memoryarchaeologist

[memoryarchaeologist]

I’ve just finished reading Happy Place by Emily Henry. The best book I’ve read in 2024 for sure although the bar is pretty low considering I didn’t enjoy Pride and Prejudice haha! No but seriously 5 stars for Happy Place! I’m starting to like Emily Henry’s works, they’re very chill feel-good reads!

The reason this book caught my eye was because of its synopsis “A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends”

“Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t. They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.”

It’s actually a similar situation that I’m in which is why I got so intrigued by the book when I first saw this synopsis. My ex and I broke up a few months ago and we haven’t told anyone for a while. We got together when we were really young so we’ve been together for about 9/10 years now. And about a month after we broke up, we gathered for his birthday dinner with his friends and we pretended that we were still together. Honestly, It felt so natural to be his “girlfriend” at the dinner but also, it was painful to know that it wasn’t real. I have no idea why this book review is turning out to be a very personal diary entry haha ANYWAY! I guess one of the reasons I was so invested in this book is because I just wanted to know whether they will end up together. Even though this is entirely fiction, it feels like I needed to know whether two people that broke up can still get a happy ending. For most of the book, it was quite relatable.

I felt really sad reading it because my mind just kept going back to my own relationship. And now, I kind of want to read another novel on second chance romance because there is some kind of comfort in reading / watching something similar to what you are going through... but at the same time, doing so feels like I’m choosing to be stuck in this sad phase. Maybe I’ll read some non-romance novels for now :) Hope everyone is doing well!!!

[memoryarchaeologist]

*Spoiler alert!*

“Because there’s nowhere I wouldn’t go for you. And if you get out to Montana and realize there’s somewhere else you need to be, there’s nothing I’m not willing to do to make it work. I’d rather have you five days a year than anyone else all the time. I’d rather argue with you than not talk, and whether we’re together or we’re not, I’m yours, so let’s be together, Harriet. As much as we can. As long as we can. As soon as we can. Everything else, we’ll figure out later.”

“Wyn,” I whisper shakily. His fingers twitch, tightening through my curls. “Are you saying I can come home?”

“I’m saying,” he murmurs softly, “it’s not home unless you’re there.”

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

I want my life to be like—like making pottery. I want to enjoy it while it’s happening, not just for where it might get me eventually.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

And even that pain is a kind of pleasure, to feel so loved, to love so deeply.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

This is how I used to think of love. As something so delicate it couldn’t be caught without being snuffed out. Now I know better. I know the flame may gutter and flare with the wind, but it will always be there.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

Like even when something beautiful breaks, the making of it still matters.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

Everything is changing. It has to. You can’t stop time.

All you can do is point yourself in a direction and hope the wind will let you get there.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

You were in denial ... And telling us would’ve made it all feel real. And even if it is real, even if it’s what you chose, you still know it’s going to change everything, and that’s scary. Because you need us. We’re your family.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

Friendship with (her), with this whole group, has always felt like a current I could toss myself bodily into. And that’s what I’m most used to: coasting along on other people’s whims and feelings.

It had never occurred to me that that could be read as apathy. That they might think I just don’t care. Guilt twinges through me.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

He always looks younger when he’s asleep. I wonder if that’s some evolutionary trait: What animal could stand attacking someone who looks so peaceful and innocent?

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

Love means constantly saying you’re sorry, and then doing better.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

“Good,” he says. “Don’t forgive me. Stay mad at me. Don’t get over me.”

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

It wasn’t one moment when everything went wrong, when I failed him, when we lost each other. There were dozens, on either side. Missed signs. Dropped lines.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

There doesn’t need to be a winner and a loser. You just have to care how the other person feels. You have to care more about them than you do about being right.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

Everyone fights with the people they love ... What matters is how you do it.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

We’re not together because we don’t want to be! Because we can’t make each other happy, no matter how badly we want to.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place

[memoryarchaeologist]

it's one last I love you.

—  Emily Henry, Happy Place