Happy Place
Ratings496
Average rating3.8
I enjoyed this book, but the fact that the whole plot is just about miscommunication doesn't sit well with me.
Where's the button for “I'm in this book and I don't like it”?
This book affected me more than a chick-lit book really should. But, I really saw myself in the main character. The relationship between Harriet and Wyn reminds me of my relationship with Jason, or at least the way it could end. And how we feel about each other. He is what I think of. He is what I want. And that is kind of scary. I don't want to build my life around a person, but here I am.
I also really felt the idea of growing away from friends, whether on purpose or not. I really felt the idea of living my life the way others want me to. I just really felt this book.
4 stars because it was a little predictable. But, not bad at all. I probably would have thrown the book at the wall if it didn't end the way it did. But for so long it seemed as though this book was going to break the norm of the genre, but alas. It ended well, but a little cliche.
Cried. Hard-core cried.
I know, I know, four stars for a romance?
Yes, but Happy Place is a little more than a romance.
So what's Happy Place about?
Happy Place is Harriet's last get-together with her for-life friends in the place they have loved for years, a wonderful cottage in Maine. Things are changing, though, and Cleo and her partner Kimmy seem too busy for friendship, and Sabrina has finally agreed to marry Parth, and, most drastic of all, Harriet has broken up with Wyn.
Okay, that sounds like a romance to me. What's with the four stars?
Look at the cover of this book with all its in-your-face pinkness, with young people in bathing suits splashing and laughing, and the author's name in huge type, and you are instantly thinking, Rom-com. Read the blurb on the front book flap and you can't help but think you know where this story is going.
But, and you have to trust me on this, Happy Place is a little more. Happy Place is snappy dialogue, fresh, witty, clever, laugh-out-loud funny at times. And that's huge.
Most importantly, Happy Place is therapy-in-a-book. You will read this book and you will think, Oh, yes, that's wise. You can see the characters growing, becoming stronger and braver, moving in ways that sometimes surprise you but also seem in retrospect to feel inevitable.
A romance, yes, but a romance that might offer more than just being a silly summer read.
Harriet, Sabrina dan Cleo tergabung dalam grup pertemanan sejak tahun awal mereka di Universitas, Grup mereka semakin seru dengan masuknya Parth, Wyn dan Kimmy. Awalnya ada aturan “tidak berkencan” untuk menjaga grup pertemanan mereka langgeng. Ditakutkan apabila ada diantara mereka yang berkencan lalu putus di tengah jalan, grup pertemanan akan bubar pula.
Namun Harriet dan Wyn tidak bisa menyembunyikan ketertarikan mereka pada satu sama lain lebih lama, dan mereka pun mengumumkan pada sahabat-sahabat mereka kalau mereka berkencan. Sejak itu Harriet dan Wyn tidak terpisahkan.
Grup mereka mempunyai ritual tahunan berlibur ke rumah peristirahatan milik ayah Sabrina di Maine, sudah berjalan sepuluh tahun. Hanya saja tahun ini agak berbeda karena Harriet dan Wyn sudah putus hubungan sejak enam bulan yang lalu, namun mereka menyembunyikan hal ini dari sahabat-sahabat mereka, karena takut grup mereka pecah. Jadi mereka pun berpura-pura masih berkencan, terlebih tahun ini adalah tahun terakhir mereka bisa menghabiskan waktu mereka di “tempat paling bahagia” bagi mereka berenam, karena ayah Sabrina memutuskan untuk menjual rumah peristirahatan tersebut.
Setelah bertahun-tahun bersama, apalah artinya berpura-pura masih berkencan selama seminggu demi menghabiskan waktu bersama sahabat-sahabat mereka di tempat yang membuat mereka semua bahagia. Saat-saat canggung pun terjadi berulang kali karena sesungguhkan Harriet dan Wyn masih saling tertarik satu sama lain.
Aku menyukai tulisan Emily Henry sejak pertama kali membaca Beach Read. Dilanjutkan dengan People We Meet in Vacation dan Book Lovers. Masing-masing memiliki trope berbeda, kali ini di Happy Place, trope “kesempatan kedua” dan “menemukan keluarga”.
Aku suka bagaimana cerita Harriet dan Wyn di masa lalu, bagaimana mereka pertama bertemu, saling terhubung, lalu memutuskan untuk bersama. Namun justru yang membuatku begitu patah hati membaca kisah mereka kini yang telah berpisah. Berawal dari suatu insiden yang disusul oleh rangkaian kesalahpahaman serta komunikasi yang buruk diantara mereka berdua karena faktor jarak juga.
Dari cover buku, seharusnya aku sudah menduga ini bukan hanya cerita Harriet dan Wyn, namun juga cerita grup pertemanan mereka. Sejujurnya aku lebih memilih cerita mengenai dua tokoh utama saja, tetapi aku tetap menyukai buku ini dan akan merekomendasikannya kepada penggemar genre romance.
I'm not huge into second chance romance, only because it is usually paired with the miscommunication trope. It's hard for me to be into the love interest when they are self-deprecating and on that sad sack bs. I know Wyn was depressed and had mental health struggles and I shouldn't fault him for that, but being on the other end of that shit is so hard. I understand why Harriet shut down and didn't want to add to the pile of negativity on Wyn's shoulders. Ultimately, if they had just communicated and not gone off of their well-meaning assumptions, they wouldn't have ever had to break up. But then there wouldn't be a story... Obviously I still liked this book, but it might be my least favorite of Emily Henry's romances.
You'd think I would've had a hard time reading this between all the leg swinging and blushing and giggling, but it actually went pretty smooth.
“In every universe, it's you for me. Even if it's not me for you.”
Emily Henry, you have done it again.
I will admit I went into this worried that it wasn't going to possibly be able to live up to the admiration I have for Book Lovers, however, I am so happy to say that I was proven wrong... completely wrong.
Fake relationship? Second chance romance? Happy Place is made of greatness.
Happy Place has become my happy place. It didn't take me long to fall in love with these characters who are imperfect and flawed and human, just like us.
Emily Henry never fails to write chemistry, banter and angst that has me screaming into a pillow, giggling and crying. She has this ability of writing characters that you can't help but see yourself in so in turn, their happiness and pain begins to read like your own.
Harriet and Wyn are so special and I am so happy that I was able to read about them. This is definitely a comfort read.
A book about doing what makes you happy, instead of always trying to make everyone else around you happy. Loved it!
This book. I liked all Emily Henry books so far but this one is by far my favourite. I never thought I would be a romance reader but there is just something about how she writes feelings in such a raw way and entangles characters in each other and real life mess that grips me.
I gulped this one up, maybe because it portrays an old love, one that you feel in your bones with no flashy new butterlies or insta-love or frenemy tropes. Maybe because the issues the characters deal with are so relatable. This one felt more real, and I gulped it up.
5/5 • “You are in all of my happiest places.” Wow! I think this might be my favourite book from Emily Henry. The miscommunication between Harriet and Wyn was at times so heartbreaking that I was truely rooting for these characters.
I am so disappointed. This is definitely my least favorite Emily Henry. I found it to be way too slow and very cheesy. I did not feel any emotion or connection to the characters at all. I didn't like the flashback chapters because I felt confused where they fit in in the story and they just felt disjointed. I think I would have rather done half the book as a part one “before” and the second when they reunite. Almost put it down at the halfway point but pushed through. People we Meet on Vacation will always be my favorite.
Everyone else probably found that group of friends really annoying. But Emily Henry does her thing. I prefer her stories more if there's work-related bickering involved.
i've never been more obsessed with a book! these characters are my friends now! i love them so much! i've never loved anyone more!
Happy place follows the story of Harriet, her love life with Wyn and her friendship with her found family over the years. This is a beautiful story about love, friendship, second chances, growth and happy places.
What I loved about the book:
- One of the most beautiful love stories I've read. You can just feel Harriet and Wyn truly love each other. There is so much raw emotion in each page! It is not about lust and attraction and it feels real in a way I rarely see written.
- Great mental health representation (depression and anxiety)
- Despite being one POV only, the past chapters perfectly show Wyn's strengths and flaws, his insecurities and his incredible ability to love. I loved these chapters as I could have glimpses of their happy life and understand why they were just perfect for each other.
- happy places perfectly shows how friendships shift and evolve through time and as we age, even when we fight against it and try to keep everything the same. It's ok to grow and change and I liked to see it with Harriet's friends.
My only complaint in this book is that I wished I have seen more of their lives and happy ending. The romance is well written enough for me to believe in the MC HEA but, after all the sadness and suffering, I would have liked to read a bit more about their happy ending, especially about happy Wyn.
Emily Henry's books are always successful but excluding Beach Read, which I absolutely adore, I tend to have mix/negative feelings about them. Happy place just won a place alongside Beach Read on my favorites list.
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's a book about two people who have broken up due to a huge lack of communication and misunderstandings (which is actually very realistic?) but makes it frustrating to read. There's a side plot with the friendship which I actually enjoy a bit more. Didn't want to give it a 3 because it has more depth than your average romance novel, but more of a 3.5 rounded up.
For what this is, which is a solid rom-com, it's great. Sexy scenes, realistic portrayal of young adults navigating their way into adulthood, the witty banter Henry is known for. It's the first of hers I've read and I've realized this genre isn't for me, but for anyone whose jam this is, I'd say five thumbs up. Good characters, appealing setting, uplifting message. Just not my cup of tea.
3.76, my least favorite Emily Henry. The issue between the couple seemed so unnaturally dramatic.