Ranking Emily Henry’s books: from best to worst

As an Emily Henry diehard fan, I thought it was about time I did a ranking of her books – from best to worst. The majority on this list are five-star reads in my eyes. But I still have favourites, so let’s break it down.

Funny Story

I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to pick a top spot and a few almost made it. But Funny Story stands out as the one I enjoyed the most, have the least amount of criticism for and the one I think back most fondly on.

This is the story of Daphne and Miles who end up being roommates after both their exes cheat on them with each other. As you can imagine neither are in a great place when they meet but I liked that they instantly had something to bond over. You could say there’s irony to the title, as there aren’t necessarily funny moments for the characters from the off. A lot of the things that happen in this book are funny though – there’s great comedic timing and witty dialogue.

There’s a lot of emotional heartache in this one, with Daphne having a strained relationship with her dad. He flits in and out of her life whenever he gets a better offer, which leads to Daphne feeling unwanted. I thought it was a good addition to the plot as it showed us another side of Daphne, away from her work at the local library and her blossoming friendship with Miles.

It was great to see her step away from her past relationship and find herself again. The importance of self-discovery and finding happiness is an empowering message throughout this book. The scenes at the library where she reads to the children and gets a thrill from her work made a great read too.

Like all good rom-coms, fake dating does play a huge role in the plot of this one and it’s done really well. Daphne and Miles start pretending to be in a relationship to move on from their exes and to stop them thinking they’re pining after them. Whenever they see them out and about, instead of showing the gut-wrenching pull at their stomach, they appear to be over the moon that the affair brought them together – much to the dismay of their exes.

I adored the friendships in this story, particularly the friend Daphne makes from working at the library. Though they live completely different lives, no matter what, they choose each other as friends. Her friendship with Miles is the core of the book too and I think their relationship works because they have built a friendship worth protecting.

I think Emily Henry is a genius in what she does. The family dynamics and the world building of the towns she creates feel so realistic. They are definitely books I would like to revisit soon.

Rating: 5/5

Beach Read

Emily Henry loves writing stories about people who write or love books, basically a literary setting – with the exception of Happy Place. I find it so intriguing and inviting stepping into the publishing world. It makes for a great backdrop for a this kind of story.

Beach Read, while not set on a beach, follows two authors who are struggling to finish their books in their respective genres: romance and literary fiction. They decide to switch genres and see which gets published. There’s a bit of rivalry going on throughout but I would say it’s all in jest. While the book is marketed as enemies to lovers, it’s only for a few scenes that they actually don’t get along so I wouldn’t go that far.

This book deals with grief after January struggles to manage the loss of her dad, with whom she had a strained relationship. It’s quite an emotional read as our main character goes to live in his house, to work on her romance book, and uncovers lots of memories that she tries to work through. In doing so, she is a more guarded.

Augustus is an acclaimed literary writer and they do clash early on about their respective work. As they both appear to have a block that’s stopping them from writing, they make a deal to switch genres. Whoever succeeds in publishing a successful book wins. This little rivalry was so riveting to read. It led to a lot of great moments between January and Augustus where they begin to open up to each other about life outside of their work. They had great chemistry too.

The fact Augustus ends up writing in the house next to January’s dad’s property that she moves into makes the whole plot even more hilarious and swoon-worthy. It’s a great dynamic for a romantic comedy.

The only thing I wished this one had more of was side characters. I enjoy books more when we aren’t just following the main two leads. But this is still a five star read for me.

I loved the setting of the book, in a small town near Lake Michigan. The descriptions of the scenery and the town sound so whimsical and inviting.

Rating: 5/5

Book Lovers

This was my first Emily Henry book and immediately after finishing it, I picked up Beach Read – I was hooked straight away. The story follows Nora, a cut-throat literary agent, who takes her work very seriously. Like most of Emily Henry’s books, this being set around a book based job made for an interesting to read.

One of the only people she has a soft spot for is her pregnant sister, Libby – a soon to be mother of three. When Libby encourages her to go on a sister trip, Nora wasn’t expecting to end up in Sunshine Falls, a small town in North Carolina. In fact, she couldn’t think of anything worse. The town immediately made me think of a similar vibe to Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls, it felt whimsical and not too dissimilar from what you would expect the setting of a Hallmark movie to be. The bookshop setting was a nice touch too. It felt very cosy and homely.

The sisterhood bond that Nora and Libby have is lovely to read about, especially after losing their mother while Libby was at school age. Nora took on the role of being the motherly figure to Libby. This storyline made the book a lot more fleshed-out and made the main character multifaceted and nuanced. I thought Nora was a fascinating narrator too, as she had a different outlook on their upbringing than her sister. I won’t say more on that for fear of spoilers.

I will say that we are told early on that Nora is a tough egg, especially at work, but we don’t see that side of her much. Perhaps this is because she’s surrounded more in the story by people that don’t cause her stress and maybe they bring out the best in her, but there definitely wasn’t this tough exterior that we’re told about.

One of the best parts of this story was the fact the character wasn’t solely interested in the love interest, Charlie. She had a lot going on in her life. Whether that be work or worry about her sister moving away from her – her mind was always occupied by something else. It felt more like a rom-com than a romance, which I enjoyed. Charlie was a great addition to the story though. The plot with him in it made the sadder topics more lighthearted. The story is essentially an enemies to lovers trope as Charlie, a book editor, ends up working with Nora on one of her client’s books. Unlike Nora, Charlie loves Sunshine Falls and plans to live and work there which leads to lots of internal conflict for her.

Emily Henry is such a creative genius and writes such addictive stories. Book Lovers is one of those books you have to finish as soon as picking it up because it’s too engrossing to stop reading.

Rating: 5/5

Happy Place

The plot of Happy Place intrigued me from the get-go. Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago but they haven’t told their shared friends.

Every year they all gather for a holiday in the same cottage. This year will be the last because it’s being sold. Neither Harriet nor Wyn want to miss out on the last get-together and they don’t want to ruin the trip for the others either. So they fake date.

This is a beautiful second chance romance story that I devoured in a day. All the characters in the book are interesting and more than one have a secret of their own. I love the core friendship group in this story and the family dynamic they have built within their group.

I did find some of the side characters slightly annoying and it felt at times like they all could have communicated a lot better with each other, especially as Harriet and Wyn aren’t the only ones keeping secrets.

The setting sounds glorious too and when you read the descriptions of the house they always visit, it makes sense why they would want to do everything in their power to still be invited back. Everything mentioned is so grand and expensive.

Rating: 4.5/5

You and Me on Vacation

Second-chance romance isn’t a favourite genre of mine so if you do like that then I think this would likely be at the top of your ranking. That being said I did love this book and the author’s writing style. It kept me engaged the entire way through.

The story flips from present day to the past, showing the events that led the two main characters to stop speaking to each other. Poppy and Alex met 12 years ago and didn’t get along. Then a year later, had to share a long-distance ride together home together with a friend. Over the years they travel together as best friends. But two years ago something happened which leads to them never speaking again. Poppy bites the bullet and asks Alex on one final trip which is where the plot begins.

This is a really fun read and a nice slow burn. The characters have a great dynamic and if you like crossed wires or the miscommunication trope then this would be great for you.

What I missed with this story, compared to Emily Henry’s other work is the lack of side characters. I think they always add another layer to the main character’s dynamic and makes them more rounded as individuals outside of their relationship.

Poppy is a travel blogger who is stuck in a rut, feels like she doesn’t belong to one place. I like that a lot of the authors books are set around writers and different aspects of the writing world. In this instance, she nails it on the head with how difficult being a freelance writer can be and how much of a toll travelling all the time can take on a person – even though it does seem like a fancy lifestyle.

Rating: 4/5

Great Big Beautiful Life

My least favourite Emily Henry probably doesn’t come as a surprise to a lot of her readers as I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews. Two autobiography writers compete for the job of a lifetime – interviewing Margaret, a famous heiress.

Alice Scott narrates the book but it does also flip to interview style chapters. For me this didn’t work very well. It felt a bit jumbled having the interview in third person and then Alice’s life outside of the job in first.

The chapters following the friendship and love story between Alice and her rival Hayden were the most interesting. It felt natural that they may dislike each other at the start and want to keep a distance from each other due to the competitive nature of their jobs.

I felt the plot resembled a spin on The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, if the journalist had been the one we were following behind the scenes.

Their individual family dynamics were one of the most interesting too. Alice having lost her dad in recent years, struggled with the grief and also the distance she felt with her mother, who hadn’t always been the most nurturing. This did add to the story and the chapters where they visited the mother’s home are some of my favourites in the entire book.

Like a lot of Emily Henry books, there is more going on than just a romance and I do think she fits more into the fiction section rather than the romance sub-genre which I enjoy the most.

While I did enjoy this book, it wasn’t one that I was drawn to continue picking up all the time and I don’t think I will reread it. The ending also felt slightly predicable to me. But chapters all linked back together so it did make sense.

Rating: 3/5

What’s your favourite Emily Henry book? Let me know in the comments below. I’m also on Instagram, Threads and Twitter – @bookwormgirl_24