Review - 'Funny Story' by Emily Henry

Can a book survive on nothing but banter? Well, Funny Story sure tries.

Okay, all you rabid Emily Henry fans. Before you chuck your rotten eggs at me, please let me explain.

If ever there was an Emily Henry book that I should connect with, it's this one. Daphne is a librarian (my dream job) and she's in a pretend relationship with her roommate, Miles, in order to get back at her ex-fiancé (an intriguing premise). And yet, something was missing. I kept waiting for the story to grab me, and it never really did.

I hate to say it, but the crux of the problem is that the whole thing was rather forgettable. I only just finished the book, and already I hardly remember anything about it. The characters, the interactions, even the conflicts, while all feelgood on the surface, were in fact fairly bland underneath.

I enjoy a low-stakes beach read as much as the next gal, but there is a difference between low stakes and no stakes, and this was too much in the latter. At no point was there anything really on the line. The story just shambled along, with lots of banter and some minor conflicts here and there, until the requisite 300-some pages were met, and then it was called a book.

Speaking of the conflicts, I totally didn't understand Daphne and Miles' issues, or even Daphne and Ashleigh's. Do people really get so upset and potentially break up relationships and friendships over such small issues? And each one, blown up to be so important, can only be resolved after much back and forth, with pages upon pages of dialogue of each person's feelings and the associated parental trauma that was at the root of all their misgivings. It was a bit much.

Don't get me wrong, I did have fun. There were entertaining moments, and the banter was truly top notch. And it wasn't just for the main couple during romantic moments. No, the banter was interspersed everywhere and among everyone, so we got plenty of chuckle-worthy moments.

But you can't just sustain a story on banter alone, no matter how delightful it is. When the characters feel as lackluster as Daphne and Miles and their conflicts equally bland and forced, it was hard to care either way if they ended up together, which is always a bad sign in a romance.

I feel like I'm the only person out there who doesn't get heart-eyes at the merest mention of an Emily Henry book. My experiences so far have been largely underwhelming, or maybe I just haven't read the right books by her. Either way, I'll add this to the pile of Emily Henry books I've pretty much forgotten the moment I finished.

Readaroo Rating: 3 stars