Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Beach Read

I was pulled in right away and flew through this book! I love Henry’s writing style and characters, with this being the second book I’ve read from her she’s firmly put herself on my auto buy author list!

I absolutely adored the Michigan references!! I also loved the subtle nod to a Hope College staple but I will be gatekeeping it 😂 I enjoyed the banter and the slow burn for the romance.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much reading a romance book

Also I wouldn’t classify this as having a third act breakup which made me so happy! Without getting too spoiler-y, for me a third act break up means the characters separate for 1 week or more and this wasn’t the case.

A beautiful novel about love, loss, grief, and new beginnings. I adored everything about this book; the characters are well written and had great developments along the way, the writing held my attention, the chemistry was amazing, well written dialogue to make you feel all the emotions, and the setting was so clearly written that I felt nostalgic for my home state where I’ve spent many childhoods at Lake Michigan 💙

My one very minor “negative” is the ending. I liked it well enough (I read the US edition for reference) but after finding out what the UK ending is, I would’ve preferred that one. It was a good ending but the UK ending makes more sense for Gus and January!

I have so many favorites for this month which is amazing but will be a challenge for picking my top pick at the end of July 🙈

Spice level: 🌶️ (1.5/3)

Tropes: rivals to lovers, forced proximity

Content Warnings

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I enjoyed how meta this book was. in many ways it was a book about writer’s block and the process of writing a story. i like that the story didn’t sugarcoat on the one hand and also didn’t exaggerate the characters struggles too far so that they became unsympathetic. i wasn’t much until the way the sexual aspects of the protagonist’s relationship was described. I would have loved to have gotten more of a glimpse of what Gus’s writing had been like and how he would have written his romance novel than the more general look we got. i do plan on checking out more of the authors work in the future, though.

Content Warnings

dani_07's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

First of all, I really liked this book. It was lighthearted and funny, but had serious moments. All of the characters were lovable, especially the main characters, January and Gus. I loved that the author was able to make me feel a rollercoaster of emotions. I like that the book is about more than just romance, and had moments that really made you stop and think. Probably my favorite part of the whole book was the setting. I live in Michigan and I thought this fictional place was so cute, and a great representation of Michigan.

However, as much as I loved the book, I personally didn't think it was a five star read for multiple reasons.

One reason-the main reason-is Gus's marriage, everything about that plot point annoyed me.

I also disliked the beginning of the book, the first few chapters really bored me and I considered not finishing the book, but I powered through and ended up really liking it. Something else that bothered me was the cover and title of the book because it didn't fit with the story, and I hate when the title barely relates to the book. Overall, this was great book, and I would definitely recommend it.

Content Warnings

lauracollins096's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

angievansprang's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I love love loved the lake house setting of this story. While I don’t typically reach for romances, this was a fun read. I appreciated that there were still some stakes and it wasn’t all “fluff”, and that the author tackled some heavier topics. Probably my favorite part of this book was the side-plot relationship between our FMC, January, and her best friend, Shadi. So many scenes between those two are a wonderful ode to best friendship and reminded me very much of relationships in my own life.

Content Warnings

midnightbookrealms's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

This is a fun and easy read perfect for the summer. As long as you are going in to enjoy something easy and low stakes it will be enjoyable. The plot kind of fizzles out to nothing towards the end, and some of the conflicts get resolved a bit to quickly for them to really hold any weight. But I still enjoyed it!

Content Warnings

jbird_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

hayleythegoose's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...