Every Emily Henry Book, Ranked

There are few at the top of their romance game right now like Emily Henry. Ever since the author transitioned from YA sci-fi romance to adult contemporary fiction, every book that she’s released has been an absolute banger. Now, they are all getting the adaptation treatment. People We Meet on Vacation is in production, with Happy Place, Beach Read, Book Lovers, and Funny Story on their way to the small and silver screens as well. If producing and writing for these projects wasn’t enough, Henry will also release her next novel, Great Big Beautiful Life, in the spring of 2025.
Henry’s specialty is female heroines on soul-searching journeys to find themselves, and they almost always pick up a charming banter partner to fall in love with along the way. She’s tackled vacation romances, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, second-chance romances, and everything in between. There’s a reason she’s one of the most popular contemporary romance writers out right now. Each of her books will tug at your heartstrings but ultimately provide you with a warm and rewarding happily ever after.
So naturally, we decided to pit Emily Henry’s novels against each other in a fight to the death to top our Swooon ranking. Just kidding because this list was incredibly hard to create. We love all of her books! But we did have to take the fact that we are a romance-centric site when considering some of these, especially her early YA romances. Here’s our list of Emily Henry’s novels, ranked from good to Swooontastic.
Hello Girls
Emily Henry and Brittany Cavallaro
It feels like being a bad feminist to rank Hello Girls at the bottom of this list, but we’re going to emphasize that being at the bottom here doesn’t mean the book is bad. It just has the least amount of romance for an Emily Henry novel, and she co-wrote it with Brittany Cavallaro. Cavallaro is a great author in her own right, but this means that Hello Girls is really just half an Emily Henry book. The Thelma and Louise retelling is powerful, and if we were making a list of girl power novels, this would rank a lot higher.
When the Sky Fell on Splendor
Emily Henry
We’re still in Henry’s YA collection here, but When the Sky Fell on Splendor adds a bit more whimsy than Hello Girls. It’s also a bit more melancholic. Franny is a 17-year-old in a small Ohio town that was devastated by a steel mill explosion five years earlier. Her brother is still in a coma from the incident, so she and her friends distract themselves by ghost-hunting for fun. When they discover a mystery greater than their wildest imaginations, everything changes. Romance is still not the focus of this book, but When the Sky Fell on Splendor does start to showcase how good Henry is at blending the tragic with the wonderful.
The Love That Split the World
Emily Henry
The Love That Split the World is Henry’s debut novel, but it holds so many indicators of the author she would become a few short years later. Natalie is ready to spend one last magical summer in her small Kentucky town, but she’s starting to see “the wrong things,” setting her on edge. Then an apparition she names “Grandma” shows up and warns that she has three months to save him. Enter Beau, an intriguing stranger Natalie meets at her high school football stadium. Soon, Grandma’s warning becomes all too real, and Natalie must embark on a life-changing journey to save Beau and everything she’s ever known. It’s a sweeping story, and while not executed as smoothly as Henry’s later works, it shows the seeds of everything to come.
A Million Junes
Emily Henry
A Million Junes is Henry’s take on Romeo & Juliet, but with a little bit of sci-fi magic that was the hallmark of the author’s YA novels. June and Saul grew up in rival families, but when a magic forest reveals the horrible event that made them supposed enemies, they must decide if they are going to re-enforce the rivalry or come together to finally heal these old wounds. It’s the most romantic of Henry’s early novels, but true to form, you’re going to need tissues to get through this. It is a lot more sci-fi and magical realism than fans of Henry’s adult novels are used to, but the love story feels most reminiscent of the relationships that Henry is now famous for crafting.
Beach Read
Emily Henry
This is a controversial slot for Beach Read. It’s hard not to be super attached to this book because it’s the one that first introduced Henry to a lot of readers. It is her first foray into adult fiction, and August Everett is a top 2 Emily Henry MMC. That boy knows how to deliver a romantic speech, but the early chapters of Beach Read feel like Henry is still trying to get her sea legs underneath her. It’s an awkward start that turns into a beautiful conclusion by the time January and August swap novels. You should also know that ranking Henry’s books at this point in the list is about splitting hairs and personal preference.
People We Meet on Vacation
Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation is an underrated Emily Henry novel. It doesn’t get the respect it deserves because it’s a friends-to-lovers slow-burn romance. You want to scream at Poppy to get her head out of her butt and realize that her tall, stoic, best friend Alex is obsessed with her, but that’s also part of the magic. Maintaining tension in a friends-to-lovers romance is so hard, but Henry does it so well here. When these two finally get together, it feels epic, even if it was inevitable. Don’t blame this beautiful book because the trope isn’t your favorite.
Happy Place
Emily Henry
There is a TikTok that claims people who don’t love Happy Place just haven’t experienced depression. That makes sense, and if that’s you in the year of our lord 2024, congratulations! The downside is that you don’t fully empathize with Harriet or Wyn in what is, up until this point, Henry’s most complicated novel. Yes, these two could have avoided a lot of heartbreak and trauma if they had just talked to each other, but when you’re in that low space, it feels impossible to get out. They figure it out in the end, and we get a sensuous second-chance romance. This is about resistance as much as it is about romance, and it was a chance for Henry to show she isn’t afraid to go to those dark places in her more mature novels. Happy Place unites a lot of themes from her earlier work with her modern adult romance prowess, and it is a feat.
Funny Story
Emily Henry
Funny Story brings Emily Henry back to the light after Happy Place and features the best MMC she’s ever written: Miles. He may look like a scruffy drug dealer, but he’s so funny and thoughtful, and he works at a vineyard, so he can comp you free wine. Miles and Daphne are forced to be roommates when their exes leave them for each other, but they end up finding the love they truly need as they help each other rebuild their broken hearts. It’s forced proximity, opposites attract, summer romance all in one. The banter is so top-notch, and reading it feels like a refreshing glass of wine after a long day at work.
Book Lovers
Emily Henry
Without further adieu, meet the GOAT Emily Henry’s novel: Book Lovers. It’s a different spin on a comforting Hallmark Christmas movie where the ambitious city girl gets a small-town romance but doesn’t have to give up the fancy job that she worked so hard to land. And it’s one of Henry’s spicier novels! It’s a terrific grumpy-sunshine romance. Nora and Charlie have a spark from the moment they meet, and it only grows into a passionate romance as they get to know each other when they are both visiting the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. The banter is bantering here. There are secrets and drama, but Book Lovers feels just as cozy as its inspiration movies.