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everybody knows i love emily henry.



like, it’s probably gotten to the point that people who don’t know anything about me or read my reviews know that. probably the people who do all they can to avoid my crossing their digital path (and i imagine these people must exist judging by the number of john green fans i’ve angered alone) know it too.

it’s just that true. it's at the core of my identity.

i love her and i shout it from the rooftops on the reg.

i was very, very, veryveryvery excited to hear she was doing a rom-com, way outside her then-usual genre of Young Adult Magical Realism About Funny Brave Prickly Young Women Who Have Magic Or Are Magic Or Are Uniquely Capable Of Seeing Magic, And Their Funny Fun Unique Bands Of Friends.

(my favorite genre.) (may i pray every day that it will come back someday.)

in fact i think i commented a concerning all-caps something or other on her instagram announcement to convey the sheer breadth of my excitement, an event which i’m sure was mildly to severely frightening and yet she handled with grace and poise.

with each passing day i grow more convinced i am a concerning presence on the outskirts of emily henry’s online life.

but i digress.

as i wrote this, my goodreads review of this book contained five updates. yes. i am currently updating my original review, and yet i have already written five small reviews. in addition to the big one. again. excitement.

this book was NICE. it is not my favorite emily henry book (a very tall order), but it does act as the first step in the execution of one of my most hoped-for dreams: an emily henry book in every genre. which in turn is a step toward the pinnacle of my wishes: that all books be written by emily henry.

a step in the right direction.

this is a very cute and fun romance that spends way too much time on an almost inexplicable cult subplot. i diagnose this as "emily henry's weirdo brain having to come out somehow," and because it isn't coming up with whimsical magic systems for YA this is an alternative.

still, i enjoyed this so much. even if i mourn that era. which is why i started this reread – i have finally admitted to myself emily henry is a romance writer and i can't auto-4 star to kill time.

it is also often more Rom than Com. there’s a lot of Character Development and Relationship Arcs and Changing Life Paths here. it is overall a more serious book than that crazy-cute cover would imply.

which is the perfect real-life execution of one of the themes of this book: literature is no less literature-y for being written by women, or for being written for women, or for ending happily.

books are books and books are good.

especially if they’re written by emily henry.

bottom line: <3

4.5

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reread update

deciding to reread all emily henry books as a cry for help