Funny Story By Emily Henry | Review By A Non-Romance Reader

Funny Story Review

Let me start this review by stating that I’m not a huge romance reader. In fact, before this year, I don’t think I ever read any romance books!

But, Emily Henry has taken the bookish community by storm and you can’t scroll through BookTok or BookTube without seeing someone recommending one of her books.

So, let’s start with a short summary of Funny Story.

Our female main character is Daphne. Daphne’s fiancé (Peter) has a childhood (female) best friend (Petra), whom he swears he doesn’t have feelings for (sure, sure). But alas, after Peter’s bachelor party weekend, he returns home and confesses that he and Petra are in love and he’s dumping Daphne.

Daphne has moved to Peter’s hometown of Waning Bay, Michigan, so she doesn’t have many friends except those she met through Peter.

Now, if I were Daphne, I would pack up my things pronto and book the first ticket out of there. I would literally want to be anywhere else and would do whatever I had to to leave.

But, that’s obviously not what happens. Daphne stays in town because she has her dream job, a children’s librarian, and ends up moving in with Miles (our male main character), Petra’s now ex-boyfriend.

Daphne and Miles are opposites. Daphne is practical, a bit of an introvert that’s social awkward, and somewhat buttoned up. Miles is the kind of guy who doesn’t mind being late and is a real people person. Everyone in town loves him!

After a drunken night, Daphne and Miles start fake dating in an effort to seem like they’re not total losers, and well, in typical romance book fashion, feelings start to emerge.

So that’s the gist of the book.

Let’s start with the obvious. For me, the premise isn’t the slightest bit believable. There’s absolutely no way that I would move in with my ex’s new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.

You could go anywhere else! A hotel, motel, Holiday Inn (thanks Pitbull). Book an Airbnb. Stay a few towns away. There are honestly 50 other options before moving in with the ex- fiancé’s new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend.

Ok, now that that criticism is out of the way, the rest of the story was enjoyable.

I listened to Funny Story in audiobook form (using Spotify Premium). Julia Whelan narrated my version, and I can say that I liked her style and she’s a great narrator. It was easy to follow along while doing other things (cooking, cleaning, hiking) and I think that’s a real reflection of Emily Henry’s writing.

There’s something about Emily’s writing that I find approachable. It’s not too cheesy, like some other romance books. There’s a good amount of contemporary mixed in so she’s able to write characters that are relatable, and you can easily picture yourself in the same situation and wonder what you would do.

Overall, I’d say it was a good read/listen. I definitely didn’t hate it, but also didn’t love it. It’s a middle of the road kind of book for me.

This is also the second Emily Henry book I’ve read (well, listened to), the first being Happy Place*. I do think Happy Place* ranks higher and I would recommend it over Funny Story.

Nevertheless, I think Emily writes great books for both long time romance lovers and newbies (like myself) who just want to dip their toes into the genre.