Happy Place

Author: Emily Henry

Who Picked the Book: All of Us

One-sentence summary: A group of friends meets at their usual vacation spot for the last time while working through big issues, miscommunications, and secrets that threaten not only one relationship on the brink, but the group as a whole. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: It was a fast, and fairly fun, easy read.

Our least favorite thing about it: Several things annoyed us. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Friendship, Communication, Relationships

Our favorite quote: "It doesn't matter how busy life's been, how long the five of us have gone without seeing one another: meeting at the cottage is like pulling on a favorite sweatshirt, worn to perfection."

Notes: Well. This book and our impressions of it are kind of a paradox. On the one hand, it was a fast, fun read that we all mostly enjoyed. On the other hand, we can't really recommend it because we were annoyed by so many things. Overall, the book was fine and we didn't hate it - thus our fairly high rating. BUT, we also didn't super enjoy it either - it didn't really capture our attention. We didn't love any of the characters. The main character was, frankly, irritating to us. We thought the overall plot - where two people were essentially being deceived by their closest friends - was annoying. And also, the crux of every problem in this book hinged on lack of communication. To the point of ridiculousness. Who breaks up with someone and doesn't tell them why? Dumb. And that kind of secrecy/lack of just speaking to each other was the same problem with every relationship tension. Every single one. So those are the criticisms. One thing we liked was the idea of the vacation house and how that became a source of nostalgia and a representation of the cocoon of these relationships - friendship mostly. We liked the witty banter, even if we thought it was unrealistic. And the book didn't take us forever to read. 

Memorable Meeting Moments: This meeting took place at our lake house weekend gathering. Lots of memorable things - mostly that someone doesn't like to play games with balls. There were also a plethora of wild flowers this time! So many more than we've ever seen. We were also able to swim in the pool for the first time in years without completely freezing (it was still cold). 

What We Ate:  We ate our usual fare with one addition - we had lunch at Hemmingway's restaurant over by the marina on Sunday before we drove home.