Contrary to the title, “Happy Place,” Emily Henry uses Harriet & Wyn’s story to address the not so happy realities of life — heartbreak, grief, depression, and the complicated journey of defining who we are without being influenced by the weighty expectations of others. Despite the fact that Harriet and Wyn have broken off their engagement months ago, their reluctance to announce their break up to their friends forces them to keep the facade going an extra week during a special group trip. The book alternates between Harriet’s POV in the past and present, and the constant back and forth allows you to witness how this close-knit friend group evolves over the years. “Happy Place” is a love story, but not always in the traditional sense. On one hand, the soul of this book is the special bond Harriet & Wyn share that left me hungry to figure out where it all went wrong for them (and anxious to see how/if they could resolve it). But love stories don’t always have to be romantic. Our relationships with the people we love — our friends and or our family — go through inevitable waves too. So although Harriet and Wyn’s story has a big spotlight in “Happy Place,” it is by no means the only love story that gets shaken up & tested. The biggest takeaway I got from this story is that change is inevitable. We can take solace in our own version of our “happy place” — maybe it’s a physical spot with great memories, a person that feels like home, or even a pocket of time in our past that we wish we could return to — but change needs to happen for us to grow into the people we’re meant to be. It reminded me the importance of finding happiness in the present by appreciating life as it currently is because it will never look exactly the same way again.....scary? Hell yes! ….Exciting? Absolutely. To put it short: I was a fan. 4.5 / 5 HappyPlace BookRecommendations LTKGiftGuide