Author Review: Emily Henry

Author review of Emily Henry.

Modern romances have been the most up-and-coming book genre seen all over the internet. There are a few authors more popular than others, the main one being Emily Henry. Henry currently has four romance novels out, all centered around a smart, successful leading lady, and an angsty brooding man (most of the time with some sort of floppy hair that needs brushing out of his eyes.)

I understand what draws readers to Henry’s books. It’s the same feeling one gets when flipping through classic romcoms. Life is already complicated enough, it’s fun to insert yourself into a story that you know will have a happy ending, and probably a sexy leading man to fall in love with. Henry captures this feeling in ways other romance authors cannot. Maybe it’s because she sets all of her books somewhere rural and beautiful? Most of the time near some large, romantic body of water? Maybe it’s just that she captures true escapism.

Some of her books, however, are much better than others. Below I have ranked them from least to best in my humble opinion.

4. People we Meet on Vacation

Protagonists: Poppy and Alex

Summary: Poppy and Alex have nothing in common. In fact, they live in completely different parts of the country, but every summer for ten years they have taken one week of vacation together. Until the summer before this book is set where *everything went wrong*. Out of last chance hope, Poppy asks Alex to go on one more summer vacation, where Poppy has only a week to either make everything right, or lose her best friend (and maybe something more) forever.

Review: Now of course, it wouldn’t be Emily Henry if things weren’t made right in the end. But to get there we follow our protagonists through many, many pages of awkward conversations, sad feelings, and incredible miscommunication. It was hard not to groan sometimes at the issues in their friendship and relationship. If Poppy and Alex had sat down together and had a conversation about their feelings, this book would have been one chapter long. But, of course, that would have been boring and definitely not picked up by a publisher. I do just find it difficult to enjoy romances when the main duo are their own stumbling blocks. I would only recommend this to someone if they enjoyed frustration.

3 STARS

3. Happy Place

Protagonists: Harriet and Wyn

Summary: Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple. They met in college and had a seemingly perfect romance. That is, up until six months ago when they broke up, for reasons they still haven’t really talked about. The issue? They haven’t told their friends, and when they find themselves on a friends vacation together, pretending to still be a couple, they have to face the problems in their relationship and what broke them up after promising to love each other forever.

Review: OH MY GOD JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER. Who breaks up with someone and doesn’t tell them why? Why doesn’t the other person ask? Why don’t they just talk to each other when they are going through a horrible time? I understand that in order for them to understand their own problems they had to part ways, but oh my GOD I spent half this book waiting for them to have an actual conversation. Why is this book not last on my list? I loved Harriet and Wyn and their friend group. I rooted for them. I loved the relationships Harriet had with her best girlfriends and how their friendship was so important to the plot of the book and Harriet’s growth as a character. I also loved the setting. I spent a little bit of time on an island in Maine when I was really young and I still think about it and how wonderful it was. If you love a second chance story and are willing to inevitably shell out the money to take a trip to Maine (since this book makes you fall in love with it), then you will love Happy Place.

3.5 STARS

2. Book Lovers

Protagonists: Nora and Charlie

Summary: Nora and Charlie are enemies in their home turf of New York City. The former is a kick-ass book agent, and the latter a book editor who has turned down, and criticized, works she has pitched to him. They would not normally have interacted ever again, but when Nora’s beloved sister begs for them to take a trip away in a cute rural town in middle America, Nora can’t say no. And whom do they run into there? Charlie. Nora has spent her whole life reading romance novels, but can she be the heroine of her own love story?

Review: I wanted this to be my favorite book. A book agent and a book editor? Enemies to lovers? Dark haired, brooding man who can’t express his feelings (a la Hugh Grant in any movie from the 90s)? It should be at the top of this list. But it just fell short. I loved that Nora was not your typical heroine. She was not laid-back, she was ambitious, she loved to dress up and look good and didn’t seem to want to settle in life. And I liked that she was challenged by Charlie. Their communication, on romance level terms, was pretty good and that made it more enjoyable. But I was reading the book half the time to read about Nora’s sister’s story. Libby’s struggles cut deep, and reading about the sisters’ unconditional love and support for one another was emotional. I would recommend this, but mostly to book lovers wanting a bit of an escape.

3.5 STARS

1. Beach Read

Protagonists: January and Augustus

Summary: January and Augustus met in college. January was a hopeful romance writer who deeply believed in a happy ending, and Augustus was a semi-pretentious literature lover who shut down most of January’s joy in class. Except for one night in a frat house basement, January has never liked him. Fast forward many years, January is a successful romance writer, but no longer believes in love, and Augustus is an incredibly successful author of American literature. All of a sudden, January finds herself neighbors to Augustus in her late father’s old beach house. Both struggling with their new manuscripts, they make a deal: Augustus will spend the summer writing the next great romance, and January will write a book that won’t necessarily have a happy ending. Growing closer together as the summer goes on, January realizes that maybe Augustus isn’t as bad as she thought.

Review: I did not expect to like this as much as I did. Augustus’s broodiness did leave something to be desired in his character, but I loved the way he adored January and wanted her to succeed. Unlike in the other Henry novels, their main issue was not that they couldn’t communicate, but that both had a whole lotta shit to deal with before they came together. I cried when reading about January’s relationship with her father and coming to terms with his loss and how that changed her life and beliefs. I found January to be such a strong character: with so much loaded on her shoulders, she muddled through so well and with such hope. I did find it slow at the beginning, and one scene that was very odd (if you’ve read it you know what I mean), but I still think it was worth the read, for sure.

4 STARS

In short, the best of Henry’s books are the ones with strong non-romantic relationships. A romance isn’t as interesting when you only have one relationship to focus on, and frankly, it’s just not that realistic. Henry does best when she creates whole friendships, families, and solid secondary characters that have lives of their own. I will read her next one (on audiobook because Julia Whelan is fantastic as narrator) and I’m excited to see what doors Henry has opened for the romance literary world.

Even if I never figure out what it means for one’s ‘eyes to darken’, I love that romance is coming back into the mainstream of reading! One’s whole time with books should not be to read something profound or life changing. One doesn’t have to cry or have revelations after shutting the cover of their last read. Sometimes it is just so enjoyable to read something fun and warm, and I wholeheartedly support the need for more romcom books.