Review by OliviaFranklin

New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry has released her fifth book, “Funny Story.” The novel came out April 23 after months of excitement. It has been eagerly anticipated after she posted teasers on her blog, Emily’s Grocery List, in August of 2023.

Henry recently started publishing romantic comedy novels in 2020 but has had great success with all her novels. In fact, many of her novels are being adapted into movies. The filming and writing of these stories were halted in 2023 due to the writer’s strike, but have picked back up in this book. 

Daphne, the main character, is broken up with by her fiancé because he realized he was in love with his childhood best friend. She found herself lost and alone because she completely changed her life for him. Daphne turns to Miles, her ex-fiancé’s childhood best friend and new girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. Basically, they are both the snubbed exes who were betrayed and left, but they are brought together by this betrayal and it ends up being for the best. 

I have been excitedly waiting for this novel since it was teased earlier this year. I have loved Emily Henry’s writing since 2022, when I read “Beach Read” for the first time. Since then, I have reread my favorite novels from her multiple times. 

On April 23 right after school, I hurried to Target to purchase “Funny Story.” Even though I had no idea what this book was about, I still bought it because I trusted that whatever Emily Henry would write I would love. Soon after I got home, I started the book. 

At first, it started off slow and I had a hard time getting into it. When I was finally able to curb any distractions and get 50 pages in, I was hooked. 

Henry’s writing is so important to me because the main characters are so realistic. My favorite novels by her are “Beach Read” and “Book Lovers.”  Those books stand out to me because the main characters are so relatable and going through situations that are similar to my own. 

Since falling in love with her books around two years ago, I have been hoping for a book that is just as good. Unfortunately, Henry’s last two books have not particularly stuck out to me. They were entertaining and a quick, fun read but not as amazing as “Beach Read” and “Book Lovers.” 

I finished “Funny Story” on April 28, which was pretty surprising because it was Field Week and I was trying to learn my class demo. 

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. The plot was different from any other book that I had ever read, which made it really intriguing. I also liked how fast- paced it was. 

The side characters in all of Henry’s novels are written well. Each extra character adds an important, different aspect to the story. In this novel, I really liked Miles’ younger sister, Julia, and Daphne’s best friend, Ashleigh. They were both amazingly written and I found myself relating to them multiple times. 

All in all, I would recommend this novel. It was a quick, fun read that I really enjoyed. If I were to recommend any of Henry’s novels, it would have to be “Beach Read” and “Book Lovers.”