Funny Story

I'm sorry... what? This cannot be the same Emily Henry I fell in love with months ago...

I was excited to read this based on the description, and that carried me about halfway through the book. Beyond that, everything really fell apart for me. Instead of letting the initial mischief flourish, there was a distinct point where everything just got...really boring. I'm actually kind of mad about it upon reflection. It's like I was repeatedly baited with some juicy drama and served stale leftovers.

The premise that Emily Henry sets us up with is great: a couple classic romance tropes and beautiful writing as always to set the scene. However, it slowly becomes a never-ending series of the characters getting into out-of-pocket, ultra-therapized monologues about their childhoods & current behaviors/patterns. I was constantly being bombarded with yapping that felt like I was sitting in on a psychoanalyst's summary of someone's last few years of sessions. The conflict was pointless, the tension was weak, the banter was awkward, and even though the ending is meant to be predictable, it was painfully so with hardly a blip between points A & Z. I'm sad and disappointed.