Funny (Witty, Heart-felt, Endearing) Story.

Its a snicker, not a laugh. Adjust your expectations to enjoy this to it’s fullest. Let’s be clear: Funny Story isn’t going to have you snorting wine through your nose. It’s more of a “soft smile, internal chuckle” kind of funny. But if you’re in the mood for a warm-hearted, emotionally smart rom-com with subtle charm and a librarian FMC who accidentally wins your heart (even if she never fully grabs it), then yep— Funny Story might be for you.

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The Dustjacket

The simple, illustrative style evokes the light-hearted rom-com vibes, and I’m here for it. The soft blue violet ground makes the oranges and yellows in the illustration pop! The posture struck by the characters demonstrates their shared state of mind. The use of the lemonade pattern from the front cover as decoration for the spine is a fun detail. The hand-drawn quality of the blocky sans serif font fits seamlessly with the illustration. Filling in the white space with “a novel” brings balance between the author’s name and the book title. This book cover immediately drew my eye amongst the other front-facing titles in the bookstore where I encountered it. The back cover takes elements from the front and shows them rearranged in a shelf at the bottom of the “praise for” section. This carries the personality of the book through the entirety of the cover experience. The inner flaps are nicely justified to avoid rivers. My only critique is that there are four dots in the ellipsis and that maybe it would have looked better if the “It’s a funny story…” were left aligned? Love that the background of the author’s photo is the same color as the accent text on the cover. This is such great attention to detail. Also, the croc shoe graphic on the inner back cover acts as a delightful little wink at the audience. I think this is overall very appealing and well thought through.

Interior

Font selections for the title page and chapter headings is consistent. The tone is maintained through the design elements. The three word all caps lead ins to each chapter are a nice touch. I like that the cover and interior seem to have been planned together and have a nice unity. The whole thing is striking the right tone and not trying too hard.

Did the design affect whether I bought the book?

I want to say no, but I think that it did. I had browsed through the store, looking at many options. I still had the Goodreads Readers Choice winners pinging around in my brain, so when I saw a couple of them in one location in the store, I stopped to peruse more deeply. I re-read the inner flaps and the back covers. Picked up and put down at least 3 books before “taking a lap” and coming back and buying this book – and only this book. I still want to read the others that I saw that day. So I can only surmise that the cover influenced my decision. I am a mood reader, and this was speaking to my mood.

​The main characters in Funny Story were pretty well developed and likable. I admire the way that Henry managed to make these “opposites” of sorts not so disparate that their finding harmony together seemed forced. One thing that I noted was that while I liked the main characters, I didn’t love them. I wanted to be excited about them, but they were just “almost”. The antagonists were painted like real-life people, so while I felt angry at them for being jerks, I didn’t hate them. I understand that people can be selfish and so caught up in their heads that they don’t see how their choices affect the people around them. That’s how the “dumpers” read to me. That in itself is refreshing. I’ve read lots of romance books in which the antagonists are so villainized that both the reader and main characters wonder, “What was I thinking?” This seemed more realistic.

The side characters shine. They are colorful and fun, offer comic relief, help the main characters build toward their resolution. However, I just wanted a little bit more. I wanted to love them, but fell just a hair short into likable.

“Cookie Money?” I repeat. “Like he knocked over a Girls Scouts truck and started a black market operation?”

The writing seemed effortless. The story made sense from beginning to end and was descriptive without being boring. There were plenty of details to draw complete mental pictures. The writing was very approachable. Henry treats her readers like they are intelligent (much appreciated) and allows her characters to make intelligent references, be quick-witted, and sassy. The dialogue is well developed and helps to give you a sense of each character’s personality and background.

Themes of finding yourself, found family, overcoming childhood hangups, and place-making were prominent throughout. I was excited about the place-making theme as it isn’t something I’ve encountered a lot in romance novels. As Daphne feels disconnected from a place that she had moved for her ex, Miles helps introduce her to new aspects of her current location. Meanwhile, Daphne is already making her place at the library where she works and doesn’t even realize her impact until she starts to engage socially with her coworkers. The drive for someone to put down roots was vs to run away from their problems was threaded through multiple character arcs.

The story was well structured and believable, which in this genre can be hard to come by. While there was a little bit of the forced proximity trope, it was completely voluntary – refreshing. The fake relationship trope was well handled and believably applied. The opposites attract trope is handled with so much nuance and grace. The love story unfolded naturally. While there was attraction, the bond was more reliant on actions and words, and the consistent care and consideration of the main characters for each other. A true love story (not just a lust story).

“What in Satan’s ball sack?”

For a book called Funny Story, I expected it to be more humorous. Maybe I am just too literal. While there were a couple of situational comedic moments and a few one-liners from a side character or two, it wasn’t a laugh-out-loud kind of book. I think having this expectation going in colored my experience of the book more than I’d have wanted. This might also be due to the cover design. It communicated that there would be significant “com” in this “rom-com.” That said, this book is delightful and witty. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but…

But I didn’t identify with Daphne (FMC) as much as I feel that I do with other FMCs. Miles (Mmc) was great, but I didn’t swoon over him. I guess what I’m saying is that the characters stayed at arms length, I didn’t get sucked in. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with the characters, but I just wasn’t as enchanted as I’d like to be for a book that was a Goodreads readers’ choice favorite. There goes my expectations, putting a damper on my joy. Damn them.

The FMC is a librarian, so there is a smattering of literary reference throughout. Fun side characters that I feel like could have each had their own wonderful story, again, I just wanted a little bit more than I got.

It’s good. Read it if you have any interest in doing so. It’s maybe not going to knock your socks off, but you won’t regret having spent the time getting to know the characters and their funny story.

Some heat but not very spicy.

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Are you one of the almost one million Goodreads voters who ranked this a top Romance book? Tell me what I am missing.

Haven’t read it yet? Tell me if you plan to and if this review helped you decide!

May your life be as full as your bookshelf and as long as your TBR list.

Happy Reading!