His love is steady, constant. Easier than breathing, because breathing is something you can overthink, to the point that you forget how your lungs work and get yourself into a panic. I could never forget how to love Wyn.”

Happy Place by Emily Henry: 9780593441275 Happy Place by Emily Henry: 9780593441275

Without even trying, I knew exactly where he was at all times, could likely cover my eyes, get spun around, and still point to him on the first try.” There was no deeper meaning to Happy Place- it's as simple as it gets: Just communicate with each other and half of your problems will not exist. Harriet- I really loved Harriet. She is entirely relatable; she is riddled with self-doubt and I appreciated her struggle to please those around her and form herself into what she thought the people she loved needed her to be while sacrificing her own wants and desires. I was thrilled for her when she finally started asserting herself and choosing her own path. Every touch, every word had its own importance in the way their relationship flourished and tarnished. Their love had an elegiac tone in how Harriet was describing the "lose" of the love of her life in the present chapters and an eternal essence in how their love seemed unbreakable in the past chapters.

and wyn omg this sweetheart !! his kindness and selflessness is so precious and infectious. “i will always love you, that’s the point, harriet. it’s the only thing that’s ever come naturally to me.” GAHHHD i need him !! Without wasting time I'll just get to it. The book started off really well but that was the case with Book Lovers as well, I ended up hating it. Happy Place started off really well, i was super into it. But the middle dragged. Harriet and Wyn's miscommunication issues dragged and the fact they never fully cared enough to talk about it got to me. harriet is so me coded “he’s a golden boy. i’m a girl whose life has been drawn in shades of gray.” GORL IM CRYING

Happy Place by Emily Henry - Penguin Books New Zealand Happy Place by Emily Henry - Penguin Books New Zealand

Want is a kind of thief. It’s a door in your heart, and once you know it’s there, you’ll spend your life longing for whatever’s behind it.”I don’t think there are words to describe just how much this book means to me, or how relatable I found aspects of it, but I’ll try to convey here. It’s easy to perceive from the synopsis that this is a story or what was, what is, and what might be. We receive glimpses into the past that build Harry and Wyn’s friendship-turned-romance, and we also receive present tense pov where something has gone horribly wrong, but we’re not quite sure what that is. The tension of building up to that conversation (which actually is brilliantly more than one conversation) is DIVINE, and the havoc that Henry wreaked on my emotions along the way was sinister in the best way possible. I have this love/hate relationship with EH's writing style. For one side, there are some phrases where you can relate and say "Same, sis, same.", but for the other side, Emily uses metaphors and stuff like that where is no needed. people 😭 I saw a woman rowing a boat for a man while he was sunbathing and thought "harriet behaviour" The irony of it all strikes me then: working so hard to earn their love and pride, and it’s brought me no closer to them. If anything, I think maybe it’s kept them at a distance." Ok so even though I did have my issues with this book, obviously, I still really thought it was beautiful. The writing was stunning, and I obviously cared about the story bc this review is a mile long (sorry about that) Will I ever read it again? Hmm doubt it, bc Beach Read is right there.

Editions of Happy Place by Emily Henry - Goodreads

Maybe I need to know that he remembers that he hasn't totally forgotten what it feels like to love me, while I'm trapped with him buried onto my heart, my, brain, my lungs, my skin." wyn’s constant need to feel loved or feel like he matters, and harriet’s constant fear that she will make people around her unhappy—i feel like it will eventually crash and burn again. wyn’s dad dying was a sort of superficial wound because it was an external circumstance/dent in their relationship. harriet quitting her job (although she was unhappy) also feels like a bit of an over-correction and a bandaid to the true problem. so why is this not getting 5 stars then, you ask? it would have if harriet and wyn were the only focus of the book. but a significant part of the story is about their friend group as well, and the whole drama of “its our last summer and we are growing apart” just wasnt as appealing to me. i understand its necessity for the plot, but it just didnt interest me at all. should have know this book would have been a little different based on the cover featuring six people rather than just the classic two. it’s this feeling like the universe is compacting around me while something in my rib cage is expanding. i’m the culmination of their lost dreams, their missed other lives, and at the same time, they’re proud of me.” the past chapters are shown to be harriet’s “ happy place” which is when her time is spent at a cottage in maine — an annual trip she takes with her boyfriend and best friends.But how can you pretend to be in love - and get away with it - in front of the people who know you best? Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven't told anyone. i knew what was gonna come, i knew it. but nothing could've prepared me for the pain. reading about their breakup is some different kind of pain i never want to experience ever again.