To no one’s surprise, Emily Henry continues to be a reliably fun romcom writer!

In Funny Story by Emily Henry, Daphne’s life has been turned upside down when her fiance Peter leaves her… on the night of his bachelor party… for his childhood best friend. Heartbroken, betrayed, and feeling lost, Daphne finds herself temporarily rooming with Peter’s friend Miles… who happens to be the now-ex-boyfriend of the woman Peter is now with. Daphne knows this situation is a mess, and can’t wait to survive the next few months and then move away, never to return. But Miles is kind, and—united by the betrayal of both their exes—he and Daphne strike up an unlikely friendship. As the months progress, Daphne discovers that perhaps this small Michigan town isn’t so bad, and perhaps the life she’s been planning isn’t what she truly wants.

I keep mistakenly referring to this as Happy Place, Henry’s previous book, and I have no idea why. I think all her two-word titles are beginning to confuse me; I guess I need to read her book People We Meet on Vacation soon to alleviate that.

Anyway, I liked this! Daphne is a very sympathetic narrator, having just had her entire life overturned. She’s doing a lot of soul-searching while trying to put her life back together, and to discover what it is that she really wants. Her journey from despair, to realizing that her whole identity used to revolve entirely around her partner, to discovering things about herself she never knew before, is excellently paced.

I also liked Miles well enough, especially in the way he was so kind and respectful to Daphne, the relative stranger he lets into his space when she needs help. He had decent character development too, and was fun to read about. I also quite liked his sister Julia, and Daphne’s friends at the library. All in all, a good cast.

But also, I’m so surprised that no one commented on the fact that Daphne’s and Miles’ exes were named Peter and Petra. That’s like… basically the same name. And they got together. It’s like the name equivalent of those couples who dress alike on purpose (aka kinda obnoxious in a way I can’t quite qualify, unless they’re Laszlo and Nadja from WWDITS).

On an unrelated note, I also liked the literary aspect of this. Daphne’s a librarian, and the scenes there are so delightful, highlighting the ways that these places are not only places for books, but also beautiful community spaces. Props to Henry for demonstrating this so well.

Speaking of libraries and literature, I also enjoyed the references to various wonderful children’s books from Dragons Love Tacos to Jacqueline Woodson. The shoutouts to fellow writers were such a sweet touch! (And I enjoyed even more heartily the way that Henry indirectly referenced, but dodged mentioning by name, the wizard-under-the-stairs series and its highly unpleasant author-who-shall-not-be-named. Much respect to Henry, whether this was intentional or not.)

In the end, Funny Story is as enjoyable as all of Henry’s other works—that is, very. The characters are good, the pacing is stellar, the emotions are realistic and relatable. There’s humor and some spice (though only a couple scenes), with lots and lots of heart. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan, and it was excellent. Overall, this story is a fun time, and if you want a light read, try this one!