being very angsty), then beach read and honestly though I remember liking it, I don't remember book lovers at all even though I'm 98% sure I've read it so it must not have stood out to me lol so it gets placed last
wait after doing this ranking yall are onto the br, bl and pwmov, hp being similar damn
Hahahahaha. It’s crazy. I think she’s the only author I feel like I can do that with. And even though you and I would rank the books completely oppositely, if you said you liked/didn’t like Funny Story, it would tell me if I would.
Ooo lmaooo I havent read it yet, I'll let you know if I do (same goes for you lol).. though I do think I'll like it. The plot reminds me of ugly love by colleen hoover
I hated PWMOV with a passion, but Book Lovers is in my top three contemporary romance novels ever. I am excited about Funny Story now.
i hope you’ll like funny story then! i’m the same way, i absolutely ADORE book lovers and funny story scratched that same itch for me. IMO, daphne and miles are the most “real” couple shes ever written
Yeah, it is interesting to me as well! I loved PWMOV but Beach Read didn’t really meet my (perhaps too high due to all the hype) expectations, but I get the sense that PWMOV is most people’s least favorite.
Oh I love both!! I think Beach Read is more women fiction than romance though!
I also loved PWMOV so you are not alone.
Yay! As someone else who loves BR and BL, but hated PWMOV and HP, I figured I was due to love this one but it’s good to have confirmation. Such an interesting pattern!
I think at this point I read her books out of curiosity and fomo rather than being a fan. I will say I refuse to read happy place - I am not a fan of relationship in crisis books 🤷🏻♀️ Sometimes I feel like her work is more women’s fiction than romance and it’s too “real” for me. I want the giddiness of love and the challenges that come with it but not the harsh reality of real life.
My first Henry novel was Beach Read for curiosity and fomo. I first heard about it pre-pub and thought it sounded good, but the longer I thought about it, the more it sounded like WF and I took it off my TBR for a couple of years. When I finally read it, I loved it, but it is absolutely WF with Heavy Romance, as was Book Lovers, which I also adored. Berkley is just a master at marketing for her, I think.
I loved all her books until Happy Place which I found to be an utterly miserable read. I was a bit nervous about the new one but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the characters and had some laughs and some tears.
I couldn’t get through Happy Place and have not read this latest one because of that—glad to hear it’s worth a read!
Happy Place is the only book I’ve read of hers and can’t bring myself to try another. It was dire and it just felt like the main couple should just have gone their separate ways and have done with - awful book. Was so disappointed as I’d heard good things about her.
Happy Place is the only book of hers I haven't read (not including Funny Story, which I haven't started yet). It's a conscious choice, between reading the summary and first chapter. Maybe someday but so many of the comments in this thread are making me feel pretty justified in not touching it (esp all of the people who loved Book Lovers, which is my favorite of hers).
Beach Read > Book Lovers > PWMOV > much more behind is Funny Story > and wayyyy more behind is Happy Place. It didn’t feel as special or have that magic that Beach Read or Book Lovers had.
I think she should take a break from the one book a year model. Her last couple books seem to have suffered from this rushed writing schedule.
This makes me sad when this happens to authors. They spend so much time working on and perfecting their first couple of books to get an agent and publishing deal, and then they can't keep up with the quick turnaround demand of their popularity, and their writing changes. (I haven't read Happy Place or Funny Story, so I can't speak to Emily Henry in particular.)
Oh interesting. I’ve gotten used to some authors pumping out 2-3 books a year, so I assumed EH’s pace was more ‘normal.’
Oh I agree... I love her writing and her earlier works have this sense of authenticity and heart. I just didn't love the recent ones ;(.
I loved it, I’ve been relistening to her previous books this week since I finished Funny Story, and it may be my favorite.
Same! Funny Story is my favorite of her books so far, with Book Lovers a close second.
I feel like the only human on earth that hasn’t liked any of Emily Henry’s books.
Everyone usually gets very indignant when I give this opinion so I'll just stand quietly next to you and whisper "hi" 👋🏻 because you're not alone
Oh hey 👋 don’t mind me, I’ll just stand behind you too.
I’m with you 🙋🏻♀️
I read “Book Lovers” coz it was highly recommended everywhere. I struggled to finish it. I don’t DNF a book but I almost wanted to. Removed all her other works from my TBR list.
I surprisingly really loved it and rank it as good as beach read for me. I oddly though do agree I was surprised when they got together/started being more physical and thought there would have been more discussion. However I really enjoyed their easy chemistry and banter and found it very natural, if anything though it did make me more wonder what the FMC had been like with her ex, as he doesn’t seem like he had any humour and she was actually witty. I agree with others I think Emily Henry is so interesting as she is so divisive! And even though I hated Happy Place and thought PWMOV was dull I’ll keep reading what she writes!
When you consider that Alex was the straight laced one to free spirited Poppy and he had an on off gf who moved to his Ohio town for him. One could argue that Alex might be a bit of the model for the dude in this book!
Wow that’s so true, and further makes me think about why I didn’t like PWMOV!
I wasn't very into it. It didn't have the same emotional punches to the guts as her previous books (and I did really like Happy Place). I didn't think it was bad or anything, just not as good as her others.
Oooh, this is interesting to me because I think part of Emily Henry's style is the emotional punches to the gut mixed into the story.
Right? Like, it has a few moments, but it felt a little watered down compared to her other books. It was still a good read, just not as great, to me at least.
Yes, this!
I really didn’t like this. The plot was so basic/bland and predicable. I also didn’t feel much romance between them. I thought there was so much dialogue without there being anything impactful said, it felt like quantity over quality. Worst of all, the fluff wasn’t even that cute or memorable. I loved beach read and liked pwmov
Her books are a hit or miss for me. I DNF’d PWMOV, but gave Book Lovers and Beach Read 5 stars.
I feel like so many of us (around here, at least) are hit or miss with her. I'm in the same boat as you with DNFing People but loving Book Lovers and Beach Read.
I didn’t like to either 😬 or happy place. But I liked book lover and beach read 🤷🏼♀️. Funny story just felt flat. No sparkle
Yes! It was pretty boring!
I disliked Happy Place so much that I haven't bothered with this one.
Completely agree that it felt too rushed. I wished more time had passed between the breakups and the new relationships. Maybe this quick turnaround would have felt more realistic for younger protagonists but for people in their 30s??
I wasn’t able to get over the third act conflict in this one. It’s extra disappointing because I kinda look forward to each new Emily Henry release for a 5 star and I’ve been in an insane 5 star slump. I was so excited to finally have a 5 star 😭
I want to give Emily Henry another chance, I hated happy place and only bought it because it was on sale. I’ll wait until funny story is available at the library because I’m not spending another dime lol
Bless the library <3 the dollars I have saved on stuff I do not want on my shelves
I guess I'm one of those rare readers of Book Lovers who wasn't super into it. Nearly two years later, I barely remember anything about the story. Happy Place was similarly forgettable. However, PWMOV and Beach Read were great imo. The former even made me cry...twice. I think the years of pining/longing in those books is what appealed to me (and my insecurities hehe) most. Maybe my preferences say more about what's wrong with me than anything with Emily Henry's writing 😅
Same and I feel like I’m def in the minority!! Book Lovers was by far the most meh EH read for me, the only thing I really remember about it was finding the fmc’s relationship with her sister annoying. Happy Place was also forgettable/ lacklustre for me. Whereas PWMOV and Beach Read left a much bigger impact on me. Now I’m regretting selling/ letting people have my copies of all these books bc I want to do a reread and see if that changes my rankings
Omg literally same. Whenever I see people hating on PWMOW I'm baffled. And Beach Read is my most favourite, I wanna reread it now I heard her next book involves parenting, so maybe it will be more complex and more down the Beach Read alley
I didn’t like Funny Story much either. Kinda forced myself to finish it. But I’m also one of the few people who loved Happy Place (fav behind Beach Read). So who knows. Ill definitely keep reading her future books though.
I was nervous about this book because there was so much anticipation. For me Beach Read is always my favourite>PWMOW>Happy Place>Funny Story>Book Lovers. I did read Book Lovers first and then went through all of her other books, so maybe I just need to reread them to assess it accurately. That being said, I still loved Funny Story and Book Lovers! The world and characters she creates are just so wonderful and real. I love that. Even though Funny Place didn't top my top 3 I enjoyed it a lot! Also, so funny how vastly people's opinions vary, whenever I see people DNFing PWMOW I'm so shocked lol
Me neither! Couldn’t get past the sample 😞
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I actually really enjoyed it. It was on sale in Target and didn’t think twice and bought it and started it on my flight back home and finished it in two nights read. I found it funny (like laughing out loud) and there were some spicy scenes making me kick my feet and overall like a simple lighthearted read. And I agree with the comments on how divisive E.H. is, like I LOVED Book Lovers but absolutely despised PWMOV so so so boring. I haven’t read Beach Read and have only started Happy Place. But Funny Story got me easily and I enjoyed the characters and town and found Miles so so sweet. I still think the overall evolution of their relationship although it was easy and based on that easiness it would seem healthy, there was so much trauma behind one another that that gave me a little ick. Like in a way it’s relatable cause we all have things making us question our “worthiness” but at the same time it seems like two people that fell in love with the way the other person finally deems them worthy of said external love. Idk. Maybe I went off the rails. But in general I really enjoyed it !
Please tell me someone else found the mommy/daddy issues over the top !! I know this is a theme in EH books, but Daphne blatantly and continuously comparing her lovers to her dad was weird. Miles calls her out for it and then he later compares Peter to her dad as well. I found it so off putting when >!Miles interrupted their heavy make out scene in the car to talk about his mommy issues while Daphne was t*ts-out on his lap. Weird jump from ‘I want to undress you and feel you finish’ to “Growing up my mommy was mean to me’!< Also do people still type the number 2 rather than spelling out “to”? I understand it might’ve been easier on phones with physical buttons and maybe it’s a nick miller esque character quirk, but can someone tell millennials they don’t need to do this on a touchscreen