Funny Story by Emily Henry Book Review
“‘You really don’t know this already?’ I ask Elda.
She shakes her head.
‘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.’
. . . ‘Funny story . . .’ he says, but he doesn’t go on, just watchse and waits.
He knows how much I love to tell it. ‘”
(pg. 384)
About
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Other Books By Emily Henry
The People We Meet on Vacation
Synopsis
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?
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To all the “funny stories” we tell,
I think we’ve all heard people say the phrase “it’s kind of a funny story,” and they proceed to tell a semi-funny story that is mostly funny to them (most of the time) or that is actually a funny story. I think many times when people have a “funny story,” the funny story feeds on the irony of how unfunny that story is. I can think of all the times I had a funny story to tell and was the only one laughing because my story wasn’t that funny, but it was funny given the context. I mean, sometimes you just have to be there to understand a funny story.
So I loved the idea of Funny Story being quite literally a story that made me laugh more than I have laughed while reading in a long time, but also the irony of how the plot was not really funny (if the plot happened in actuality), but funny in hindsight. Which is the point of a “funny story.” To be quite honest with you, I didn’t even read the synopsis of what this book was about before I read it. All I knew was that Emily Henry wrote it and that was enough for me; so I didn’t know what I was actually getting into. Reflecting on the story and the concept afterwards, my gosh, did I appreciate the overall vision.
I don’t know if I said this in any of my previous Emily Henry book reviews—maybe I have—but I must say Funny Story climbed straight to the top of being my, dare I say it, favorite Emily Henry book to date !?!?! Scandalous, I know! I feel like I’m cheating on the other books I said were my favorite. But I could not stop smiling like a weirdo while reading Funny Story, and my laughter kept bubbling out from me in the most unfiltered and unexpected way. At the end, my face was a mixture of a puppy dog face mixed with sorrow and joy for how beautifully admirable the writing and the emotion of the last scene. I could not stop thinking about just the incredible way that Funny Story was told and how the writing enhanced every emotion and experience in the best way possible. You just know who Emily Henry is by her voice, and for me, voice is everything in a writer because you can write any story with a generic voice, but to have a distinct voice means that you can tell who the story is and what the story is trying to convey. This is a story that knew itself, and that knowledge came across is a strong plot with relatable arcs and many hilarious moments.
Emily Henry also runs on the same wavelength of sarcasm for me, sooooo 🤪.
I don’t know, I was raised by sarcastic, arrogant female and male fiction leads, and I don’t regret a thing. I’m speaking to Jace Herondale 😂.
But that’s unrelated.
“Without any hesitation, Miles told him, ‘The love of my life ran off with her fiancé, and this had inspired much alcohol-based charity on Gill’s part.'”
(pg.31)
The premise of the book was golden as it was painstakingly unfortunate. I mean, Daphne’s soon-to-be-married fiancé all of a sudden left her to be with his ex-girlfriend whose boyfriend was also dumped and was now her roommate 😅.
That is the most f***ed up situation I’ve ever heard 😂.
That’s awful. That’s atrocious. That’s horrendous.
I felt AWFUL for Daphne and Miles—gutted for them. I could only imagine Daphne in how she was about to be married in a week or so and then was dropped like she meant nothing. That’s like being handed your dream dog only for someone to take back the dog to give to someone who doesn’t even want the dog. Brutal. I felt even more AWFUL for Miles who didn’t even get the courtesy of a face-to-face conversation and was just left with a freaking letter. I’m sorry, Petra, needed to put on her big girl granny panties and talk to her boyfriend who clearly was head-over-heels in love with her and give him the respect he deserved to say, “Hey, I’m sorry, I don’t feel the same way and I’m leaving you for my ex.” I know that doesn’t sound better, but don’t just leave a teensy tiny post-it note saying “I’m leaving you, have a nice life.” That sucked. I didn’t blame Miles for listening to “All by Myself” or watching sappy movies. I freaking loved and laughed at the running joke that was Miles’s sad break-up playlist 😂. We love a guy in-tune with his emotions and would blast Adele because he had his heart broken.
The way that Daphne and Miles both lost someone they loved to each other’s partners, and the way Daphne lost her house in one night made me want to give her a giant hug. She had nowhere to go, and Miles was sweet enough to let her room with him because Petra moved out of his apartment to move into Daphne’s old place with Peter—Peter who told her she had a week to basically move out. The AUDACITY. I mean, calling off your wedding to someone and then telling them please get out in a week so my new wife can move is was like taking the knife and jamming it deeper into her hear. WHAT TORTURE.
You know, misery breeds company.
I freaking loved that two of the most heartbroken people in Waning Bay were roomies 😅.
How despondent. Not Miles over here smoking weed and listening to sappy sad songs, and Daphne pouring herself in her work while trying to ignore her ghosts of wedding-to-be in the closet because she bought all these things but didn’t have a use for them anymore. Daphne and Miles in the beginning gave wilted flower energy, they gave someone ran over my dog energy, they gave rainy day blues energy. I just wanted to give them a hug because gosh knows if I had experienced what they were going through, my heart would be right there with them—on the floor, listening to sad music, or trying to push down my feelings of sorrow for what I lost.
The way that Daphne and Miles spoke about Peter and Petra was out of love. I enjoyed the authentic feel of their heartbreak and how it felt like I was experiencing the agony and pain of their hearts hurting. I’ve have yet to experience a romantic break-up, but I could imagine that you feel like your heart breaks with every memory or everything that reminds you of that person. I feel like the what-ifs or what-could-have-beens are what shatters your heart even quicker because you’re left with so much unknown that you wish you could have known or understood better.
There was this part where Daphne was talking to Peter, and Peter spoke about Petra and him as a “we” and an “our,” like a team rather than the two separate people they were. That had to be like nails on a chalkboard because she was that person in a we.
“The worst part is, even after all this, I’m not positive I don’t love him. I mean, not this version of him, but the part that remembered every important date, who brought home flowers just because he happened to be walking past a cart selling them, the Peter who had my favorite soup delivered to me every time I got sick.
The parts reserved for her now.”
(pg. 41)
Depending on the break-up, I feel like we’ll always hold love for that person because they were a significant part of our heart. I always say that the greatest pain comes from the greatest love; if you didn’t love that person with your whole heart, your heart wouldn’t hurt as much as it did when your heart broke. Daphne still loved Peter because this was a fresh wound, like still bleeding out kind of wound, heck she was going to marry the guy kind of wound, how could she not love him still. But I could understand how the knife in the heart feels twisted deeper when you realize that everything you loved about that person or everything you did with them is no longer for you, it’s now going to be for someone else. You will never (most times) get those moments back with that person, and that feels like a whole other phantom within itself.
Just the opening few pages alone emphasized this melancholy Daphne felt at having this whirlwind romance with a guy who she unexpectedly met, but then gave her heart to. I loved loved loved the opening of the book in how Daphne details how she in not great at telling stories because she stumbles over the details or she doesn’t tell a convincing story. However, Peter was good at telling their story in how Daphne wore this hat that her mother got her for her birthday, and Daphne’s hat flew near a trash can where he tried to help her get the hat. From there, they had a blossoming relationship where she quickly became intertwined in his life—-his friends, family, and hometown. Daphne and Peter’s life were tied together, and then quite literally tied together when they were supposed to be married. All this time Peter was still friends with his ex Petra, but the night of his bachelor party, he admitted he still had feelings for Petra, thus calling off his engagement to Daphne. Hearing the opening and how fast Daphne and Peter’s relationship formed, made me think about how their beginning was similar to their ending—-quickly dispelled.
Hearing how wrapped up Daphne’s life was to Peter also brought me a sort of melancholy for her because she lost so much in a night—so much more than she could ever known. She lost her best friend Sadie who was dating one of Peter’s friends. Daphne thought that Sadie didn’t reach out to her because she was more of Peter’s friend now and things were awkward. Daphne didn’t have many friends who were her friends because they were also Peter’s friends. She didn’t see Peter’s family as much because she wasn’t with Peter anymore. I don’t think anyone talks about how when you break-up with someone, you’re breaking up with more than just that person. What hurt the most about hearing Daphne’s heartbreak was how she didn’t feel like she had a home anymore.
Daphne’s longing for a sense of a home was a big theme that ran throughout the story, a theme that I adored.
Daphne grew up with her mother. I loved loved loved Daphne’s mother. Daphne’s mother–Holly–was strong-willed, bold, and compassionate. I just loved the relationship Daphne had with her mother when she was younger and today. Daphne’s father left when Daphne was younger, and the mom had to figure out how to support her and her daughter. That often meant working long hours for low-paying jobs, but that also meant moving around a lot. I loved the fact that Daphne’s mom climbed up the work ladder in the sense that every place they moved was because the mom had a better opportunity with a better living situation. I loved that for Daphne and Daphne’s mom because it meant while the mom was working her butt off and thriving, Daphne kind of had a better living situation each time. Despite being in a better living situation in terms of what their house looked like, moving around a lot as a kid doesn’t really give that kid a sense of stability. Growing up, I moved around a lot in the same city—-I live in a very small town—but I would move around a lot, nevertheless. It’s hard. All my other friends had childhood houses that they were brought to when their parents left the hospital; all my friends got to keep the sacred and special memories only a home lived in for years can have. I always wanted that—-to have a house with the memories of where I grew up in. But I never did. I have lived in five houses by the time I was sixteen, which isn’t a lot compared to others, but for our community, I would say that is a lot of times. I had to mourn the idea of having a childhood house when I was younger than I could even fathom what that meant to mourn. But the older I got, and the more houses I moved to, the more I mourned never feeling like I really had a house that felt like a home.
Home.
Such a simple, word. One word, in fact. You think that just that one word alone, it would hold a singular meaning. But it doesn’t. People will tell you home is a place where you feel most comfortable in, a place where you feel happy. Other people will tell you home is a person—a person you feel you cannot live without because they make you feel accepted as you are. Some might say home is an idealized concept that can never be achieved because we are always moving around, and home isn’t just one place. No matter what you believe about home, I think home can be all of those ideas in one.
A home is also just a feeling—a sense of rightness of being with someone or somewhere that makes you feel happy, protected, and loved. Home is a place you ruminate with good and not-so-good memories, but the good outweighs the heaviness. Home is a place where you see yourself going back to time and time again because you know it will always be there, and it’s a place where you see yourself building more for your life.
I never had that sense of home until the house I live in now, but even now, this house doesn’t feel like a home anymore.
I deeply understood Daphne’s longing for a sense of home because she never had a place that ever felt like a home—-she never had a place to fully allow herself to land. When you’ve never had a home or a taste of having a home, you constantly crave the feeling of something you miss but never had. It’s almost like the idea of if you never tasted the fruit, you will always crave wanting to taste the fruit, but if you have tasted the fruit, you will always crave wanting more of that taste. I don’t know if that makes sense. But at the end of the day, Daphne and I feel like all of us want a place we can put roots in. Daphne thought she would finally have a home to put roots in with Peter because they would have this nice mansion house where she could choose the decor, and everything would be perfect. Living in a mansion paid by Peter was a pretty big disillusion that that would be Daphne’s home when that mansion would always be Peter’s because his wallet was keeping the mansion happy. Just putting furniture in the mansion was never going to give Daphne a sense of home no matter if she did end up marrying Peter because it would always feel like she was just the decorator there rather than someone contributing to their actual house.
So Daphne had the idea of home to mourn. I freaking loved the chapter titles. At first, I was confused because there wasn’t any context, but then I realized that the chapter titles were counting down the days until Daphne could move out of Waning Bay.
For Miles, I believe his grief was a little lower stakes in the way he wasn’t engaged to Petra. Nevertheless, Miles was valid in his grief because Petra was his second girlfriend he ever had—-he never really dated anyone before. Knowing that, Petra had had to have meant something to Miles that he wanted to date her. I don’t like to think that Petra just used Miles as a distraction from Peter, but in some ways if this woman always had feelings for Peter, why are you dating another man 🙃????
One of my favorite scenes in the beginning was when Daphne and Miles received an invitation to Peter and Petra’s wedding, and then Daphne started crying because the invitation was a reminder that Peter broke up with her and didn’t choose her. And then Miles started crying because Daphne mentioned that Petra is marrying her ex-fiancé, and it was hilariously sorrowful how they were both crying because they were both triggered by their hurt. Like my gosh. They were miserable together and were crying at any mention of what happened. I don’t blame them, but that sucked. Also, the AUDACITY of Peter and Petra to invite them to their celebratory marriage??? You’re kidding? That’s a joke 😅. Please, break their hearts and rub it in their faces that you are happily getting married to each other 🙄. I understand they didn’t want to look petty to Daphne and Miles by not inviting them, but also, the he**, like don’t invite your exes, especially the exes you broke up with to be with each other to your wedding!!! That’s D-U-M-B DUMB! I CACKLED when Miles and Daphne were raging in bitter anger of how they should go and dress up, eat the expensive dinner, and make Peter and Petra uncomfortable. I mean, DO IT 🤪. Like for real, if I were Daphne or Miles, I would have stuck my proverbial middle finger and make these two suckers uncomfortable and free load on their wedding. I mean, it’s the least that they could do for the damage of breaking their hearts. I would have LIVED to have seen Peter and Petra’s face if Miles and Daphne did show up at their wedding 😂.
“‘They,’ I say, ‘suck.’
‘She’s the love of my life,’ he says.
‘The love of you life sucks,’ I tell him.'”
(pg.29)
HAHAHA, big mood.
What made it even better was that they did accept the invite in a drunken call.
I loved how Daphne and Miles went from broken-hearted roommates to bitter-hearted friends. I loved their whole night out after getting the invite, and having drinks with Gill. I also just loved the new levity and bond between Daphne and Miles after that night they went out. They had such a chaotic relationship given the beginning, but I loved the chaos they shared. Their energy together was hilarious, messy, and sarcastically honest. I LOVED it 💙.
When Daphne pulled the “I’m brining a date” to the wedding card when Peter called her, I was SCREAMING. I already knew who she was going to bring as her “date” 😆. Hahaha, Daphne and Miles really said reverse Uno 😂. I mean, if they were going to this wedding, you BETTER show up with each other hahahaha. I could not with how messy and freaking funny this whole situation was—the two people they were dating now getting married and now they were going to their wedding as dates 🤪. I loved loved loved this idea. Bring on the petty 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼. Please make them feel jealous of each other and like they lost the best people they ever had.
I loved how Miles was so down to do the whole fake-dating thing with Daphne. Most times in rom-coms, there takes a certain level of convincing someone to fake-date the other and then lay down some rules. But Miles was so gung-ho to peez them off, and took that picture to post on Daphne’s social media, which had me LIVING.
“‘I’ve got stuff to do, but if you hear from your ex, tell him I said . . .’ He holds up his middle finger.
‘If you hear from yours, tell her thanks for the new boyfriend.’
‘Gladly,’ he says, and turns to go.”
(pg. 49)
OH MY GoSH 🤣.
That’s the energy I want if I ever get left for someone else and have to room with the ex.
Past the drunken nights and bitter impulsive decisions, I loved the honesty and kindness that formed between Daphne and Miles. I think that it helped that they understood each other on such a different level, that they could support each other during this time. I just loved how natural their conversations were, and how witty they could be. They kept matching each other’s energy line for line and were working towards some form of healing together, which I loved 💙.
I loved when Daphne and Miles went out one of those first nights and Miles drove her to get the best milkshakes in town because Daphne had been living under a rock in her time with Peter. I loved how she reacted to the milkshake and fries, and I cackled with how she thought beaches close after dark. I’m sorry, the beach doesn’t close, sis. I laughed when her and Miles smoked at the beach and joked about finding a spot for thirty-year olds to smoke when looking at the teenagers who were probably sitting on an electrical box, hot-boxing it up. There was a quiet honesty in their conversation at the beach of discussing how they felt about their relationships and what was left of how they felt. Miles also kind of poked fun at Daphne and how she followed what Peter did—go to the gym, keep a schedule, etc. But I know Miles didn’t mean to be rude, but just trying to understand Daphne and why she had never been to so many places in Waning Bay or why she hadn’t done much. When Miles asked her, “Where do you go when she’s not at home?” and Daphne was like “Nowhere, I’m boring,” (pg. 90) I have never felt so seen 😂.
For reals though.
Daphne had a difficult time forming connections to people because she moved around a lot. She always thought that if she wasn’t going to stay long in a place, why form deep connections with people only to leave them. I understood this logic because it is hard work to truly get to know someone—break down their walls and your walls—but I also understood that not wanting to form deep connections with people was Daphne’s way of not getting hurt. It’s painful to leave someone if we love them, and I think Daphne had a big, hopeful heart that she closed off because she was tired of getting hurt by leaving or being left. So she found it hard to have meaningful conversations with people, or just to open up to people because she didn’t see the point anymore and because she wanted to protect herself. I feel like I am similar in the way I can’t walk into a room, sit next to someone, and instantly strike up a conversation. I don’t open up easily and I don’t converse easily not because I don’t want connection, but because I never really felt accepted by the connections I did have. When constantly opening up to people only leads you to feeling like no one truly chooses you or wants to spend time with you, it really makes you feel discouraged to form other connections. But I understand being a closed book because closing ourselves off is a protection from the hurt.
I always found it ironic how most people who are closed books are those with their heads in one.
But also, people who are “closed books,” often don’t want to be. I mean, I don’t.
I loved the idea of Miles showing Daphne the beauty of Waning Bay to convince her to stay 💙.
Daphne was only going to stay in Waning Bay until the end of summer Read-a-Thon she planned at work. After that, Daphne was planning to move back to Richmond to be closer to her mother, the only person who ever felt like home to her. However, the way Daphne spoke about her job in Waning Bay made it hard to believe she would want to give that up. I agreed with Miles in how Peter already took away this idea of what her life would look like by being there, that she shouldn’t let Peter take away her dream job. The way Daphne spoke about her job is the way a poet describes flowers or the sun. Daphne adored her job as a children’s librarian, especially reading to the kids. As an elementary teacher, I feel like children’s librarians and I have so much more in common than I ever thought. We both work with kids and enjoy helping them find themselves as well as their passions. We also both do read-alouds. I just loved the way Daphne loved her work and felt like everything she did was magic. I loved the way she took note of certain kids and what they wore or what they enjoyed reading and bought those books. Doing so emphasized how much care Daphne had for all the readers that showed up every week. I also loved how Daphne noticed Maya, a twelve-year-old she had an informal one-on-one book chat with every week because no one else spoke to Maya about books and she was a shier girl. As a reader, I saw my younger self in Maya and wish I had an adult who cared enough about me to see me and speak to me about what I loved. Working with kids is like magic and your heart feels like it’s glows each time you make a child smile or feel like you did something great with them. I mean, it is rare to find a job that you love, and Daphne might not find that feeling by leaving.
I laughed with how Miles showed up at a Saturday read-aloud and all the kids and parents were politely clapping, and then you had Miles in the back whooping and hollering like Daphne just made a touchdown or something. I looooooved Miles’s energy; it was also just too cute how entranced and pleasantly surprised he was at how well Daphne did her job.
Their first Sunday outing was very fun and a nice way to open Daphne to the community. I freaking loved how Miles was a constant surprise with how he knew everyone because he buys the produce for Cherry Hill. When I say I cackled in the beginning when Daphne assumed Miles had a basic job because he smoked, listened to sad music, and had a break-up beard, I CACKLED.
“I didn’t have you pegged for a wine guy.’
He stares at me.
‘What?’
His tipsy-squinting eyes narrow further. ‘Can’t tell if you’re kidding.’
‘No?’ I say.
‘I work at a winery, Daphne,’ he says.
‘Since when?’ I say disbeliving.
‘For the last seven years,’ he says, ‘What did you think I did?’
‘I don’t know!’ I say. ‘I thought you were a delivery guy.’
‘Why?’ He shakes his head. ‘Based on what?'”
(pg. 26)
I could not!!!!! I still think about this roast. Nothing wrong with being a delivery guy, but my gosh, DAPHNE 🙈.
Miles is so cool 💙. I love Miles. He’s such a laid-back, chill, cool dude. I mean, there’s more depth to him that I’ll get into later, but you just can’t help but love Miles or want to be friends with him. He’s so amicable to everyone, and everyone does love him, but that’s so rare, to have someone so nice and honest in his actions. Sorry, I hear about the wrong men in real life 👉🏼👈🏼. I loved the simplicity of Miles showing Daphne where he buys the best vegetables, cherries, or lavender. Most importantly, he introduces her to people she would have never met if she just stayed at home and went to the library.
My first reaction when Miles spotted Peter at the lavender shop was, “Oh shiz!” My next reaction was “Why the heck was he there?” Peter had never taken Daphne to this lavender shop, so why was Mr. Wheatgrass suddenly at this local business. I just found it kind of sad how Peter put Daphne in a box when moving her life to Waning Bay that he didn’t even do what Miles was doing for her—show her around town. But that maybe he had secret visits to local shops like the lavender shops all this time without cluing Daphne into that 😕.
But the show that Daphne and Miles put on for Peter!!?!?!?!?!?
I would have liked front row seats! I bet whoever was working in the lavender shop was eating this shiz up 👏🏼😂.
I loved the fact that Peter wasn’t written out of the story once he broke Daphne’s heart. Most times we don’t get to see the ex come back in a story, but I live for the awkward drama, and awkward was it. But also very hot. Miles, our king, was so down to kiss her and put on this show; he kissed Daphne with his chest. Their kiss didn’t even seem like a kiss anymore, but a ravaging 🙈.
“Maybe that’s just how he kisses when he’s recently been confronted by the man his girlfriend left him for. With a vengeance.”
(pg. 121)
As they were kissing, there was a part of me that could feel that Daphne was into it not just for revenge sake, but because she was starting to feel something for Miles. I mean, with a kiss like that, how could she not? But in my head, I also worried that maybe Miles was kissing her like how he would kiss Petra??? That the kiss wasn’t entirely for her. I really hoped not because I liked how tender and kind he was to Daphne. A guy won’t just show you around a town he loves if he didn’t care about you or feel something. Out of all the things Miles could do and has done, he didn’t need to extend his kindness to show Daphne Waning Bay. But he did/was. That meant something.
I also loved loved loved the kayaking they did that one morning. I thought Daphne’s excitement to go kayaking was so endearing in the way that I felt like she would do anything within reason that Miles suggested because a part of her wanted adventure. You know, even us bookworms crave the adventure we read about, even if it’s not exactly fighting off evil fae in Lunathion or Illyria, we still seek that rush. I loved how Miles got up early to get Daphne a chai, and that he remembered such a small, but meaningful detail about her. I also loved how Miles was so sweet and patient with staying by Daphne’s side when she was a slower paddler. Him keeping her pace reminds me of the sentiment how some people will gradually slow down to match your walking pace or how some people wait for you as you catch up. It’s just such a heartfelt gesture that says I care. I loved for how a moment in time they were marveling at the serenity and beauty of nature and each other. I also loved the openness they felt with each other because it was mostly just the two of them on that lake.
Daphne spoke about how she became a reader. She associated the library with her father because when her dad would show up, he would take her to the library. Sometimes her father would also pick her up from the library. If I’m being honest, I didn’t like that Daphne associated her happy place (yes, pun intended) with her father who made her the most insecure. I just felt like the place that Daphne felt the most at home in, shouldn’t be the place she associated with her shizzy father. I have always said this about parents in books—but they truly are the root of the main characters problems 🙈. Sorry, not really. The older I have gotten, the more I believe in the truth that our parents pass down traumas to us whether intentional or not. Gosh, knows I have my traumas to thank my parental for 🙃.
I highly disliked the way Daphne held out hope that her father would be there and prove her wrong about him. If someone proves you right time and time again by not showing up or not being there or however they are wronging you, I believe you have to believe what they are showing you. If someone truly cares for you, they wouldn’t put themselves in a position to hurt you repeatedly. Once? Okay. Twice? Ummm, start to take out that big red flag. Three times? You stick that red flag in your heart and say don’t come near me bi***. I just don’t think that if someone wanted to change and prove to you that they loved you, they would continue to act in a way that shows otherwise. Growing up, Daphne constantly waited for her father to show up—waiting at the window for her dad to come. Wait. And wait. And wait. I started to tear up hearing her backstory of how long she would wait for someone who didn’t deserve a minute of her time. If her father couldn’t be there on time for his daughter, then that spoke volumes of where she fell in his life. And I don’t blame Daphne for waiting because she was a kid, and as kids we want to believe the best of our parents—-that they’ll show up. But there comes a time when we stop waiting—-we stop believing that waiting will actually lead to some magic of caring.
“Waiting for someone who rarely came, feeling worse every time, until finally, I realized that the feelings wouldn’t stop until the wiaiting did. You can’t force a person to show up, but you can learn a lesson when they don’t.”
(pg. 166)
And Daphne got tired of waiting for her father to show up and be the father she wanted him to be. But a bigger part of her still held out hope that he would eventually be this father she dreamed of. I wanted her father to be that for her, but I all too well the disappointment a father can be. It’s not worth it. And to Daphne, it’s not worth closing her heart to others because she never felt chosen by her father—all she ever wanted was to feel chosen by the person who was supposed to love her. So when Daphne is speaking to Miles about her father, I ache for the part of her that wants her father to be a better man because of how she speaks of him, but also know that he will disappoint her.
That’s why when Miles didn’t get out of his room on time, Daphne was getting anxious. She hates waiting. I don’t blame her. Waiting always meant that someone wouldn’t show up, and that meant the disappointment of not being chosen, and that meant feeling not good enough.
Miles also talked a little bit about his younger sister Julia who was now staying with them. I LOVED Julia’s confidence, brazenness, and ability to make yelling sound quiet. She was such a fun addition to their already motley crew, and I loved it. The way Miles spoke about Julia was the same love that came from a father. His sister unexpectedly came to stay with them for some reason that was still unknown to Miles. But just like with everything, Miles just accepted Julia with no questions and gave her a place to land because she was family.
I laughed when Miles mentioned Petra, Daphne splashed him with water, and then he said if she mentioned Peter, he would tip her over. I didn’t think he would actually do it, but he did. I could not control the bubbling laughter that left my mouth. I loved that he actually tipped her boat over, and she splashed into the water. They were just so flirty and jokey—it was all really cute 🥺💙. I loved loved loved how Miles teased Daphne for snooping in his room and looking at the clothes in his drawers. There was this joke Daphne had with herself that she was very buttoned up, and as someone who is a more modest in what I wear, I appreciated how Miles turned Daphne’s insecurity around by saying she dressed like she had a secret. I mean, way to make us buttoned-up types sound scandalous 😉. Miles wanted to know those secrets for sure.
The whole kayaking scene was such a tender, honest, and reverential moment that had a lightness to it, a lightness they needed after everything they’ve been through together.
Even just the normal moments between Daphne and Miles were my favorite. Before Julia came, I loved how Daphne and Miles had their action movie nights together because Peter and Petra wouldn’t dare watch an action movie, so they started watching them together. I liked how Miles also got indoctrinated to the refridgerator calendar and put his events on there. Miles doing so felt like he respected Daphne; he might not be the most organized person, but was willing to try be organized for Daphne because she was his roommate and friend.
They really did become friends in their heartbreak 💙.
With Julia there, I liked how Daphne was never upset or felt crowded by Miles’s sister, but rather enjoyed the chaos and company. Daphne recalled how she grew up the only child, and would crave the feeling of the noise of a full house or feeling like a house was lived in, and with Julia with all her makeup on the counter and things in the living room, their apartment was that idea come to fruition.
We gotta love senior prom 😅. When Miles and Daphne walked to the event he was taking her, and the banner said senior prom, my mind didn’t even THINK about teenagers, I knew this was a SENIOR prom. Miles had a way with older people. But the whole reason he wanted to bring Daphne to the Senior prom made my heart balloon 🥺. He had an extra ticket from when he was with Petra, but he mostly invited Daphne to socialize and connect with people to support the Read-a-Thon! How sweet!!!! How thoughtful!!! I adored the way Miles would open a conversation for Daphne and then have her finish the story because the Read-a-Thon was her passion project. My heart felt like an oven knowing people saw the same love and passion that Daphne had for her work reflected in her words, and I loved that they all wanted to pitch in in some ways. It just goes to show you that putting yourself out there is terrifying, but worthwhile because you never know the connections you can form or how you are braver than you think you are. Also, when people talk about something they love, it just oozes out of them and you know. I was so proud of Daphne.
I couldn’t believe that Petra and Peter showed up to the Senior Prom too. I’m sorry, I thought Miles used his ticket on Daphne, what are you doing here? They just needed to stop showing up to places where they were not wanted 🙈. I’m glad Petra got to see Daphne and Miles kiss in person so her jealousy can seethe out of her in person. Serves her right for stealing Daphne’s would-be-husband, and honestly, Petra didn’t get to feel jealous even if she was. I don’t make the rules. Also, Peter didn’t get to look at Daphne like he wanted her when he dumped her butt. I DETESTED the idea that he only wanted Daphne now that he couldn’t have her, and that he was tired of his shiny new “lunchbox” that was Petra. What a loser.
But also, Daphne couldn’t help the very real feelings that she felt for Miles.
Before Julia came to stay with them and the whole kayaking trip, Daphne and Miles did have an intense make-out session the couch, but Miles stopped the kiss from being more.
“What exquisite timing for my identity crisis: he wants to do the smar thing, and I want to have reckless sex with him.”
(pg. 148)
Not Miles being the rational one 😅—who would have thought. I understood that if they wanted to be more than just fake-dating roommates of exes, their relationship would be messy. I did find it sweet how Miles didn’t want to lose his friendship with Daphne after he just had his heartbroken. He also wouldn’t have anyone if Daphne and him didn’t work out, and then what? And she also knew that she wouldn’t have a place left to go because things would be too awkward to stay. I knew Miles wanted more with Daphne but had to put his guards up because of what happened and he also didn’t want to hurt Daphne. I get it. Did I like it? No. If Miles really was trying to dispel any romantic feelings between him and Daphne, romantic sunrise kayaking and senior prom kissing wasn’t the way to do it. I was loving him more and more with her! Oh gosh, and when he was dancing with Daphne at the prom, and then gave his whole whispered monologue about how he was going to spin her around to look at Peter watching her, I was a GONER. Don’t hot whisper in her ear!
Daphne saying she basically wanted more from Miles, and Miles saying he couldn’t give her more because he still didn’t want to ruin what they had, RUINED ME.
Miles, Miles, Miles. MILES. He obviously wanted more with Daphne, but battled the insecurity of letting people down. Miles had depth as I mentioned earlier, and I loved peeling back the layers to who he was. He is still cool, but Miles is also affable and kind; he is the person everyone is friends with and everyone wants as a friend (as mentioned previously). However, it is always the happiest people who hide the greatest sorrow. Miles hid behind the facade that he was always happy and okay because he grew up pretending to have to be okay when he was not. His childhood was extremely complicated and complex with a mother who always made him feel bad or guilty for his feelings. So Miles had to learn to shut down the part of him that felt any uncomfortable emotions because his mother would get angry and make Miles feel like shiz for it. I don’t know if the mother was being manipulative or controlling, but I feel like it was one of those things because we can’t control how someone feels. Uncomfortable feelings are a part of life and I felt like it was unfair of the mother to make her son feel wrong or bad for being sad or angry just because it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Being almost trained to be okay when you’re not is awful. I mean, that’s on the mother to understand why she would get so upset when people didn’t feel the way she wanted them to feel.
Because the mom was highly controlling, Miles left when he had the chance, but that meant leaving his sister. Miles wears his guilt of leaving his sister like a open bullet wound in the chest. I wish he knew that it was not his fault for his mother’s reactions and that he was just protecting himself when he left. I mean, i would have wanted to get out of that situation too. What more could he have done for his sister if he wasn’t okay with being in that house anymore? He could have stayed and defended the sister more, but who knows how that would have taken more from Miles’s happiness and sanity. But Miles still showed up for his sister in every way that mattered by taking her to McDonalds once a week or giving her a place to stay. I wish he saw the way he was there for Julia, and I wish he saw himself the way his sister or the people around him did. He had such a big heart that wanted to please everyone because he was trained early on to please the people in his life. But what about Miles’s actual happiness? What did he want for himself? Who was he when he wasn’t this happy, cool, chill guy? I kind of wanted to get to know that Miles a bit because I don’t think anyone can just be happy all the time. I loved that Miles was kind all the time, but I didn’t expect him to be happy 24/7.
I think far too often kids can blame themselves for their parents actions because they feel this responsibility that they could have done more or could have done better. But it’s not on a kid to grow up so fast and be the adult. It’s the adults fault for not being there for their kid or acknowledging the wrong they are doing and getting the help they need to be the parent they need to be for their kids. I heard someone say once that we should have grace for our parents because they are learning how to be a parent for the first time. I never thought of my parents like that—-that they were learning to grow up just like me. I do agree that we should have grace for our parents, but I don’t think we should make excuses for how they hurt us. I don’t think we should forget how they wronged us if its an absolutely atrocious, horrible situation because the human decency should be to not hurt the ones you love or care about no matter what you are going through or feeling. I know there are circumstances where we cannot control how we feel because mentally we need more support, and I can understand. But if a parent is hurting you verbally, physically, emotionally, there is no excuse for that. That is a choice, a choice they are making every time they break you down. Heck, Miles and Julia’s dad wasn’t even around and traveled the whole time while his kids were getting a verbal beatdown. He ran away than stepped up like Miles did. Again, a choice. Have grace? Sure. But also, I don’t think it’s fair that the father got to run away while his kids were hurting and he knew to some extent they were hurting because why else would someone run away?
Miles opening up did feel like a burden was lifted from his shoulders and placed on the ground temporarily. It takes a lot to tell people your truth, and Miles speaking felt like seeing the real Miles for the first time in the book. I loved the real Miles.
“I picture it spiraling down a drain, I hope that’s what this confession is doing for him, rather than scraping at an old wound.”
(pg. 215)
After Miles opened up, Daphne realized just how much she could lose with Miles and how much she didn’t want to lose him either. She really liked him, so she had to respect that they couldn’t cross a boundary as much as they wanted to.
One of my favorite random moments was when Julia was moving even more of her things into the apartment and opened up Daphne’s closet of would-have-been-wedding things past. I could just imagine Ashleigh’s face seeing all of Daphne’s wedding stuff—an almost pity pout of compassion like “oh honey, why did you keep all these things.”
I loved that Daphne had friends to help making getting rid of her bridal things easier.
“I scan the stuff in question. What am I waiting for?
This, I think. Them. To not be alone. To have friends bear witness to the death of this dream.”
(pg. 231)
All Daphne wanted was to not feel alone in her sadness. I understood where Daphne was coming from because it would feel like a pity party for her to go through all her wedding things, ruminating on what could have been. That’s absolutely no fun. Sometimes it’s better to have a pity party with others to know that you’re not alone with your feelings, or that you shouldn’t bear such heavy feelings by herself. I loved how Julia and Ashleigh really stepped up for Daphne in saying they would take pictures, sell her old wedding things, and store the wedding things for her. That’s true friendship right there.
I also laughed and loved how they cajoled her to try on her wedding dress. I mean, that had to be difficult knowing that she was supposed to walk down the aisle and marry a man she thought she would spend the rest of her life with 😕. I loved the backstory that Daphne thought about when looking at her wedding dress. She didn’t want to buy an extravagant dress, but settled for thrift shopping for a dress. It was such a beautiful moment when she was in the dressing room with her mom, and her mom and her shared a look that that dress was the one. The mom offered to pay for the dress, but Daphne never liked her mother buying her things or giving more of herself than she already did, but I loved how the mom insisted that she do this one thing for her daughter 💙. When Daphne did try the wedding dress on, I loved the detail of how the dress didn’t fit the same/feel the same. The dress not fitting anymore felt fitting (pun intended) to how the love she had with the guy she was supposed to wear the dress for was no longer fitting in her life—-that the dress didn’t feel the same because the situation was so different. Also, Daphne was entirely different because she was figuring out how to heal a broken heart from such a rock bottom moment that the dress took on a different meaning entirely. I had no idea why Julia and Ashleigh would convince Daphne to try on her old wedding dress—cheering her on—and then bounce in the middle of Daphne’s grand reveal to get smoothies 😆! Oh my gosh, like couldn’t they have waited to get their smoothies until after Daphne showed them her old wedding dress. I mean, they were the ones who asked.
I CHORTLED with how embarrassing Daphne felt to step out in her wedding dress—this big moment—and no one was there. How sad. But Miles was there. I freaking loved when he opened the door, and was probably thinking what the heck is going on 😂. I agreed with Miles that Daphne should wear the wedding dress to Peter and Petra’s wedding 😆. What an event this wedding was shaping up to be!
I could not stop cracking up though with how Daphne’s zipper got stuck, and of course, Miles, the person she was trying so hard not to sleep with or have feelings for, was the only person to help her unzip her dress. There’s something so intimate about someone reaching behind you, holding a zipper and tugging it down the length of your body—chills, truly. I mean, the thought even feels dirty. I freaking COULD NOT with how Miles was saying some innuendoes with each tug. I mean, “I need more leverage and every time I pull, you come with me.” I’M SORRY, WHAT 🤪. Or not the Chapstick on the zipper because he was trying to lube the zipper!!! I WAS SCREAMING. Who lubes a zipper with Chapstick!?!?!?!? I was like, why did he need Chapstick!!!!?!?!?! Oh my gosh, what a dirty little way to unzip a dress, as if this act wasn’t dirty enough in theory. Also, I gushed with how he lent her his shirt (not a smoking camel shirt that he said was his favorite 😂), and said that what is his is also hers 🥺💙. He was just so sweet in helping her and not making the situation any more weird than it needed to be. He was also just someone she spoke so candidly and laughingly with, and I think that’s all the qualities of someone you should be around.
Speaking of around, Daphne’s dad made the surprise appearance of the century.
My first thought was: do not trust him 🙃👍🏼.
You know when you see someone about to trip, there’s this split second where your mouth opens whether it’s to warn them or to wince in pain, I felt like I was seeing Daphne about to trip and fall. Her father was going to disappoint her all over again—-give her this sense of false hope before watching her fall face first into her pain.
First of all, why did Miles let him into the apartment 😅!?!?!? I don’t blame Miles because that was just him being his hospitable and kind self, but gosh, what a shock to Daphne’s nervous system to all of a sudden go home and see her father who she had a love-hate relationship with standing right there, bright eyed and beatific. He should have just mailed a package 🙈. Also, not her father who was barely there unless he wanted to be, bringing his new therapist-astrological-fortune-telling wife named Starfire. Sorry, I thought her name sounded lowkey like a stripper name 😂. I freaking laughed when Miles was like, Starfire was the lost sixth Spice Girl. I mean, Starfire sure gave boho, natural vibes with her energy. I’m being a little silly, but in all seriousness, I had nothing against Starfire—except maybe her taste in men—but she seemed like a genuinely nice and cheerful person, and she was so kind to Daphne upon meeting her. Starfire didn’t even know the true situation between Daphne and the dad, so I didn’t blame her. But gosh, I didn’t like how the dad just showed up out of nowhere to her new apartment and sprung this “new” version of himself to her.
A dad who asked for permission and who seemed happy as a husband to Starfire and who was charming. I understood why Daphne never trusted a charming man because her father was a charmer and she trusted him only to let her down numerous times. I don’t blame her. I liked reading Daphne’s inner monologue of how she felt about her father being there. She had such warring emotions with being angry that her father was there without notice, but also a small part of her hoped that this version of her father was different because this version was showing a new side. But I really wanted to tell Daphne to not give into that hope because as much as I do believe people can chance, and people do, I just didn’t want her to be hurt when the father ultimately let her down. However, sometimes we hope the best for people we love because we want a connection that everyone else has. As someone who doesn’t have a great relationship with my father, if I even should call him that, I know that part of me held out hope in the beginning that I could have a different relationship with him like my friends did with their fathers. But I realized that my father was never going to change, and that thought was a wrecking ball.
Anyway, what was also interesting was a conversation at dinner that night with how the dad recounted all these good memories that Daphne thought of differently. The dad said that he would take Daphne to the library because he bought Daphne a book once, and the mom got mad because they couldn’t afford books, so he started taking her to the library. Daphne’s first remembrance of the library was being left there or being taken there on a last-minute-decision by her father. I’m no neurologist, so please don’t take my knowledge to heart, but I heard that our brains tamp down the very heavy memories to protect us. I also heard that sometimes we remember the bad memories more because they have a greater impact. When I think of some of the more painful memories from my childhood, I can’t recall all the little things that were said to me that made that moment painful because those moments feel like a blur of a inner war. But I distinctly remember the feeling because that pain never truly leaves you. I also do remember the “bad” memories more than the good because those moments shaped my ideas of family and who I am today. I don’t think that any of us want to remember the painful or bad moments, but we do because they stick with us—-more so the feeling that that memory left us with. Daphne remembered the bad moments more because the feeling that her dad left her with was more potent than the feeling of this false illusion of love that he gave her. Daphne didn’t remember the fishing story of the yellow hat or why he sent her a yellow beanie years ago because she didn’t associate her father with joy, so much as heartbreak. And that brings sorrow to my heart knowing that many people who do have complicated relationships with someone probably only remember the moments that hurt them. The good seems like a distant dream.
During this dinner, the dad fully paid the check instead of leaving the check to Daphne, which was nice, but also sad with how Daphne was so worried about if she could afford the meal or drinks that the dad was obnoxiously ordering. The thought that she had to worry that her father would leave her paying that broke my heart. But what broke my heart worse is how he ordered her a belated birthday cake with candles to sing to her. Daphne always wanted a normal picturesque relationship with her family and now she had this memory of her father actually doing something a normal dad would do. How could she not want to trust that her father had changed when he did something that she always wanted?
“I don’t want to trust him.
I don’t want to be disappointed.”
(pg. 271)
There was that inner voice for a reason. There’s a voice inside of us that protects us.
Her father stayed for a while in Waning Bay rooming with Miles, Julia, and Daphne. Part of me felt like the dad intentionally got a shizzy hotel so he could guilt Daphne into letting him room with them. I just didn’t trust this man after all the stories about him letting Daphne down. The more Daphne hung out with the dad, the more Daphne wanted to believe this new version—the version who could sit down and have a nice conversation with him.
When Miles showed up at the library one day, looking all despondent and harrowed, I knew. He was holding back from telling Daphne news that broke him to pieces, but would break her to pieces more. He didn’t want to hurt her 😭. But Miles was just the bearer of the news, and it wasn’t his fault that Daphne’s father was a shiz head.
Daphne’s father left.
Without warning.
Nothing. He just took his things, left her a letter, and was gone.
He disappointed her again. He let her down again. He left like she didn’t matter and like the next best thing was around the corner. He could have at least had the human decency to stay until Daphne was finished with work to tell her that he would be gone and that he would come back or something to viist her.
Disappointed in the father is an understatement, but not surprised at all.
“I glance toward my phone. It’s on my desk, face up. No new messages. No explanation.
Of course there isn’t. There never is. The explanation is implied: something better came along.”
(pg. 285)
It truly surpasses my mind how someone would knowingly hurt someone they love.
I wanted to hug Daphne for all the times that she constantly worked for these relationships and to trust certain people only for them to let her down and hurt her—-it’s no wonder it was difficult for her to open up or trust people when she constantly felt like this: gutted.
I detested the way Daphne was spiraling. I truly detested her spiral for my waterworks of tears.
“I knew he wouldn’t change. But a part of me kept hoping I had changed enough that he couldn’t hurt me, or that his new iteration of me would be the one worth sticking around for.
That’s I’d fixed whatever’s so broken in me that I can’t be loved.”
(pg. 286)
Where’s the hurricane warning because my tears be a pouring 😭!!!!
Daphne wasn’t broken.
Her heart was broken, yes. Her family was a bit broken, sure. But the lack of love and care her father had for her wasn’t a result of her brokenness—-it was never her fault. The lack of love and care from her father was on him and the broken part inside of him that always felt the need to be moving or to find the next best thing that he didn’t realize how much he was hurting the people around him. I don’t use this word lightly, but I truly hated that Daphne thought that she was broken and couldn’t be loved.
That thought tears me a part because that thought has crossed my mind too many times to count. I think that thought crossed Daphne’s mind a lot, but consciously she never wanted to admit it or think about it out loud.
I don’t know, but sometimes as someone who has never been easy to love by others—or who never felt like people really loved me—it’s hard not to stop the thought of feeling like what is wrong with me or why am I so broken that others can’t love me? It’s really, really hard not to think about how sometimes you feel so broken by the hardships or traumas that you face to feel like no one will love you. And I always get upset when other people are so hard on themselves to think that they are not worthy of love because they think of themselves as broken, but I do the same thing with myself and that makes me a hypocrite. But I don’t think anyone is ever truly broken and undeserving of love. I do think we have pieces that are cracked that we try to heal or piece back as best as we can, but that doesn’t mean that being broken means being unable to accept love into our life. I think we need more love in our life from others to help us through healing and most importantly love from ourselves to have the strength to know those cracks in our heart are the scars we let the light in to heal.
Daphne deserved so much more than her father treating her like a second choice. And so much more than Peter or any man making her feel like she was too broken to be loved.
You’re never too broken for love. People who make you feel too broken, are just breaking you the same way they were carried.
“I feel like there’s so much space between who I am and who I want to be, and there’s no one to show me how to get there.””
(pg. 372)
I loved that Miles respected Daphne’s space when she needed it, but I also loved loved loved when he took her to his favorite beach when she said she needed to getaway and go somewhere. I just thought about how when he took her to that beach in the beginning and said that that beach was his second favorite beach and that he didn’t take her to his first favorite because he didn’t want to lay out all his cards and have her know his favorite spot. Miles taking her to his favorite beach now, meant that he trusted Daphne and that he wanted her to know the place that he loved. I loved when they ran out to the water together and Miles held her, and Daphne was like, “Don’t drop me,” and Miles said, “Never”🥺.
“My heart thrashes, like it’s trying to get itself up above water. Like I could drown in the sight of him.”
(pg. 289)
Or that he said he didn’t bring her to his favorite beach to be nice, but because we all knew he loved her!
I’m a sucker for a heat of the moment moment, and Daphne and Miles had one. I quite liked that they finally jumped into their feelings after such a tender and vulnerable moment because Daphne was hurting and Miles was there for her in a way that no one had ever been there for her. And he took her to a place that meant something to him, which highlighted how much Daphne meant to him. So them diving into their emotions into a physical connection felt perfect after everything they built together and all the ways they were there for each other. I just loved this pocket of happiness that they had after being sad for so long, or having pockets of happiness in sorrow. There was a moment where Daphne kind of just laughed while looking at Miles, and she was just so happy to be happy 😢. When you feel like sadness is your primary emotion, you almost start to believe that you won’t feel happiness again. But when you do, it’s in a disbelieving rush that you could feel happiness. Daphne wasn’t used to just being happy, but Miles made her undoubtedly so.
There was a moment where Daphne admitted that she felt embarrassed that Miles saw her dad leave and that she would have taken her dad back because she wanted his love; she didn’t want Miles to see her like that. I thought Miles could understand how Daphne felt even if he didn’t agree with it or liked the idea of her father hurting her. He just wanted to be there with her.
“‘A part of me is just waiting . . . for the moment when you see whatever it is that drives people away. And I don’t want that. I don’t want you to stop wanting me around. I think it might break my heart ot be someone you don’t like.”
(pg. 299)
Her father really did a number on her heart for her to feel so lowly about how amazing a person she is 😕.
Miles telling Daphne every beautiful, defining quality he saw in her, was EVERYTHING. We’re so hard on ourselves as people, that other people see us in a much softer light. I loved how Miles said that Daphne saw people for who they are and that scared people because people can’t hide if you know their truth. Seeing people at face value is a great quality that other people can’t handle because once they know you see the real them, they fear that you see everything—-the good, the imperfect, the real. So they move on.
Daphne was as real as they came, and that’s something I admired about her from the beginning. Daphne never really hid her feelings and she was always honest about who she was even if she was closed off, she owned it. She was someone who knew what she loved and what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to voice her emotions. More people need that kind of honesty rather than being dishonest to who they are.
Gosh, can I just say I DETEST the part in a book where everything feels like a perfect snow globe and then everything comes crashing down and that snow globe is obliterated 😩.
Every. Single. Time.
First, let’s talk about when Miles made her freaking wait.
That’s her trigger, Miles! She waited for him like she waited for her father, and feeling stood up made her feel like he left her because of what he said.
“The thing he said the other night—about the men in my life not wanting to be seen, running as soon as they are–play back, like a siren, a warning I missed.”
(pg. 308)
Damn 😅.
Not those good-intentioned words coming back to bite him. I could absolutely see why she thought Miles left her after they finally were intimate. I mean, she knew the real Miles, and the next day he had her waiting 😩. She thought he ran just like everyone else she ever got close to.
“This is what you get, a voice taunts in my mind.
When you make all the same mistakes again and again.
When you choose the wrong people to trust and let down the right ones.
When you let someone in who’s told you in every conceivable way not to rely on them.”
(pg. 309)
Daphne’s inner voice is something I appreciated the most in reading Funny Story because I could really feel her turmoil of what triggered her or why she thought so lowly of herself. We all have that inner voice, and whether or not we admit it, that voice can beat us down more than any other voice that speaks to us. I just saw myself a lot in Daphne and her thoughts because that’s the way I speak to myself. I felt bothered knowing that I had similar thoughts to Daphne and here I was screaming at her to not speak to herself in such a harsh way. But I speak to myself the same way. When things are difficult, I feel like it’s so easy to put blame and hate on ourselves because we feel like why is this happening to me, and then that words stands out: me. This is all about me. I am the problem and this is why I’m struggling or why people don’t love me a certain way or why people leave. We place all this hate on us based on the actions of others that make us feel like we are wrong. This is what you get. I was sobbing for Daphne. She didn’t deserve to feel like being close to people meant that “this is what you get” when they leave. Like the blame is on her. Other people’s hurt isn’t on us.
What sucks even more was that Miles plan of showing Daphne Waning Bay made her want to stay. But the idea of Miles abandoning her, gave her every reason now to not want to stay there—she wanted to escape.
Oh gosh, when Peter showed up at her apartment I SCREAMED 😂.
Get this loser our of here!!!! Daphne’s heart is in smithereens, she doesn’t need this 😅!!!!! Like go away!!!
UGH, and the AUDACITY of this freaking loser to go to her apartment, the apartment he drove her away to and say that he CALLED OFF HIS ENGAGEMENT TO PETRA 😧!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello 911, I would like to report TREASON.
How. Dare. He.
What a joke. I knew that was going to happen. He saw how happy Daphne was with Miles and his fragile boy ego couldn’t stand it, and his shiny new toy Petra was no longer shiny, so he wanted to go back to Daphne because now he wanted what he couldn’t have. Someone play ***My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys*** WHAT A DUMMY. And the AUDACITy he had to walk into that apartment with such confidence like he owned it, and to claim he made a rash decision to call off the wedding because he was scared to marry her and woe is me that my family and friends miss you and yada yada. And the nerve of him saying that he was just going to go through with marrying Petra because he made a big deal of calling off their wedding and didn’t want to look like an idiot was even stupider. Take that bullshiz somewhere believable 🤪. Maybe where the sun don’t shine. I’m sorry, he called off an engagement with her, uprooted her life, then wrecked her life, and now he had the GALL to come crawling back to her and ask her to be with him again????????
I hope he knew that he was an idiot for trying. The fact that he even thought he could convince her to say yes to his whole soppy spiel was a stretch. No way in the José, I would hope, if someone ever did the same to me, that I would take that sucker back.
“It doesn’t feel good to hurt him.
Because truthfully, I don’t feel hurt by him right now.
Wronged? Sure. Hurt? No. He’s not capable of that anymore.”
(pg. 318)
Daphne is a much more mature person than I will ever be 😂.
She didn’t want to hurt him the way she was hurting or the way Petra was probably hurting.
I appreciated how civil she was in speaking with Peter because anyone would have chewed his a** out for being an idiot—aka me—but she had no anger in her. I loved how Emily Henry put Daphne’s feelings as Daphne felt wronged, but she wasn’t hurt because Peter didn’t have that power over her. Daphne no longer had feelings for Peter and could not make her feel hurt. When you feel wronged, you feel like someone had done wrong by you and it’s more black and white. But to hurt is to attach a feeling to the wrongness. I loved how Daphne also stood her ground because Peter played on Daphne’s dream of friendship, family, and having a home—-a whole life with routine and stability—but I loved loved loved that moment where something clicked for Daphne: she didn’t want that seemingly perfect life anymore.
“And I’m not sure why I wasted all that time and energy, because when I think about family—that thing I’d always longed for—it’s never been a Norman Rockwell painting that I picture.
It’s me and Mom, on the couch, eating microwaved corn dogs while Dial M for Murder plays on TV. It’s running out from the library at night to her car, a greasy box of Little Caesars pizza in the passenger seat joking, I thought we’d do Italian.
. . . My life, five months ago, was picture perfect, but it wasn’t the picture I wanted.”
(pg. 320)
This thought goes back to how Daphne always wanted home, stability, and a sense of family—she wanted the picturesque idea of a perfect nuclear family in a beautiful home. I mean, that’s what we were fed growing up by movies or shows. Or that’s what I was fed. But spending time with Miles, and reflecting on her life, she realized that family, friendship, relationships, life itself isn’t perfect, and that knowing life is imperfect is its own work of art in itself. Life isn’t about what looks the best or who has it the best, but what feels the best and what means the most to you. For Daphne, it was all the simple but spontaneous moments she shared with her mother—-expensive and perfect? No, but joyful and full of triumph. Life was about spending time with people she loved and being real to who she was because it felt easy, not hiding behind people being who they wanted her to be. I always wanted the same thing as Daphne—the perfection of family and love promised to me from movies and shows. But I know that movies and shows are our fantasy of what we wish, and that even the people who write these shows and movies don’t have something perfect. I don’t have something perfect. It’s almost like you have to grieve the idea of having a picturesque life to accept the beauty of the life you do have around you. I may never have a mother who I grew up with or a father who I respect or a close relationship with my siblings or friends, but I do have moments and people that I cherish. My life is far from perfect, but I don’t think I want to chase one that is, more so one that is fulfilling.
I teared up with Daphne because her epiphany felt like the breathe of acceptance in the grieving process. And I was right there with her 💙.
Peter said that Miles helped Petra move all her things from his apartment. I knew he said that to gloat that Miles had truly left her for Petra—-that Miles went back to her. I said slam that door on his smug mouth. Peter’s not a guy who’s used to not getting what he wanted, so if he could indirectly hurt Daphne to make her feel desperate enough to take him back, he would do it. I wasn’t concerned about Peter because we were done with his sorry a**, but I was disappointed we would never get to see Daphne and Miles be petty at his wedding 😂.
At the same time, what a blow. I mean, Miles, what are you doing!!???!!?
Not showing up for Daphne and then her hearing about the engagement ending and how he’s helping his ex pack up, felt like he chose Petra. When Daphne did speak to Miles, I felt like his excuse that he got caught up in helping a friend was not good enough. The fact that he intentionally excluded Petra’s name was worse. He should have just straight up told Daphne who he helped because she already knew and omitting the truth said he had something to hide because he felt guilty. I understood Miles was a very kind person and would help an elderly cross the street or he would jump in front of a truck to save a dog, so helping Petra was just out of the kindness of his heart because that’s who he was, but the lying didn’t help.
You know, what else I’m a sucker for?
An angry I love you 😩.
Mile ran because he got scared of his feelings for Daphne, but then he snapped out of his emotions enough to know he screwed up by running, running to help Petra no less. The box of chocolates was a consolation gift that didn’t really make anything better. But when Daphne said Miles did exactly what she expected, a gale force wind knocked me the f*** over 😆. Oh my gosh, she impaled Miles with that one. OUCH. But also, I mean, he did do what she expected—she’s just being honest. But when he said, “Expect something!” I couldn’t help but awe because he wanted her to feel like she deserved good things and he knew he screwed up big time. When Daphne walked away from Miles, I know she was walking away for them both. She didn’t want him to hurt her and she didn’t want to hurt him because she was going to leave. She had a job interview for a position in Maine, and one that seemed too good to be true. If she really was going to leave, she wanted to do him the kindness of calling whatever they had off if she left.
Daphne had spent way too long choosing people who didn’t choose her. And so she chose to right a wrong that she did before her big fight with Miles.
I have yet to talk about Daphne’s friendship with Ashleigh, her coworker.
“I don’t want to be part of the wrong we. I’d rather be on my own, even if it hurts right now.”
(pg. 322)
Ashleigh was one of those people that is a doesn’t look like a cinnamon roll, and isn’t a cinnamon roll. Heck, I don’t think that description was helpful 😅. Ashleigh had the personality of calamari—-very crispy on the outside at first, but very lovely on the inside, but still has a crunch to her. That’s the weirdest analogy I’ve ever written, but I was trying to say Ashleigh was like a boujee food that’s intimidating, but not really. I really loved the slow-to-warm friendship Daphne formed with Ashleigh. Daphne’s never had a friend in a long time that wanted to break down her walls and wouldn’t let her run away from the wrecking ball. Ashleigh wanted to sit in the rubble with her, and I loved that. I loved how Daphne invited Ashleigh to get drinks one of those first nights when she was beginning to know Miles. I loved how open Ashleigh was past her intimidating demeanor because she also craved friendship. That’s something I noticed a lot more in my early twenties, is how difficult it is to form friendships with the people around you, however we’re all craving the same thing—-connection. Being a single mom who was also newly divorced meant it was difficult for Ashleigh to find friends who were patient with her or who weren’t doing their own thing.
I really loved the vulnerable conversations they had because Daphne never had a deep friendship. Ashleigh opened up about her divorce in how she procreated her child in the back of a car by the YMCA, and just naturally fell into being with that guy for years. But she didn’t want to settle with this guy who didn’t want to try new things or get to know new parts of himself. She wanted someone who wanted to try new things with her or even just show up to the couples therapy with her to just be there. I really appreciated Ashleigh gumption in knowing what she wanted. Her life plan was not at all what she thought it was going to be, but she made it work. But she didn’t want to settle into this comfort of the same routine with someone that she didn’t even know if she fully loved, but was willing to try everything to make that relationship more real. I don’t think she should settle if she didn’t want to settle because if she believed in true love or more for herself, then that’s what she should find in life if her husband wasn’t giving that to her. I didn’t like how people made her to be the villain when she divorced her husband when really she tried all she could before making that decision. Daphne also felt outcasted by her friend. They were outcasted together. I’m glad they found each other. They really worked as friends in their sarcastic nature and with Ashleigh opening Daphne’s “closed book.”
I enjoyed the moments where Ashleigh invited Daphne to the poker nights, and how Daphne saw Lenore and Harvey there. There was one poker night where they were talking about Ashleigh’s birthday, and Ashleigh didn’t want to do anything to celebrate. Daphne, however, was adamant about doing something even if it was as dull as painting a room in Ashleigh’s house and watching Housewives on TV. I just really loved how Daphne wanted Ashleigh to not feel alone on her special day no matter how much Ashleigh wanted to wallow in being alone. BUT WHAT SUCKED was that with everything going on in Daphne’s life during that time—the surprise visit from her dad and Miles drama—she FORGOT about her birthday plans with Ashleigh 🥺.
I can’t blame Daphne for being so busy and her mind a mess, but that must have sucked to have not wanted to celebrate your birthday and then suddenly be secretly glad to have plans only to be stood up. I felt awful for Ashleigh. I don’t blame Ashleigh for icing Daphne out or saying something rude to Daphne about how she always knew Daphne was a “we” kind of girl and that she knew Daphne would leave her like all her other friends once they got into a relationship.
Gosh, that sucked.
Because what Daphne did to Ashleigh was what Miles and her dad did to her—-she left.
Daphne didn’t prioritize her friendship—the one relationship that would truly be there for her before any guy. There was an ocean of regret in realizing that she did Ashleigh wrong because Daphne truly never meant to make Ashleigh feel like second best, but that’s what happened and she couldn’t change that fact. I loved how Daphne tried to do better or ease her way into Ashleigh’s better graces. I also respected how Daphne knew to give Ashleigh her space to give her time. I loved loved loved the whole plan where Harvey planned this impromptu poker night and Daphne basically broke into Ashleigh’s house with the paint color she chose, and started painting Ashleigh’s room like she promised. I loved that 🥺💙. I liked getting a glimpse into Ashleigh’s world in how maybe she was hurting from the divorce still, and that painting the room would bring some life. Once Ashleigh saw Daphne doing what she promised, I could tell that the ice melted over because Daphne would go as far as breaking into her home to rectify what happened. I loved their heart-to-heart make-up in both of them understanding that they said things out of hurt—-Ashleigh knowing that people made mistakes and she shouldn’t use people’s mistakes as tally marks against them. There was something both of them could learn from being friends with each other in how sometimes friends fight, and we forget things that we don’t mean to but it’s never out of a place of not loving that person still. The moment I admired most in their friendship was how Daphne was broken about how things ended with Miles, and was debating telling Ashleigh what happened. People like Daphne and I tend to dismiss our feelings because we don’t want to burden people with them.
“Friends talk about the other stuff.
. . .’Remember me? Ashleigh? I always want to talk about it. So back up.”
(pg. 339)
I loved that 💙.
Daphne never had someone besides her mom to talk to, but now she had Ashleigh in her corner who wanted to hear the messy parts, who wasn’t scared to. And I loved how Daphne trusted Ashleigh with those pieces of herself. True friendship is feeling comfortable sharing all the pieces of yourself to someone and knowing that no matter what they will love you anyway.
Speaking of Daphne’s mom, after her argument with Miles, Daphne called her mom.
I don’t know if I said this already, but I admired Daphne’s mom like no other and had the utmost respect for her. Daphne’s mom had consistently been there for her daughter and supported her through everything even when it was hard. The admiration Daphne speaks about her mother with is unmatched as it is inspiring. I loved how the mom voiced how she was never as perfect as Daphne made her out to be. Because the mom was the only person Daphne had in her life, it was hard not to idolize her.
“‘And so many decisions I made were based on the faer 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 yo uaway, 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 liek a nail driven into my sternum
‘Is that what I am?” I ask her.
‘You?’ She says. “You, my girl, are whoever you decide to be. But I hope you always keep some piece of that girl who sat by the window, hoping for the best. Life is short enough without us talking ourselves out of hope and trying to dodge every bad feeling. Sometimes you have to push through the discomfort, instead of running.”
(pg. 331)
This conversation with the mom was pivotal
The mom made many decisions out of fear—she ran away—and had found herself leading a happy life filled with clubs and pilates classes. That’s the life she made for herself, and part of me feels like the mom was okay with being single, but also wanted connection. The mom called herself a cynic because she’s scared to want romance again because the husband leaving hurt her more than she cared to admit. However, the mom never wanted her daughter to become her, and I think Daphne was starting to become like the mom in not hoping anymore—not believing in the love that the universe had to offer. Daphne was very much shrinking her world because for so long she stopped connecting and caring because she was living out of the fear of the people who had continually hurt her. And in the end, she was hurting herself more than she knew.
As someone who tends to shut people out when I’m going through something, I never really thought about how I live out of the fear of people also hurting me in the same way, so I isolate myself, which only ended up making me feel pretty lonely a lot of the times. I mean, being single or being by yourself isn’t bad, it’s just devoid. Sometimes I don’t want to sit in my feelings alone, but after so long of pushing people away, I only have me to sit with. I stopped being the person who waited at the window, and became the person who sat in the corner, hoping someone would notice how sad I was.
Daphne is a lot braver than I ever was, and it’s a bravery I aspire for now.
She didn’t want to be a cynic anymore or let people take away her hope. She didn’t want people who have hurt her to make her shrink who she was.
FREAK I LIVED when she called her father and gave it to him!!! That’s how you tell your father he is a piece of SHIZ 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼! UGH, and the way she said you treat me like a pit stop???????? ICONIC. Or the way that she said that something had to change and that I’m done with this, I’ll call you when I’m ready. You better drop that truth like it’s hot!!! But yea, I was extremely proud of Daphne for standing up to her father and telling him how she felt. They were adults here and he knows he would never earn father of the year, so let’s not pretend what we all know—that he never made her feel loved.
Gosh, when the dad said Miles drove up to his house to chew him out and then ask him to come back with him, I was BEAMING! I felt like Miles did something after how heartbroken Daphne felt about the father leaving. I thought Miles hammed into the father on the phone, but going in person to the dad was even better. The real gift Miles wanted to give Daphne wasn’t fudge, it was bringing her father back, but he felt like he disappointed her by not getting the dad to come back, so he just got her fudge. He tried 😩. I wish he told her he tried so she at least knew that he went so far to stand up for her and bring back someone who he thought would make her happy.
The Read-a-thon was beautiful 💙.
I loved how Ashleigh got all of Daphne’s found family to help when volunteers were calling out sick here and there. I loved how Miles came even if Daphne and him had a strained relationship as far as he knew—he showed up.
I also loved loved loved the sweet moment of Daphne admiring Maya talking to a new friend about a book she was reading—-that shy, Maya who she she had a hard time opening up, finally had someone to talk to her understood her. Maya wasn’t alone anymore. I don’t know why Maya made me tear up. Again, I felt like I was Maya in being that shy, awkward, lonely teenage girl who read YA fantasy and romance books and no one understood me when I was fourteen and wanted to talk about books but had no one to talk about them to. I was happy for Maya in finding someone who understood her, and healing this inner-child in me that always felt alone or different because I liked books. And I can’t imagine the pride and love Daphne must have felt to see Maya also find connection and confidence in what she loves and to feel comfortable sharing that love with others.
“And I’m proud of myself too, feel like I’ve honored the twelve-year-old girl I was. Like in a small way, maybe I made this already wonderful place just a tiny bit better. It’s made me better.”
(pg. 364)
When Daphne approached Miles at the end of the night, I wasn’t emotionally ready. I have been through a whole a** emotional whirlwind with Daphne and Mile’s experiences, that all of the pain and growth they’ve made truly expelled all the tears from my body.
Miles spoke to how he did get in his own head that he wouldn’t be good enough for Daphne and that he wouldn’t be a good father because of all the trauma from his own family. Also, screw Petra for putting that in his head—we are not our parents. He couldn’t give Daphne that picture-perfect life she watned. Just the fact that Miles was laying down his insecurities and saying this is who I am and I don’t know if I can give you what you want, was such a admirable and strong thing to do. He loved her to be so honest as to say I can’t give you everything, but I want to be your everything. Daphne also admitted that she panicked at his I love you because she feared the surprise of how much she did love him and how different this picture of the life she wanted was.
“I spent so much time accustoming myself to one kind of surprise—the kind hinging on disappointments, hurts, small abandonments, and emotional bartering—that I’d stopped considering there might be any other. A surprise, it turns out, is different when it comes from someone who knows and loves you.”
(pg. 362)
I LOVED 💙.
Daphne always preached how she hated surprises. She detested surprises. She hated how her father would try to surprise her only to hurt her and let her down, thus hating surprises stinking guts. But there’s so much beauty in a surprise from the right people.
And life’s a surprise.
“So many of the most beautiful experiences in life are unexpected.”
(pg. 381)
Life is unexpected and we never know what is going to happen, but sometimes that surprise, that unexpectedness is the best gift there is.
I truly loved how Daphne closed her whole world off out of fear, cynicism, and disappointment, but once she let fo of all of those negative emotions and she let love in, her whole world opened up for what she wanted of herself. She let go off this person who was hurting or let herself be hurt; this person who was undeserving; this person who held the image of a perfect family or life for son long; and letting go gave her a chance to ditch the schedules, the dreams, the plans, and be surprised by life because life is a surprise and life can surprise us. Also, when we open up, we let in and let go of what we thought was true.
“I can’t wait. I can’t wait for this whole world I’ve invited to surprise me.”
(pg. 377)
Sometimes we get so hurt by the world, we close ourselves off, and in doing so, we lose out on the good the world has to offer.
My heart felt like a waterfall in feeling Daphne’s words like truth for myself. I mean, a good book is where you can see a character’s insecurities reflected in you enough to realize that maybe you needed to hear these words as much as the characters did.
I loved that Daphne was going to stay in Waning Bay because she had friends, a possible boyfriend, and a new apartment to move into. I loved that Daphne chose to get her own place because she didn’t want to build her life around Miles like she did Peter, but to know she had her own life outside of a relationship she did want to explore. I enjoyed hearing how Daphne reached out to reconnect with Sadie because she missed her friend—that once we stop being cynic that people shut us out, we open up to conversations that can mend or fully close a chapter. I liked how Daphne was taking it slow with Sadie, but still better than cutting of a relationship she still wanted
I loved loved loved that Daphne and Miles eventually bought a home together. I knew the second Emily Henry wrote this eccentric green cottage, that Daphne would want to make that cottage her home. Sucks that another family moved in there 😂. But I loved how Daphne and Miles found a similar version because I did think Daphne saw a future in that cottage whenever she walked by—she saw an imperfect place that was perfect for her 💙. I loved how Daphne and Miles hosted poker night and invited all of their found family, including the dad who I felt like was trying to do better after Daphne chewed him out, but I still wonder how that relationship is going to go after knowing the ways he hurt her. I loved how Daphne baked brownies, which was a cute callback to how Peter never let her bake and how she wanted to learn how to bake.I always thought if Miles wasn’t a wine connoisseur, he would make an excellent chef.
A full house full of people she loved, with brownies that made her moan, and laughter was all Daphne ever dreamed of. This was her home.
“All those moments throughout the days, weeks, months that don’t get marked on a 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.”
(pg. 329)
The ending was pure gold. I was in awe.
The parallel between the beginning when Daphne said she wasn’t good at telling stories and suddenly being made to be a side character as a part of someone else’s story, to at the end, being the one to tell the “funny story” of how Miles and her met was a full-circle, heart-healing moment. I could not have asked for a more fulfilling ending to the book. A title drop and a full-circle moment? Genius. Absolute genius. She was telling the story and not just part of it—-this was hers 🥺💙.
Funny Story was everything to me—humor, romance, friendship, family hardships, found family, impeccable writing. There was not one part of me that felt like anything could have been different to make this story even better. From beginning, middle, and end—pure magic and joy wrapped up in 384 pages that I could have not have spent my time better.
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book?
What is the “funniest” story you have ever told or heard?
I think the “funniest” story actually had to have been the most recent story of me switching grade-levels a month into the new school year last year because of a very unusual situation 🙃. That’s a different blog post for a different time, if you want to hear the whole story.
Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.
And as always, with love,
Rating
5 Full Bloom Flowers
Characters: I didn’t think I would relate to Daphne as much as I did, but she surprised me (haha, see what I did there) in having a lot more depth and heart. I also just loved how kind Miles was and once you also got to know him, he had more heart too.
Plot: There’s something almost ironic about this not being a funny story, but also a funny story that happened to break your heart as well as heal it.
Writing: I wonder what it’s like to be Emily Henry and to write banger after banger after banger??? Jokes aside, I have nothing but the most admiration for an author who continuously grows in their writing and seemingly crafts stories that outdoes the last 💙
Romance: Sometimes you have to have your fiancé leave you and room with the person he left you for to find your true one 😅