A review by koistyfishy
Funny Story by Emily Henry

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3 Cheesemonger Stars โญ๏ธ
Spicy Level:๐ŸŒถ๏ธ/5

Funny storyโ€ฆ How? Just how is this the best romance of 2024?

I know the phrase "Did I read the same book as everyone else?" is overused and some people don't like it, but apparently 170,000+ people voted for this book as the best romance of the year. And honestly? That just makes it worse! LIKE THIS BOOK... This is what people set AS the standard and claim that this is the epitome of the ROMANCE genre. Funny Story is the book that represents everything great about romance! It just makes me so sad. Because I can name multiple romances that had better character development, better storytelling, better emotional depth, and, you knowโ€ฆ MORE romance (which this book was missing entirely).

๐™Ž๐™ฎ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™จ๐™ž๐™จ:
Our FMC, Daphne, is a very average librarian (borderline forgettable librarian because I basically forgot everything about her when I finished the book) who thought she had "the perfect life." She was engaged to the "perfect" man, and their relationship was straight out of a storybook. That isโ€ฆ until his female best friend (of course) confessed her love to him on the night of his bachelor party. And instead of sticking to his commitment to Daphne, he thought fuck it, Iโ€™ve always wanted to tap that and broke off the engagement. Now Daphne is homeless, boyfriend-less, and generally pathetic (sorry, but she kinda is). So what does she do? She moves in with Miles, who just so happens to be the ex-boyfriend of her ex-fiancรฉโ€™s new girlfriend. Because why just suffer alone when you can double your trauma by living with the guy who got dumped for the same reason?

๐™๐™๐™ค๐™ช๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™๐™š๐™š๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™จ:
This book was painfully predictable... Daphne moves in with Miles who she has been told is basically a "waste of space stoner", but SHOCKING... He is actually a nice guy and the more she spends time with him she realises how nice he actually is and how everything she has been told about him is wrong because he is sweet, likeable, and just generally the best person ever!

Like don't get me wrong... THIS BOOK IS NOT BAD... I am just upset that it means so much more!!!

Daphne just felt very underwhelming... She's not a very good friend, not overly witty, or has anything that makes her stand out. She is boring and as such I felt it very hard to connect with her and Miles's romance...

AND WHAT WAS THE WHOLE THIRD-ACT BREAKUP MISCOMMUNICATION MESS? LIKE I wanted to throw my earbuds out the window when that shitstorm happened... Like I cannot deal with that idiocy!

๐™๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™จ:
โ–ถ Roommates to Lovers
โ–ถ Single POV
โ–ถ Fake Dating
โ–ถ Opposites Attract
โ–ถ Ex's New Partners Ex
โ–ถ Cinnamon Roll/Golden Retriever
โ–ถ Slow Burn
โ–ถ Miscommunication
โ–ถ Third Act Breakup

and ๐™ˆ๐™ž๐™˜๐™ง๐™ค ๐™๐™ง๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™š๐™จ:
โ–ท "More"
โ–ท Undressing/Dressing Help
โ–ท Rolled Sleeves/Forearms
โ–ท Tattooed MMC
โ–ท Forehead Kisses
โ–ท "Hold on to the..."
โ–ท "Don't Stop"
โ–ท Chin Lift

I honestly canโ€™t wrap my head around how this book won Best Romance of the Year. Itโ€™s not terrible, but it is entirely forgettable. please be better next year

I do want to give kudos to Julia Whelan, as she did a phenomenal job with the narration of this story... It was not her fault it was just a meh story. 

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