{"id":11753,"date":"2024-05-14T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T09:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11753"},"modified":"2024-05-14T12:00:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T09:00:50","slug":"book-review-funny-story-by-emily-henry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=11753","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Funny Story by Emily Henry"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

By Simon Demetriou<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If you\u2019ve ever sat down with the Hallmark Channel on in the background (whether because this is the case, or because you\u2019d rather not confess to ever having focused too much of your attention on the Hallmark Channel), you\u2019ll be familiar with the basic plot of Emily Henry\u2019s latest novel. What you won\u2019t necessarily be familiar with, however, is the way in which a formulaic story can become a thing of tremendous joy when handled by someone who really knows how to write. Emily Henry really knows how to write.
\nDaphne Vincent finds herself stranded in the charming coastal town of Waning Bay, Michigan, having uprooted her life in anticipation of beginning a new one with her rich, handsome, widely beloved fianc\u00e9, Peter. Except, as Henry\u2019s novel opens, Daphne is now Peter\u2019s ex-fianc\u00e9e, since he happened to realise during his bachelor party that he was actually in love with his childhood best friend, the loathsomely unloathable Petra. Why doesn\u2019t Daphne just leave? Well, she\u2019s the local children\u2019s librarian, and couldn\u2019t possibly abandon either the library or her dedicated band of youthful readers before the grand summer Readathon fundraiser, which is a whole 108 days away at the start of the book.
\nSo, turfed out of the house that was never hers by the apologetic, deed-signing ex-fianc\u00e9, Daphne finds herself in the awkward position of moving into the spare room of Miles Nowak, who just so happens to be looking for a roommate because his long-term girlfriend, one Petra, has abandoned him. Can you see where this is going? When Miles and Daphne get invitations to the forthcoming nuptials of their exes, there really is only one thing to do: fabricate a relationship to make their sickening former lovers as jealous as possible.
\nWill Daphne leave Waning Bay at the end of the summer, having raised money for book-loving pre-teens and cunningly deceived her ex? If you\u2019ve ever sat down with the Hallmark Channel on in the background, you\u2019ll know the answer. Even if you haven\u2019t, you can figure it out.
\nWhy should you read this story that I\u2019ve just summarised for you, and to which you can certainly guess the ending? Because it\u2019s brilliant. That\u2019s why. The writing is sharp enough to carve out dialogue, both spoken and interior, that make Henry\u2019s characters more than just endearing caricatures. They have back-stories that resonate, and they live in a world that is, yes, full of artisanal cheesemongers and lavender farmers, but is also full of feeling and warmth, even tenderness and pain. In someone else\u2019s hands, Funny Story could so easily be vomit-inducing. In Henry\u2019s, it\u2019s sheer joy.
\nFunny Story by Emily Henry is published by Berkley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fact: The novel “Funny Story” by Emily Henry is set in the charming coastal town of Waning Bay, Michigan, and follows the story of Daphne Vincent who finds herself stranded after her fianc\u00e9 leaves her for his childhood best friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5496,4817,8591,5654,9921,5292,3,4657,407,8903,9920,2817,250,3330,9922,9046,148,2628,3331,8802,5328,9232,8385,4347,6305,18,2366],"class_list":["post-11753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-abandoned","tag-anticipation","tag-book","tag-book-review","tag-charming-coastal-town","tag-children","tag-cyprus","tag-dialogue","tag-farmers","tag-follow","tag-formulaic-story","tag-fundraiser","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-grand-summer-readathon","tag-house","tag-local","tag-money","tag-news","tag-pain","tag-party","tag-relationship","tag-stories","tag-summer","tag-who","tag-world","tag-writing"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nBook 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