Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

40 reviews

lauracollins096's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Chronic illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Vomit, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol and Physical abuse

pandalesque's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Somehow I think it helps me not to expect a real human (in my case heterosexual male) to be like the fictional characters I read when the author (identifying as female) only writes from the MFC perspective. Also maybe goes to more accurate represenation?
But also I really enjoy getting the other human's thoughts and feelings when reading a romance and when they have spicy scenes... And I think I seem to get annoyed about being in one person's head when doubting and rehashing things time and time again... Though I didn't have too much experience in single POVs in romance. So I think I'm coming out neutral on the one single POV story telling.

I didn't like
- Calling them January and Augustus... almost made me *uke (sorry Gus).
- I found January annoying and a little difficult to find smth beneath the surface (her being anything else than a product of her surroundings' situations/her environment)
- In my opinion the love story was little too easy
- the final 3rd act conflict... well I'm still waiting for an actual good one in any romance books I read so this is not only a beach read thing

I enjoyed
+ Friendship between J. and S.
+ quick, funny and intelligent banter
+ writing style
+ Didn't expect the whole plot point about research for each other's genre, which added a layer of depth to it I enjoyed.
+ Reflections on writing / authors ...
+ talk about the romance genre

Spice /Smut level:
1.75-2/5🔥 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

rakkaussipsi's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

raineedayreader's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

novella42's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Cancer

Moderate: Excrement, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Minor: Drug use

the characters research a suicide cult, see the ruins of the cult compound after arson, and interview survivors about indoctrination

kelly_e's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Title: Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: May 19, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Fun • Deep • Over-hyped

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Augustus, an acclaimed author of literary fiction and January, a bestselling romance novelist are polar opposites. Each struggling with writer's block and dealing with personal demons, they find themselves living next door to one another for the summer. One evening they strike up a deal: Gus will write something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Emily Henry's Beach Read has been absolutely everywhere, and so I fell victim to the hype and finally dove in. An original and deep plot with a side of romance is typically how I like my romance books, yet for me January and Gus lacked chemistry and I was expecting so, so, so much more from this novel.

There's no denying Emily Henry does banter unlike anyone else. It adds a lightness to often heavy content. With this book, there is excellent individual character growth, but I wasn't invested in the romance at all. In fact, I was way more invested in the plot and them writing their books. I felt as thought it started out strong, but faded by the midway point and never really regained traction. A few of the things I really appreciated were the exploration of grief, the east coast setting, and the letters.

For me, Beach Read was simply an average read, one I'll soon forget, which has me thinking Emily Henry's adult romances may just not be my cup of tea. I appreciate the depth of the plots, but the romance and lack of communication just don't cut it. With that said, I'll probably continue to read her books with hopes of finding one I really love.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the grump/sunshine and/or enemies to lovers trope(s)
• readers who like depth in their rom-coms
• Emily Henry fans

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Bad things don't dig down through your life until the pit's so deep that nothing good will ever be big enough to make you happy again. No matter how much shit, there will always be wildflowers."

"Because I know no matter how long I get to love you, it will be worth whatever comes after."

"It was okay to let a little ugliness into your story. That it would never rob you of all the beauty." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Car accident, and Vomit

viireads's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

aus10england's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was… all over the place. I think there was a LOT going on to make it super enjoyable. It was well written for sure. I think a few less plot points would have made this a bit more cohesive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Cancer

juliaaaaaa's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

the writing style is so beautiful. and it's the most realistic romance book i ever read. i just didn't like how january acted sometimes, pushing gus to talk to her. 
besides that, i loved it and cried many times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Vomit, Cancer, and Sexual content

filipa_maia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was really good. And I say it like that because, once again, this is not my go-to genre. But, once again, was a suggestion from my monthly reading group and I decided to give it a chance.

This is not a typical romance in a sense that are some really dark and heavy topics represented: domestic abuse, a cult, death... the kind of themes that are not associated when you ear the genre romance.

I really enjoyed this book. I like how dark and mysterious Gus is and how fragile and hurt January feels. And I like the way both of them decide to give each other a chance (although, sometimes, January frustrated me a lot). The best part about this book is that it shows that two people with completely opposite visions of the world can find common ground.

I really liked this book and will look for more books by Emily Henry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Abandonment, Grief, Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Vomit, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, and Cursing