4.5 stars
CBR15 Bingo: Adulthood
15-word review: Harriet and Wyn broke up months ago, but can’t tell their friends. Sexual tension follows.
Official book description:
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?
I read this book at the start of May, so apologies if this review isn’t as witty and informative as some of the others I occasionally write. Ms. Henry deserves a great review for her achievement, but I’ve just let my review backlog get bigger and bigger, so this is what she gets instead.
I picked this book for the “Adulthood” square of Cannonball Bingo because all of the characters in Happy Place, not just Harriet and Wyn, are struggling with both having to be adults and accept that sometimes things change irrevocably, and want to hold on to their happier youthful days. Their friends Sabrina, Cleo, Parth, and Kimmy are just as devastated that Sabrina’s rich father is selling the cottage they’ve shared so many good times in, and as their last week progresses, it’s becoming very clear that Harriet and Wyn aren’t the only ones keeping big secrets.
Full review on my blog.
