Happy Place by Emily Henry
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 six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest 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, blue 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?
Review: Despite the fact that they broke up months ago, Harriet and Wyn decide to keep this fact a secret from their friends in order to enjoy one last weeklong vacation all together. Previously Harriet's 'happy place,' this year feels hauntingly different as they must pretend to still be the happy couple they were for so long, all while sharing a bedroom together.
This was a lot more angsty and emotional than most of Henry's books as the story takes place after the relationship has ended. But it is in their mutual sense of loss and undeniable remaining attraction to each other, interspersed with alternating chapters that reveal their love story, that increasingly builds the sense that this relationship is something worth fighting for.
I really loved the chemistry and pull that Wyn and Harriet have for each other. The sense of torment over being together yet not being together was palpable. I loved the Maine setting and the sense of escape in a week away where they could focus on being together and their feelings without being bogged down by the realities of their everyday life. I also loved the focus on generational trauma and the unhealthy relationship with her parents that Harriet has to work through over the course of this book, as well as the spotlight on mental health given in this book. Despite the heavy themes and the second chance romance plot, which is not typically my favorite, there was something about Harriet and Wyn's connection that really worked for me, and I enjoyed this immensely.
I listened to this on audio, and it was fantastically done by Julia Whelan as always. However, I had a hard time distinguishing between the multiple friends in the friend group for a good while into the novel. While I loved the vacation vibes, the non-stop partying, drinking, and recreational drug use was a bit over the top for a group of their age no less. I also found it hard to believe that they were that concerned about their friends that they couldn't just tell them the truth about having broken up.
I will also add that it never felt like Harriet was really a surgical resident. I know that we see her while she's on vacation but her time in med school and her real burgeoning career are just literally almost never mentioned other than in passing.
Stars: 4
Related Titles:
- Book Lovers by Emily Henry
- Funny Story by Emily Henry
- People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
- Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
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