Hi all!
Today I bring to you the book that got me out of my month-long reading slump. Whenever I'm struggling to find the motivation to read, I can always count on a romance read to get me back on track. They're easy to get through, fun and character-focused.
The latest Emily Henry has all the classic elements of her stories- complex characters, hilariously disastrous moments and heartfelt moments.
MY RATING- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SYNOPSIS
A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?
But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?
My Review
Emily Henry is a wonder at creating contradictory, complex characters that feel so deeply human. Most of the time, people are not just one thing all the time. A person may be hot-tempered, but in certain situations they may prove that generalisation wrong. And that’s exactly what Emily Henry does.
Miles and Daphne are flawed in their own ways. Mismatched puzzle pieces at first glance, their willingness to understand the other and make genuine efforts makes their relationship work. It seems impossible at first. Commitment issues and abandonment issues seem like the worst combination- the match to a dumpster fire. But fear not, because Emily Henry restores your belief in true, genuine, realistic and messy love in the best way possible
characters
With Daphne, she created a character that dreams of a settled white-picket-fence life. The first impression we get of her is that she’s a stereotypical introverted librarian who is organised and loves reading. Despite how earnest she may seem, she is a cynic at heart, plagued by a fear of abandonment. In some ways, her fears hold her back from letting her go for the life she wants the most.
One of the most relatable things about her was her reserved nature and reluctance to open up to people enough to make lasting friendships. Again, the author gives platonic friendships so much importance in her stories. Daphne longs for a friend but doesn’t want to acknowledge that loneliness inside her. She’s afraid of others disappointing her, or vice versa, or being too demanding- and this vulnerability takes the breath right out of your lungs.
The book also touches on how the on-and-off, unpredictable presence of her father deeply affected Daphne. Because of the constant disappointment of expecting him to show up and being repeatedly let down.
On the other side, we have Miles. Absolute sweetheart, a total green flag and cute enough to reduce your heart into a puddle. He has his own hang-ups to deal with, but he’s the kind of person who puts 110% effort into making his loved ones happy.
all the FEELINGS this story gave me
Reading Emily Henry’s books gives me so much hope because somehow I feel a resonance with the characters and being a little bit of a cynic myself, it reminds me to cherish the good things in life and the goodness of human beings in general. As cliche as it sounds, makes me believe in love.
I also just loved seeing a character who’s a librarian. As someone who lives in a country where libraries are only for very selected academic texts and a rarity at that, I have always wondered how functioning librarians work in other countries. I had no idea there were so many fun activities you could do in a library! (I’m so envious….ugh)
The author also writes the most nerdy characters in the most relatable, and loving way possible. It’s almost like it reflects just how much she loves being a reader and being a writer. Her characters, whether they may be publishing agents, authors, editors, or librarians- they’re written with so much love, care and depth. It’s like a love letter to all the people in love with the world of books out there- not just readers but the people involved in creating them and bringing them to us.
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QUOTES
(Spoilers below obviously)
It felt as if Emily Henry took these words right from the depths of my heart and put them on the page. This particular quote describes the idea of love and life that I hold the closest and believe in. More than the grand gestures, somehow the sesmaller, seemingly insignificant moments speak volumes.
"The late nights binge-watching The X-Files on the couch they picked out together, the early mornings making toast while they’re still too tired to speak, the kids who will earn their first scars in the backyard and badly practice instruments at inconvenient times, and the way their favorite candle’s scent will gradually infuse the walls so that every time they come back from a trip, exhausted, and dump their bags inside the door, they’ll smell that they’re where they belong.
All those moments throughout the days, weeks, months that don’t get marked on calendars with hand-drawn stars or little stickers.
Those are the moments that make a life.
Not grand gestures, but mundane details that, over time, accumulate until you have a home, instead of a house.
The things that matter.
The things I can’t stop longing for.
*********
2. Just... oof.
“And so many decisions I made were based on the fear of what could go wrong, instead of my hopes for what might go right. Every time that fear got tripped, I picked you up and moved you away, rather than facing the possibility of discomfort. I never took any chances.”
“You were a realist,” I tell her.
“Honey.” She laughs. “I’m a cynic. And a cynic is a romantic who’s too scared to hope.”
It feels like a nail driven into my sternum.
“Is that what I am?” I ask her.
**********
3. Hands down best confessions scene I've read in a book this year (Male POV)
His voice thickens: “I didn’t learn what love was supposed to feel like. It doesn’t feel natural, or come easily to me, to let anyone close. But you— you make love so easy, Daphne. You make me think I already deserve it, exactly how I am.
And I feel lucky every time you look at me. Not because I think I’ve managed to earn you, but because it feels like you don’t need me to. Like you just . . . like me.” He shakes his head, voice fraying as he corrects himself: “Like you love me. That’s how I feel with you. And I know I’m not who you pictured yourself with, but I think I could be, eventually. If you’ll let me. So don’t go. Because I don’t want you to.
Because you’re my best friend, and I’m in love with you.”
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4. Hands down best confessions scene I've read in a book this year (Female POV)
I say. “But the rest of it. You’re wonderful. You’re the reason for the word wonderful. It really shouldn’t be used for anything else. You make me want to see the best in everyone. You’re the person I want to be with when everything’s going wrong, instead of just wanting to skip over those times entirely. I love that you’re so present that you always forget to keep track of your phone, and I love that when you’re late, you never make excuses but you always have a good reason.
“You’re the most generous person I’ve ever met, even to people who’ve given you no reason to be generous, and you always come through for the people you care about. I honestly can’t totally figure out why someone as good as you would love me, when I can be kind of a pessimistic asshole. But I do feel like the luckiest person in the world, to be who you want.
Because I want you too. I love you too. I love you in a way that feels brand-new. You make every single thing that went wrong feel like it was just a
step in the right direction, and it—it makes me excited. For life to keep surprising me.
“You aren’t what I pictured,” I say. “You are so, so, so much better than what my cynical little brain could’ve ever come up with.
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5. And the best conclusion scene that brings the story full circle:
“It’s how Daphne and I got together.” Miles’s arms tighten around me.
Elda claps her hands together. “Oh, I love a good meet-cute. Let’s hear it.”
I crane my neck over my shoulder to look at him. His dimples sink into his beard, and it feels like my heart is unzipping, stepping out of its calloused skin, a glowing, sunlit thing.
“Funny story . . .” he says, but he doesn’t go on, just watches me and waits.
He knows how much I love to tell it.
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