Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Beach Read

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Beach Read by Emily Henry

112 reviews

caitlin_hire's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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hopeful 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

3.5

Why I Read It:

I’m not someone who typically likes the romance genre, but I had heard such great things about Emily Henry’s books that I wanted to see if Beach Read would be an exception. I borrowed my copy from the local library.

Blurb:

January Andrews is a romance author who is struggling to write her next book because her faith in love and happy endings has been shaken by a series of traumatic events in her life. After she moves into her recently deceased father’s beach house on Lake Michigan, she discovers that her next-door neighbor is a former college classmate, Gus, who is a famous author of dark and gritty fiction. They strike up a plan to swap genres for the summer, complete with mandatory “research field trips” to teach the other the tricks of their trade.

Review:

Since Beach Read is a romance novel with a romance author protagonist, the book is strongly self-aware as it explores the genre’s strengths and weaknesses in a meta fashion. Beach Read self-consciously challenges the stereotype that so-called “beach reads” cannot tackle heavy themes or portray realistic, healthy relationships, while still maintaining the breezy reading pace, steaminess, and optimism readers expect from the genre. The book, for the most part, is readable and well-written. Every two pages or so, however, I would stumble across a line that I found difficult to understand. Henry’s concise, casual style sometimes generates sentences so pared down or conversational that they read awkwardly on the page.

The book introduces two main characters who, at first glance, appear to be little more than typical romance-genre archetypes. Thankfully, January and Gus are well-written, fleshed-out characters who complement each other’s flaws. They deal with personal problems that for many readers will appear familiar. January’s character growth was particularly interesting to read about.

Despite Beach Read’s readability and generally high quality, at times it slips back into the trappings of a typical romance plot. The miscommunication trope, although it does not play a huge role in the story, still pops up for no good reason. Even more infuriatingly, the protagonist even ADMITS that she’s acting like a character in a poorly written romance novel, yet she continues to act that way instead of communicating in a straightforward manner. Additionally, I found the sex scenes to be unoriginal and boring.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to the romance genre is that the side characters tend to act as supports for the main romance and rarely feel like real people. Beach Read’s side characters are better written than some, but they still feel underdeveloped. Shadi (January’s best friend) remains rather flat and ultimately only exists to support January. Emily Henry’s use of characters who are cult survivors feels problematic for the same reason, as their trauma and stories serve as a plot device to help further Gus and January’s character development.

Even though it was a not personal favorite of mine, I can absolutely understand why many people love Beach Read. Henry blends tropes that people know and love with deeper discussions about the harsher realities of life, all the while making her main characters believable and lovable.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Beach Read if:

· You want to read a romance book that does not ignore the harsher realities of life.

· You want to read a non-toxic romance with lovable, yet flawed, main characters.

· You enjoy “meta” fiction books about books and writing.

You might not like Beach Read if:

· You are expecting a hardcore enemies-to-lovers romance.

· You are hoping to read a book with a beachy atmosphere—hardly any of the book takes place on the beach. The characters are usually indoors, and when they venture outside it is usually nighttime or stormy.

· You are looking for a fluffy, escapist romance book.

· You dislike the romance genre.

Content Warnings

rybass08's review against another edition

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Very Detailed, open door, inappropriate contents
Very good and once I got to that part it was just such a let down…..

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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."

Content Warnings

kaitlynnnng's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.5

This is the first Emily Henry book I’ve ever read, and I’m kind of mad at myself for not reading it sooner. I borrowed a copy from the library, because I wasn’t sure if I’d like it that much, but I’m happy to say that I just ordered my own copy…and a copy of her other books, too.

I’ve only recently started reading non-fantasy romances, and I started feeling like maybe the genre wasn’t for me, but Beach Read changed my mind. While it maybe isn’t the most groundbreaking story out there, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about it.

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense medium-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

4.75

I'm gonna be honest for like the first 50-60 pages I was struggling to get through this book. I was deeply afraid I wasn't gonna like it especially considering I had a pre-conceived notion about Emily Henry's books. I didn't think they were my cup of tea. But boy am I glad I kept reading cuz after like the first 60 pages it picked up and I LOVED IT! I loved every character (minus S. but she was complicated). Gus and January's banter was elite. And I also admired how multi-faceted these characters were. The book felt long but in a good way. Just alot happened.

And speaking of that this book deals with some heavy subjects that I wasn't expecting. Whenever this book was recommended to me no one seemed to mention how heavy this book could get so I'm personally warning whoever reads this review that there are some heavy details in this book.

I'd also like to add to the reason why I love this book so much. The characters honestly felt like real people especially Gus. He was probably the closest depiction of unemotional available men that I've ever seen. And Emily Henry captured this element of unemotional available guys perfectly. And she also did so without making the main character seem stupid everytime she wanted to pursue something with them (Gus). I'm not sure if this is a spoiler but Emily does a great job of making you see that Gus isn't purposefully hurting January and that he's aware of how he is. And that his intent was never to pursue her into false promises. Honestly this book felt too real at times if you catch my drift. I felt attacked sometimes.😅 It was obvious that both parties were smitten ove one another and I admired how Emily dealt with the idea that you can strongly like/want something yet self-sabotage yourself into feeling like you don't deserve it. I likes how Gus isn't content on remaining stagnant with how he is. And I'm glad he learns how to love again. Gus and January worked so well together (romantically and platonically). And I also loved the father-daughter love in this book as well. This book really surprised me and it would've been a 10/10 read if I wasn't so iffy about how I started it, but I'm so happy I ended up enjoying it and would gladly read it again.

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emmysforeverbooked's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

I LOVED this book. I read this book shortly after reading Emily Henry's "Book Lovers" and loved this one almost as much. This one was a little harder for me to get into at first, because I felt like the chapters were a little longer than Book Lovers' but once I got into it, I could NOT put it down. I loved Gus so much. I think January was very relatable (a fellow struggling writer lol). I loved the diversity of the cast. Everything about this book was mwah. I highly recommend if you're looking for something with the rivals to lovers trope (one of my personal favorites).

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