Emily Henry is a season pass for me – meaning I’ll read anything she writes. I liked Beach Read, loved Book Lovers and People We Meet on Vacation, and now I’m reading Happy Place.

I love the writing in Happy Place but I’m not loving the main characters, and the plot of them being broken up and choosing to hide it from their friends, then slowly getting the backstory of how they got together (and hopefully, why they broke up?). That could all change as I read more.

What I did want to say though, is I completely understand the notion of having a happy place. In this novel, it’s a summer home in Maine the group of friends go to. The main character looks forward to it all year, and she’s a different person when she’s there – at ease, carefree, happy. And the connection, bonding, fun, and shenanigans with the group of friends is unmatched because they’re with each other almost 24/7 and pulled out of real life and only have to focus on what’s in front of them – having fun with their friends.

Ahh. Sounds amazing, right?

In the novel, things are changing – their happy place (owned by one of the friend’s families) is being sold after this trip – they won’t be able to go back. And things aren’t as carefree as they used to be, because they have more complicated adult lives and responsibilities now (they’re around 30)… and because one of the couples is lying about still being together when they aren’t.

Where am I going with all this? Ha! I just wanted to share that I get it – I have a happy place like that! A place where I go to mostly get away from it all and just be with my family or sometimes friends. And I also get that it becomes more complicated as you get older, and that you can’t have the expectations that things will be as easy or the same as they were in your youth.

So, even if I don’t end up loving these characters, it’s given me a lot of food for thought!