Book Review: ‘Funny Story’ by Emily Henry
Maude Garrett, Amanda Tass, and Amanda Guarragi (me) have gone on an Emily Henry binge. They’ve managed to read all of her books and couldn’t wait for Funny Story to come out. Whether we pre-ordered the hardcover or immediately started listening to the audiobook, Henry has captured our hearts with her writing.
Funny Story by Emily Henry shows the beauty in friendships and rediscovering yourself. It’s a refreshing read and there’s a level of honesty that has been hard to find in other romance novels. Henry has always been realistic with her characters and they’ve all felt grounded. It’s never just about romantic relationships, but how everyone can be affected by others in their lives. Where can trauma or loss stem from and how does that manifest into something else?
Emily Henry can connect her readers to different characters because of how she layers their hardships and emotions.
Funny Story
Synopsis:
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
This is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
***SPOILERS BELOW***
Funny Story Quotes
“You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.
Trust people’s actions, not their words.
Don’t love anyone who isn’t ready to love you back.
Let go of people who don’t hold onto you.
Don’t wait on anyone who is in no rush to get to you.”
Miles: “I know it’s a cliche, but being on the water always does feel like what I imagine church is for some people.”
Daphne: “I get that. Out here, you’re small and there’s no one else around, but you’re not lonely. It’s like you’re connected to everyone and everything.”
Ashleigh: “There’s steadiness and dependability, and those are great. But settling? Just deciding you already know everything you like and dislike on the entire planet, everything you’re good at, every friend you’re going to make, and every food you’re ever going to eat? The guy wouldn’t even let me repaint our bedroom! I wanted to know new parts of him, and I wanted to find new parts of myself.”
Daphne: “The first we were my mom and me, then it was Sadie and me, then Peter. I’ve always cleaved to the people I love and tried to orient my orbit around them. Maybe, I realize, I’ve been trying to make myself un-leaveable. But it hasn’t worked.”
His jaw softens. He sets his pasta aside too and pulls me into a hug that makes my bones liquefy, his breath warm against my neck. I close my eyes and breathe him in, and it’s not complicated: I want him, I like him, and I care about him enough to push those first tW thoughts aside. - Daphne
To him, he’s the brother who ran away. To her, he’s the one who stays, even when he shouldn’t.
Miles: “It’s easy to be loved by the ones who’ve never seen you fuck up. The ones you’ve never had to apologize to, and who still think all your ‘quirks’ are charming. It’s easy to be around people who don’t know you. But as soon as someone starts to figure you out — as soon as you can’t be perfect — it’s easier to move on. Find someone new to be the cool, fun, laid-back one with.”
Miles: “You make the people you care about feel like…Like you want all of them. not just the good parts. And that’s terrifying to someone who’s spent a lifetime avoiding those other pieces of themselves.”
Ms. Vincent: “Honey, I’m a cynic. And a cynic is a romantic who is too scared to hope.”
Themes
opposites attract
friends to lovers
fake dating
childhood abandonment
fear of change
identity
importance of friendship
Funny Story Characters
Characters
Daphne is a librarian who was engaged to her fiance Peter and moved to Waning Bay, Michigan to be with him. She is a people pleaser and wants to be accepted. More importantly, she craves to be loved, hoping no one leaves her. After making her entire life about Peter she is struggling with a loss of identity when Peter breaks off the engagement to marry his childhood best friend Petra.
Miles is the kindest and most generous person. He loves people and getting to know them as deeply as possible. He works at Cherry Hill and helps run the restaurant with ease. He knows different places to get the best food from because of his line of work. Miles was dating Petra until Peter took her away from him. Peter never liked Miles because of his persona of a stoner with multiple jobs, but he never really got to know him.
Jules is Miles’ sister and had a rough childhood. They both grew up in a household with a mother who would only value them if they did something good for her. She would guilt trip them with her love and it was conditional. Jules wanted to go to school as far away as possible and Miles helped her as much as he could. He moved out the second he came of age and never spoke to his parents. Jules is upbeat and reckless but is a straight shooter with a heart of gold.
Peter is very much the poised rich country club man that some girls dream of marrying. He is regimented and wants to have a partner to fit into his life perfectly rather than get to know her needs. Peter had a childhood best friend in Petra and he swore to Daphne that nothing would ever happen between them. The second he got cold feet he turned to Petra and broke Daphne’s trust. Peter is a shell of a man because of the expectations he has to uphold for his status. He struggles with his identity as well.
Petra is a gorgeous blonde who has the resources to go anywhere she wants at any moment. She is flaky and advantageous. In a way, she controlled Miles to do whatever she wanted and he followed her around because he loved her. There isn’t much to say about Petra because she showed no remorse for her actions and continued to showcase her superiority when she was with Peter.
Ashleigh is also a librarian and is recently divorced. She has had a difficult time trying to figure out what she wants in life because she has lived the safe route. She slowly befriends Daphne and tells her the truth about her lifestyle. Daphne needed a friend like Ashleigh because of how she instilled independence and built a life of her own.
Review
Why does the “fake dating” trope work in Funny Story?
The fake dating trope feels different in Funny Story and it’s because of the setup. Henry places Daphne in the same apartment as Miles because of their exes running off together. Petra moved out, Daphne needed a place to stay, and Miles was a very nice guy. They had an awkward friendship to begin with because of the situation. It became a bonding moment for them and that’s what strengthened the “fake dating.”
It was interesting to see how safe Daphne felt with Miles and how playful he was with her early on. The relationship naturally flourished and there’s a comfort with them as a couple. To get back at Peter and Petra, Miles and Daphne wanted to pretend like they were dating. Once they both got wedding invites to Peter and Petra’s wedding they knew they had to up the ante and bring their relationship to the next level.
Their situation starts sad, but then it becomes a beautiful friendship between them. They recognize each other’s pain but more importantly their worth. Miles and Daphne see each other through their flaws and recognize there’s a reason they’re handling their loss the way they are. Daphne becomes a whole person with Miles and Miles shows up for Daphne in ways she could never imagine.
How important is independence in a relationship?
Emily Henry writes Daphne as this reserved woman who adapts to her partner’s way of life. She had to keep moving around when she was a teen and never had the time to have actual friends. Her father had exited her life and she craved that unconditional love. Her absent father treated her as an afterthought and would never show up for her. This gave Daphne a complex that she was never the “best thing” because there was always something better around the corner. So she went above and beyond to keep people in her life because she was scared they would abandon her like her father did.
Daphne had been sculpted into this perfect fiance for Peter and was sucked into his world. She was on a regiment like he was and they did everything together. When it all came crumbling down she had nothing of her own. No friends, no hobbies, no places to go. She forgot what she enjoyed. She forgot who she was without Peter. The one thing about being in a relationship is that you can’t get lost in the other person. You have to have a sense of agency and bring your likes/dislikes to the table. Even your flaws are a factor. To be independent in a relationship you have to be an individual and not only grow with your partner, but grow on your own.
Is Miles the better book boyfriend out of Emily Henry’s work?
The reason why Miles can be considered the best Emily Henry “book boyfriend” is because of how laid-back he is. It’s impossible not to like him because he’s so lovable and carefree. He wants to experience all the good that life has to offer even though he had a rough childhood. He’s always honest with Daphne and wants to make her happy. When Miles convinces her to go touring with him in Waning Bay to show her the richness the small town has to offer, that’s when it becomes evident that he has grown fond of her. And their adventures together would solidify their bond. He didn’t want her to go back to safety because she had followed her fiance to a place that was solely his. Miles helped her rebuild her life, whether he would be in it or not.
Is it better than Happy Place?
After reading Happy Place I was apprehensive going into Funny Story. It was interesting to see Henry dive into a different structure for Happy Place but it’s the friendship-heavy angle that didn’t quite work for me. If anything there was more value in the relationship between Ashleigh and Daphne versus the group of six in Happy Place. For me, the friendship between Miles and Daphne was much stronger than that between Harriet and Wyn.
Funny Story was a breeze to get through because of the fake dating trope and the slow friends-to-lovers build. Not only did Daphne gain a new life, but she also came to terms with who her father was. It felt like a well-rounded story because Henry’s characters all had resolutions befitting to how it affected their relationships. Henry made Miles, Ashleigh and Jules such warm characters that their humour and chemistry made it all worthwhile for Daphne. It felt like she was the missing piece to the puzzle in Waning Bay and by the end, she felt accepted. She felt comfortable being herself for once in her life and it’s because of the people she chose to surround herself with.
What did you think about Funny Story by Emily Henry? Let us know in the comments below, or join our discord today!
Become a member today to read more books and get access to behind-the-scenes content of ‘Maude’s Book Club.’
