389p
The most anticipated book of 2023!
I literally found myself waking up at midnight, hitting 'buy now' to get a head start. It took me several attempts to request an ARC from the publishers but obviously due to high demand I was unable to retrieve a copy before hand. Either way of receiving it, reading the book was well worth the wait. However, I wouldn't place it as my number one Henry Book. I have kept the plot really vague as I'm scared I will ruin it in excitement.
Plot
Harry, Harriet, takes a trip to Maine every year to spend time with her friends from college. After not having met up for so long, this wasn't actually reasoned in the book, the friends take one last trip to Sabrina's father's cottage which is being sold. To Harry's surprise, her ex-fiance Wyn, has made a guest appearance for a very special occasion. The couple had not told the group about their breakup so they decided to follow along, to mark the special occasion without ruining the ties within the group.
Review
It was an absolute delight to read.
My favourite element of the book are the witty exchanges between Harriet & Wyn. Henry had never intended to use as much dialogue with these two characters as she had in her previous novels. It's melancholic tone of breakup & heartbreak at the start helped Henry develop a palpating relationship with a dramatic twist that kept readers tense every time there was a moment of weakness. As for the relationships between their friends, this felt naturally placed. Henry strives off fictionally heightening tropes, creatively seeing how they develop from ones she witnesses in real life to the ones that develop on paper. She told Goodreads, "I do have friends who are married to each other who were childhood best friends and didn't get together until they were adults. And I have a lot of friends where they broke up years before and then reconnected, and I have friends who hated each other when they first met and then fell in love". Readers are able to experience Harriet's every hatred, love & sympathetic thought towards Wyn from a personal yet honest point of view.
The book feels well balanced with realism & familiarity which is ironic as Henry ever intended the book to feel like a wholesome romance novel. We are drawn by the character's dynamic over the plot. MCs Harriet & Wyn are such thoughtful, kind characters that you route for them to work through their issues. The undertones of careers, even in long distance relationships, was a turning I never expected. Harriet is a doctor from LA, whereas, Wyn from a small town, jumping from job to job. The jobs are both very different but show similar battles of survival like their relationship. Their chemistry was fiery, interactive showing the readers how much of a match made in heaven they are. It proved that life made them drift apart rather than falling out of love. It was overall quite a sad book, that we weren't expecting from Henry, but the revival of love with really good friendships gave you essences of hope - something we route for in all of Henry's books. However, my favourite is still Book Lovers.
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