BOOK REVIEW: Happy Place

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?

Spoiler Free:

Harriet and Wyn makes sense. Their friend group makes sense. It always has since their first day in college. Since they shared a room and wore matching shirts in secrecy. Everything makes sense and everyone knows everything about each other. That is until time and space separates them. College is over and each of the three girls go in different paths. The thing keeping them together is visiting Sabrina’s family cottage in Maine. But this year is different. The cottage is for sale and Harriet and Wyn have broken off their engagement five months ago without their friends knowing.

One more week at the cottage is all they have left. Harriet and Wyn only have to pretend for one more week because telling their friends now would ruin the family they’ve built over the years. But what happens when secrets come out and they figure out the family they’ve built has cracks in the foundation. Will they be able to stay in their Happy Place together, forever?

Happy Place is written in a casual two-timeline structure. This meaning that the chapters don’t flip back and forth from past to present, but instead past memory chapters are inputted almost in a flashback feel. I will note there are no time indicators, but the chapter names give insight into the moment in their life which helps with some confusion.

With that, this piece has a heavy miscommunication trope as well as a small close-proximity trope, although the author doesn’t lean into close-proximity as much as I wished she had. If miscommunication isn’t something you gravitate to, I will say it will definitely frustrate you while reading, as it did me. Because of it there is an air of immaturity.

I struggled with this book and only started enjoying it after the halfway point, but up until then it felt like walking through quicksand. I’d say give it a shot if you like Emily Henry’s previous work.

Spoilers Full:

Spoilers Incoming…

I’d like to discuss every and all things. Please scroll back up to safety if you do not wish to be spoiled.

I’ll give you a minute…

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Okay, you’ve been warned.

Let’s go.

The only other book I’ve read of Emily Henry’s was People We Meet on Vacation and it was one that I actually enjoyed mainly because I loved the characters and their personalities as well as the execution of the tropes. When Happy Place was announced and eventually covered the tables in Barnes and Noble, I had to have it. I mean a hot pink book is hard to pass up on for adding some color and pizazz to my bookshelf. But not only that I like Emily Henry and was excited to have another swoon-worthy read on my TBR. I only wish it lived up to my expectations.

I didn’t connect with any of the characters. I mentioned in my GoodReads review that I only connected with Gloria and Hank. That wasn’t a joke. I felt more for Gloria when Harriet brought the campfire syrup and how she explained that it reminded her of Hank because they used to camp when they were young more than I connected with Wyn and Harriet's relationship throughout the entire book. Throughout, it felt immature, disconnected, and like two people were only sharing a life out of the appearance it brought to the friend group. Like the cliché idea of us girls are best friends and our partners are best friends. Not that there’s any problem with that, but a relationship can’t survive based on that simple fact. There has to be connection and because the structure in which Emily Henry chose to write this book in, you don’t see any connection between Harriet and Wyn until far into the book; way passed 100 pages. You don’t even find out why they broke up in the first place until she ambushes him at the outside shower on page 281.

Throughout the book we get to know Harriet. The book is in her point of view and therefore we see the world through her eyes. We see the break up through her eyes. Meaning we also see Wyn through her eyes and because there is this disassociation and miscommunication aspect with him, we don’t get to know Wyn at all. And his actions are dull. He doesn’t push any boundaries. He doesn’t playfully mess with Harriet at all. He’s just…passive. And at the end we find out he was depressed and suffering through grief and we learn he’s been put on anti-depressants which was really nice to see. Having a character go through a hard time, having it affect their relationship and then coming up from it and understanding when therapy and medication are needed is really important in literature in my opinion. But I wished Emily Henry would’ve shown the growth from his deepest time. Shown how that time and the medication has made him stronger, clearer-headed, and confident to ask for what he wants. Because throughout the trip he’s not. He was Wyn…but was he? He doesn’t act like it. He doesn’t try to explain himself or beg for her back. Again, miscommunication. It’s so frustrating to read. I understand she showed indifference in their relationship, but he did the breaking. He should be the one fixing that breaking if that’s what he wants. It wasn’t her job to make him feel confident. It’s his job to do that himself. He broke up with her because his dad died and he couldn’t take the shame of not finding a job, not because he cheated and disrespected who she is. I only wish he’d feel better about himself and show grace for the both of themselves during that hard time in the relationship; including having a conversation early on and making the plot the decision-making process Harriet has to manage. Not total ignorance the whole time.

Now Harriet…oh I have a love/hate relationship with Harriet. I like her at the end. I like how she took accountability of her childhood and how if directly affects her behaviors as an adult. I liked that she had the balls to know she just wanted to be happy in life and not go to work and be miserable for the only reason of large loans and appearances. Do I think she could’ve worked in the medical field in some capacity even in Montana? Yeah, of course. I think Harriet’s character is one that is refilled and rewarded through helping people and it would make sense for her being able to work in a career that provided that for her. I don’t think she was wrong in how she handled her relationship with Wyn back in San Francisco. That situation is impossible as a partner which is why communication is the most important thing during that time.

I also wish the three girl’s relationship with each other was more authentic. The friends fell flat on the page for me and I desperately wanted to read their fun and quirky relationship that was described while also seeing the adult versions of themselves. I think because there was miscommunication in every single relationship in this book, the relationships felt dull and like they had no life to give. Let’s go through it.

Wyn + Harriet

Sabrina + Parth

Wyn + His mother Gloria (she thinks they’re still together)

Harriet + Cleo + Sabrina

Wyn + Parth

Harriet + her sister

Harriet + her Parents

Every. Single. Relationship. They. Don’t. Talk.

And it’s absolutely maddening and confusing all at the same time.

This book had its moments, geared more towards the end. I didn’t hate this book but I also didn’t enjoy it much. Something like this I can usually fly through in a day, but instead it took me three with how many times I found myself taken out and having to reintegrate myself into the story. I wasn’t left connected to any character and thinking about them as I went to bed that night. I was happy to move on to the next.

Emily Henry

Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Happy Place, Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. With her new title, Funny Story to be released April 23,2024.

ISBN-13: 978-0593441275

Check out my GoodReads Review