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Book Review: Happy Place by Emily Henry

For the past month I've been in a reading slump and once I get the urge to read again, I have to follow my heart and read the book that is calling out to me. I've read Emily Henry before and I've slowly been acquiring her books since reading Book Lovers. I am a hopeless romantic, I always love stories where the couple is either kept apart or driven apart by circumstances, get to have their happy ending. I decided to pick up another Emily Henry book.

source: bn.com

Title: Happy Place Author: Emily Henry Publisher: Berkley Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

You can't browse the romance section of any bookstore across the the country without finding at least one Emily Henry book. To say that she has made a "splash" in the romance genre is a sheer understatement. It seems like she can't be stopped and one of her more recent releases, Happy Place (2023), was my just what I needed even if I didn't know it at the time.

Happy Place follows Harriet who is in her 30s and in the thick of her medical residency. She and her best friends from college have an annual tradition of spending a week in Maine at her friend Sabrina's cottage. The trip has been one she's looked forward too every year, but this year is different because she and her long-term boyfriend Wynn, whom she also met at college, have been broken up for 5 months but neither of them have yet to tell their friends about the split. Harriet was under the impression that Wynn would not be on this trip so that she would be able to enjoy herself without seeing her ex and be able to get up enough courage to tell her friends that they're no longer together. Her plans quickly fall apart when she arrives at the cottage to see her ex is in attendance. Harriet and Wynn make a pact to pretend to be together still for the sake of the trip and to spare their friends any awkwardness and then be able to part ways after their trip is over.

I related to the main character Harriet the most because she is a people pleaser and so am I. The way Emily writes Harriet makes me think that that is a part of her personality because of how real Harriet felt. I really enjoyed Harriet's character arc because she really felt that doing what she did was the best option because she didn't want her friend group to be affected by her and Wynn breaking up because of how much her friends meant to her.

One of the biggest themes throughout the book that I connected with is that change is a natural part of life and it's unavoidable. Change has always been hard for me because when I get into a routine, it feels safe and I know what to expect. Harriet is the same way, she and her friends have taken this vacation every year for 10 years and it is something she looks forward to because it has been a constant in her life. She learns this trip to the cottage will be their last as Sabrina's dad is selling it. Since she is a people pleaser, she wants to do everything within her power to make sure the week goes by without a hitch so their last trip together at the cottage will be memorable. Over the course of the book, Harriet learns that she isn't the only one in her friend group that hasn't been completely honest about what's been going on in their lives. Throughout the course of the story, Harriet and her friends come to terms with the fact that they have changed and that even though it won't be the same as it was before, their friendship will continue simply because they want it to.

I have found it super easy to slip into the world Henry has created. Her writing feels effortless as the story unfolds with each page turn. One thing that I do wish was executed better is when a flashback happens because I didn't realize it initially, but after I read a few passages it dawned on me that we were getting backstory on Harriet and Wynn's relationship over the past 8 years. The flashbacks gave us some great insight into their relationship and how things ended up the way it did. Despite all the tension you can feel when reading the book, we still got a pretty good ending all things considered. I will absolutely be reading her other works

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April was a hectic month and I didn’t read a thing. But it’s May and I was in the mood for a contemporary romance! Just broke 100 pages in Happy Place by Emily Henry!

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Fresh off my TBR…it’s The Ragpicker King! The sequel to Sword Catcher ⚔️🛡️

So happy to have new Cassandra Clare book to read!

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Finished Sword Catcher this morning! What a fantastic book! I loved the setting, plot, and of course the characters! To me the pacing felt a little slow, but it’s the first book in a series so you have a lot of world-building to be done. I’m ready for book 2!

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Self-care Sunday 😌 checklist:

Current read ✅

Snack ✅

Drink ✅

AirPods ✅

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Here’s my wrap up for February. I had hoped to have read more books this month, but I’m also making my way through Sword Catcher still! Hoping to make up what I need for March to stay on track for my reading goal!

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Mini haul from my visit to my favorite local indie bookstore! 📚 I FINALLY found Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury!

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Started book 3 of the year! Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare! This is her first adult fantasy novel, I’ve read everything she’s ever published so I’m super excited to read something completely different from her!

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The 2025 reading year has begun! 2 books in so far this year! Okay so the first one was started in December and the second one was a graphic novel but it still counts! 📚📖

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I was on a staycation last week and plucked this from my TBR and read it cover to cover. As a gay man who grew up in the early 2000s I LOVED Mean Girls and still do! What a fun way to experience the movie but as a Shakespearean play. I had a good time with this one. 😊

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The power of books and reading is extraordinary for it opens us up to so many possibilities that may never have known of.

Here are some interesting facts about books:

1. Harvard University Library has four books bound in human skin.

2. Iceland tops the world in per capita book reading.

3. People who read books are less likly to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

4. In Brazilian prisons, reading a book can reduce a prisoner's sentnce by four days.

5. Virginia Woolf wrote all her books while standing.

6. The most stolen book is the Bible.

7. Roosevelt read an average of one book per day.

8. There are over 20,000 books written about chess.

9. Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables" contains a sentence with 823 words.

10. Words like "hurry" and "addiction" were invented by Shakespeare.

11. If all the books in the New York Public Library were lined up, they would stretch 8 miles.

12. Leo Tolstoy's wife hand-copied the manuscript of "War and Peace" seven times.

13. Noah Webster took 36 years to write his first dictionary.

14. The Mahabharata is the only book or epic in the world with over 1,200 characters.

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The next book I’ve selected to read this month is the debut horror novel Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle! It’s my first truly “spooky” book this month!

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I decided to read a whole book yesterday. Granted it was only 170 pages but still, I’ve never done that before I’m gonna celebrate that! That brings me to 19 out of 30 books read for the year! Gonna try and keep this pace up!

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Finished my first book of the month! I enjoyed this one. It was a nice ease into what I want to read this month. I’m gonna start composing my thoughts while they’re fresh for my wrap up and the end of the month! 👨🏻‍💻

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Spooky Season TBR!

Happy October to all my fellow readers and book bloggers out there! 🎃👻

I’ve been scouring my bookshelves finding what books I want to read this month and I’ve found them!

To start the month off I picked one of the newest books I’ve acquired and that is the new Percy Jackson book! This is the second book in The Senior Year Adventures. The first book is The Chalice of the Gods and I read that last month and really enjoyed it! This second book follows Percy on his quest to acquire 3 letters of recommendations from the Gods so that he can attend New Rome University with his long time girlfriend and fellow Demigod Annabeth Chase. Percy is tasked with watching the Goddess Hecate's hellhound and Polecat while she is away attending festivals in her honor. How hard can pet sitting two mythical pets be? If you're a fan of any of Riordan's previous books then you'll enjoy this series for sure!

One of the next books in my TBR is a from an author I just discovered recently, Chuck Tingle. He has written many erotica books, but this debut horror novel is titled Camp Damascus. This novel takes place in the mountains of Montana where the "most effective" gay conversion camp resides. But the methods used at this camp are described as anything but holy. I've never read a gay horror novel before but I am excited to read it this month! I've also picked up his most recent release Bury Your Gays, which I would like to read soon as well!

I also had to a classic spooky book for the month of October and what better classic than Dracula by Bram Stoker! I've never watched any adaptations of Dracula and I know bits and pieces of the story so I am so excited to read this during the month of October! I kind of want to go into this one not knowing much so I can be surprised and really experience it!

The last book that I picked for my TBR is The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff. This is a historical account of what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials have always fascinated me and to be able to delve into a book that will recount it in a historically accurate way will be very insightful! I also love history so I think I'll really like this one! I'll let you know in my October reading wrap up how it went!

If you'd like to check these books out, I am linking them below! The link is to their bookshop.org page. I am not aware of people's financial situation and I know it is typically cheaper to buy off amazon, but bookshop.org helps independent bookstores and I try to support independent whenever I can! Also don't forget to check your local library if that is how you primarily read your books!

Happy Spooky season and happy reading!

Percy Jackson: Wrath of the Triple Goddess - Rick Riordan

Camp Damascus - Chuck Tingle

Dracula - Bram Stoker

The Witches: Salem, 1692 - Stacy Schiff

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Very true! I haven’t tried an audiobook before but I’m afraid I won’t retain it like I do when I read a physical book!

Here’s my take on the whole audio books vs. reading:

Oral tradition of storytelling predates written ones by millennias, and honestly, which one you like is just a personal preference.

The actual difference is

when listening, you have no idea how to write characters’ names

when reading, you have no idea how to pronounce characters’ names

hope this helps!

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All good choices! I got Dracula on my TBR this month!

SPOOKY SEASON BOOKS RECS

Spooky season is my favorite season. I love autumn, rainy days, pumpkin spiced lattes in the morning, soft blankets and, mostly, HALLOWEEN!

If We Were Villains: my favorite book EVER. If you like dark academia settings, murders, secrets and tragic love stories, this is the right book for you! Oliver and his story will surely have an impact!

The Picture Of Dorian Gray: I feel like I don't even need to say anything about this. Wilde is my favorite author and I've read this book more than once, it's like my Halloween tradition i guess.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: a quite short but very captivating story about a man, Dr Jekyll, that finds a way to set his worst and savage side free.

Wuthering Heights: Ngl, I hated this book at first, I just couldn't stand Catherine and her antics. But, when I re-read it for school a couple of years later, I changed my mind and it became one of my favorite books. I personally think it's a perfect read for the spooky season.

Ninth House: My favorite Bardugo book. I read it in August last year but honestly it's perfect for this period. Secrets, ghosts, misteries, a dark past and demons! Also, the sequel will be out soon, I'd take the opportunity!

Gideon The Ninth: Back again to gilrbosses, ghosts, deads, enemies to something (friends or maybe lovers?) BUT with lesbians. How could you wosh for more? A badass lesbian himbo trying to find her place in the world.

Dracula: a classic, but how could I not put THE vampire story in a spooky season books rec? Might be a bit long and discoursive, but I personally loved it.

Cemetery Boys: The story of a trans brujo trying to prove himself in order to be accepted by his very traditional and close-minded mexican family. What happens when, while trying to summon the ghost of his dead cousin, Yadriel summons a stranger who used to attend the same school as him? Spooky and heart-warming, a perfect book if you need something not too difficult but still likeable.