鈥淔unny Story鈥� isn鈥檛 a funny story at all. But it is a good one.
new starts with dueling breakups that have rocked the two main characters鈥� worlds 鈥� and forced them to bond over their shared broken hearts.
Daphne is a planner who is always on time. She鈥檚 a buttoned-up librarian who hosts a lively children鈥檚 reading hour and keeps her personal life closed off from her colleagues.
Miles is more subdued. He鈥檚 nice, thoughtful and able to win over anyone he鈥檚 talking to, especially the regulars he sees on his weekend trips to the farmers market. He doesn鈥檛 have much of a relationship with his parents, for myriad reasons, but he鈥檚 very close to his younger sister.
Daphne and Miles鈥� story starts as they navigate their newly single lives now that their exes are dating ... each other.
They go through the throes of grieving together, with a soundtrack of love songs accompanying each phase. It's practically begging for a movie version, to go along with the several other Henry books already in various stages of production.
Early on, they decide to pretend they鈥檙e dating to make their exes jealous. But as time goes on, they discover that they see each other as more than friends, that they really are falling for each other.
鈥淔unny Story鈥� is Henry鈥檚 latest romance 鈥� and her steamiest one so far. It鈥檚 a mixture of will-they-won鈥檛-they in a way that makes you really want them to. They鈥檙e the protagonists in separate love stories who are brought together by heartbreak. Daphne and Miles are characters you can empathize with and root for.
And 鈥淔unny Story鈥� is classic Henry. in a non-patronizing way. It鈥檚 a modern love story, and one that you won鈥檛 be mad is slightly predictable 鈥� because it makes you feel good and makes you believe in a thing called love.
鈥淪o many of the most beautiful things in life are unexpected,鈥� Henry writes.
It鈥檚 funny how life and love are both that way.
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AP book reviews:
Sophia Rosenbaum, The Associated Press
