You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The novel starts slow, gets good in the middle, and then drops off towards the end.
It felt like a self-insert novel but I'm really not familiar with Emily Henry's background and don't think it's good to speculate on her personal life. I am honestly interested in reading Gus's and January's books that the author described in the book more than anything, but whether or not it will actually be published is yet to be seen.
The inner monologues and reflections moved me, but the romance between the characters themselves really didn't do much for me.
It felt like a self-insert novel but I'm really not familiar with Emily Henry's background and don't think it's good to speculate on her personal life. I am honestly interested in reading Gus's and January's books that the author described in the book more than anything, but whether or not it will actually be published is yet to be seen.
The inner monologues and reflections moved me, but the romance between the characters themselves really didn't do much for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
Emily Henry has easily become one of my favorites and she’s an absolute must-read for me at this point. I’ve had this one on my shelf for way too long and I’m so glad I finally got around to it this summer. I am classic for not really reading a synopsis before I dive into a book because I typically enjoy not fully knowing what to expect and this was one of those times. All of my assumptions came from the title and cover and this story was so much more than a “beach read.” There was so much depth and meaning behind January and Gus’ story that really made it more powerful and emotional. We get more than just a romance, we get a story about family, grief and life. I found it beautifully written and a top 3 Em Hen read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
4❤️ 2🌶️
Spicy Chapters - 21, 23
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Listen, I went in thinking this was a cute romance. I’m rarely in the mood for a cute romance, but I picked up this book because of all the hype this author gets….
SPOILERS!!!!
I can understand the cute appeal of a literary author and a romance author switching places and seeing the challenges and unique experiences each genre has. However, they had sex in a tent near a crime scene from a cult…. Why? Couldn’t tell you.
There is also infidelity the main female character is dealing with after learning her father cheated on her mother during her second round of chemo…like Emily Henry did a good job trying to handle the nuance of the topic. Like how this new information tainted January’s memories of her father and made her grief harder, but I guess it may just be me, but I kinda didn’t like that the parents just decided to keep it under wraps and not talk about it.
Like January was not a child, she was an adult woman when this happened. There’s not the excuse they stayed together because they had a daughter. The author also didn’t really cover from the mom’s perspective how her and her husband maybe made their marriage work again after he admired to cheating. So while the grief was nuanced the exploration even briefly from the mother’s perspective wasn’t really brought up other than her saying she missed him too.
Soooo, yeah this book left kinda a poor taste in my mouth. I wanted a cute romance (even if it handled some hard or more nuanced emotion) but I just felt so of a Meh connection to the main characters. Their banter was good but I just struggled to really feel close to them.
Also the amount of alcohol these two drank everyday pared with how much food they ate, they should have gotten alcohol poisoning. It was crazy
SPOILERS!!!!
I can understand the cute appeal of a literary author and a romance author switching places and seeing the challenges and unique experiences each genre has. However, they had sex in a tent near a crime scene from a cult…. Why? Couldn’t tell you.
There is also infidelity the main female character is dealing with after learning her father cheated on her mother during her second round of chemo…like Emily Henry did a good job trying to handle the nuance of the topic. Like how this new information tainted January’s memories of her father and made her grief harder, but I guess it may just be me, but I kinda didn’t like that the parents just decided to keep it under wraps and not talk about it.
Like January was not a child, she was an adult woman when this happened. There’s not the excuse they stayed together because they had a daughter. The author also didn’t really cover from the mom’s perspective how her and her husband maybe made their marriage work again after he admired to cheating. So while the grief was nuanced the exploration even briefly from the mother’s perspective wasn’t really brought up other than her saying she missed him too.
Soooo, yeah this book left kinda a poor taste in my mouth. I wanted a cute romance (even if it handled some hard or more nuanced emotion) but I just felt so of a Meh connection to the main characters. Their banter was good but I just struggled to really feel close to them.
Also the amount of alcohol these two drank everyday pared with how much food they ate, they should have gotten alcohol poisoning. It was crazy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Murder, Abandonment
Minor: Cancer
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Overall this is a cute read. The two main characters, January and Gus, end up switching genres of books for their latest release. It details their journey as individuals to eventually rekindling a previous flame. Overall, a great beach read! ;)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Yes
I appreciate the reality Henry brings to her books. The characters are believably flawed and the conflicts aren’t contrived.
Beach Read is lovely and reminded me that life is hard, life can hurt, but it’s also made up of parts, and many of those parts are beautiful and bright. The brightness makes the dark survivable.
Beach Read is lovely and reminded me that life is hard, life can hurt, but it’s also made up of parts, and many of those parts are beautiful and bright. The brightness makes the dark survivable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Alcohol
Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
The book is about two authors, one of whom is researching a cult for a book. There aren’t details of the cult, but they do visit the burned remains of the compound in a scene.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
do I think it's a literary masterpiece? no. but I do think it's an extremely likeable contemporary romance. Emily Henry is master of all things, and I am here for it. the emotional rollercoaster from the silly banter to the crippling shame of the Third Act Misunderstanding™️ had me pulling out the Kindle every free chance.
Sexy, Evil Gus is exactly the kind of love interest I root for - complicated, a little broken, but sweet, well meaning, and unproblematic. He has no jealous rages, no toddler meltdowns, no commitment issues. Maybe a bit of a grump, but a very solid dude.
some readers will probably be put off by the strong themes of grieving a recently deceased parent and dealing with the paradigm shift of the parent's previously unknown second life. I'm here to cry so it worked for me :)
Sexy, Evil Gus is exactly the kind of love interest I root for - complicated, a little broken, but sweet, well meaning, and unproblematic. He has no jealous rages, no toddler meltdowns, no commitment issues. Maybe a bit of a grump, but a very solid dude.
some readers will probably be put off by the strong themes of grieving a recently deceased parent and dealing with the paradigm shift of the parent's previously unknown second life. I'm here to cry so it worked for me :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An easy read and by no means bad but overall not as good as I was hoping it to be!
To be completely honest, I went into this book unsure how I’d like it. I thought it would be overly cheesy and over the top but it was the opposite - it was calm in a way and it had a focus other than the development of Gus & January’s relationship (his divorce/childhood and her losing her dad/finding out about his affair) which I enjoyed. It felt more natural and that’s the type of love stories I am drawn to - sparkles within otherwise ordinary tales.
That being said there were a few bits I really didn’t like - Gus didn’t treat January well at times throughout the book. I was yawning and rolling my eyes at the same old trope of ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you!’. And when they slept together for the first time, he runs to the phone without any explanation knowing how vulnerable January is and also how any woman would feel having slept with someone, especially for the first time. He does it again at the book event when Naomi turns up and doesn’t priorities January. I really felt for her in the pages that followed.
Overall though I was drawn in with their flirting and banter and also with the depth of emotion both authors had. I felt the author explored that well.
To be completely honest, I went into this book unsure how I’d like it. I thought it would be overly cheesy and over the top but it was the opposite - it was calm in a way and it had a focus other than the development of Gus & January’s relationship (his divorce/childhood and her losing her dad/finding out about his affair) which I enjoyed. It felt more natural and that’s the type of love stories I am drawn to - sparkles within otherwise ordinary tales.
That being said there were a few bits I really didn’t like - Gus didn’t treat January well at times throughout the book. I was yawning and rolling my eyes at the same old trope of ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you!’. And when they slept together for the first time, he runs to the phone without any explanation knowing how vulnerable January is and also how any woman would feel having slept with someone, especially for the first time. He does it again at the book event when Naomi turns up and doesn’t priorities January. I really felt for her in the pages that followed.
Overall though I was drawn in with their flirting and banter and also with the depth of emotion both authors had. I felt the author explored that well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Death of parent