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emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
That’s what you do. For your readers. For me. You make beautiful things, because you love the world, and maybe the world doesn’t always look how it does in your books, but . . . I think putting them out there, that changes the world a little bit. And the world can’t afford to lose that.
I listened to this one as an audiobook, and honestly, its only downside as a bedtime story was that the banter constantly made me giggle. It is, apparently, hard to fall asleep while giggling. Who knew? Seriously, I'm now putting Emily Henry right up there with Talia Hibbert as one of my favorite banter-oriented romance writers. The witty dialogue is my favorite part of the book.
In terms of... let's call it emotional temperature I feel like the fun, heart-warming aspects of the book were well-balanced with the heavier, more dramatic ones: January's grief and complex emotions about her father, Gus's abandonment issues, all those research conversations with former cult members. In terms of plot structure, however, I think there were parts where the narrative meandered as it tried to encompass all the arcs and small plotlines. All the big stuff got properly developed and wrapped up, but there were definitely parts of the story that left me with a nagging "okay, but I still have questions about X / couldn't Y have been explored slightly more?" feeling.
Tbh I feel this story could have benefitted from being dual POV. Perhaps some parts of it could have been better delivered through Gus's part, and besides, I really wish I could get to know Gus better. I wanted to actually *see* his arc, his emotional struggles, the way he was caught between the pain of his divorce and the joy of falling for January. As it was, I didn't really got a feel for his personality, only for his charisma and for the way January perceived him—but what if she was wrong about things? I don't know, there's this weird aftertaste of mistrust, lol. Also, I would have liked to see more of his writing process. Show me this man trying to pen a romcom, don't just tell me he's doing it!
With January on the other hand, I definitely feel like I've got to know her plenty and I enjoyed her arc a lot, especially all the parts that had to do with her parents and how their relationship shaped her. I liked the balance she found between focusing on the good in the world and acknowledging that some things aren't as clear-cut and simple as she's been trying to believe.
All in all, this is an excellent, witty, sometimes cheesy love story with Hallmark vibes. Any flaws it has, for me, are easily compensated by the amount of joy it contains.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Vomit
Minor: Religious bigotry
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i will start by saying gus is fine. i would fall as well. but talk about struggling with standards.
i picked this up in waverly train station in edinburgh because i hadn't read anything my entire trip, ice was on the ground and i was hoping if i read something with beach in the title that summer would come quicker. it did not. and lily was right about the lack of beach scenes. disappointing for a literal BEACH READ.
the first 2/3 of this book was fun and i like both gus and january as characters. you can appreciate their conflicts as realistic and immense daddy issues and whilst the plot wasn't really there, i had fun just watching them connect and flit around michigan as unemployed creatives.
however, i fear we have found another case of third act syndrome. i don't think it was a bad ending by any means but it did feel at times half baked and honestly, a bit rando?? i can even pinpoint the exact point at which my eyebrows flew off my head. call me conservative but i don't think it was entirely necessary for these two to bump uglies 3 TIMES next to an arsoned out, baby-death, cult site. that was certainly one of emily henry's most creative choices i've seen to date.
as for the actual plot, it just didn't feel like things weren't as wrapped us as they could've been, which could be argued for given the nature of the book. but i do think we got robbed a little bit of any thorough conversation between january and her mum. i understand her mum's thing means that she refuses to acknowledge her grief or talk about it but i think the moment she calls her mum telling her that she needs her could have been that moment. i think it was obvious that the confrontation with sonya was inevitable but i was waiting for 300 pages for that conversation with her mum that just never came.
also gus's ex randomly showing up?? sometimes i forget he was even married and i think january did as well. and there was absolutely no need for him to just take off for a full day like that. i know he tried to call her but not even a text?? are you mad???
like i said, i did like both of them and in my head, joe jonas was a good gus but it felt very much scraping bare minimum. even that felt like a stretch at times.
i'm also deducting points for the full body cringe i got when i read "i don't mind snow as long as there's january". intolerable.
also, im glad i got the correct ending without the proposal and just have a nice little book dedication that felt more authentic to gus and january. after all, it has only been 9 months and getting engaged after that long is absolute insanity, but i think that speaks more to american values of romance than the book's so i'll let it slide.
at it's core, beach read is really just about two sexually depraved loners with extreme daddy issues who have never gotten over anything or each others ever in their lives and nobody else could love them like the other. probably better on re-read if you suspend expectations of it being an actual beach read.
i picked this up in waverly train station in edinburgh because i hadn't read anything my entire trip, ice was on the ground and i was hoping if i read something with beach in the title that summer would come quicker. it did not. and lily was right about the lack of beach scenes. disappointing for a literal BEACH READ.
the first 2/3 of this book was fun and i like both gus and january as characters. you can appreciate their conflicts as realistic and immense daddy issues and whilst the plot wasn't really there, i had fun just watching them connect and flit around michigan as unemployed creatives.
however, i fear we have found another case of third act syndrome. i don't think it was a bad ending by any means but it did feel at times half baked and honestly, a bit rando?? i can even pinpoint the exact point at which my eyebrows flew off my head. call me conservative but i don't think it was entirely necessary for these two to bump uglies 3 TIMES next to an arsoned out, baby-death, cult site. that was certainly one of emily henry's most creative choices i've seen to date.
as for the actual plot, it just didn't feel like things weren't as wrapped us as they could've been, which could be argued for given the nature of the book. but i do think we got robbed a little bit of any thorough conversation between january and her mum. i understand her mum's thing means that she refuses to acknowledge her grief or talk about it but i think the moment she calls her mum telling her that she needs her could have been that moment. i think it was obvious that the confrontation with sonya was inevitable but i was waiting for 300 pages for that conversation with her mum that just never came.
also gus's ex randomly showing up?? sometimes i forget he was even married and i think january did as well. and there was absolutely no need for him to just take off for a full day like that. i know he tried to call her but not even a text?? are you mad???
like i said, i did like both of them and in my head, joe jonas was a good gus but it felt very much scraping bare minimum. even that felt like a stretch at times.
i'm also deducting points for the full body cringe i got when i read "i don't mind snow as long as there's january". intolerable.
also, im glad i got the correct ending without the proposal and just have a nice little book dedication that felt more authentic to gus and january. after all, it has only been 9 months and getting engaged after that long is absolute insanity, but i think that speaks more to american values of romance than the book's so i'll let it slide.
at it's core, beach read is really just about two sexually depraved loners with extreme daddy issues who have never gotten over anything or each others ever in their lives and nobody else could love them like the other. probably better on re-read if you suspend expectations of it being an actual beach read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury
funny
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
Fmc pov
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
It started a little slow for me, but as I got deeper into the story, wow, I could not stop. Loved it!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe it’s just that I finished reading Happy Place right before this, but this book left me feeling like there’s something missing. It didn’t have the depth and emotional connection.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-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
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
another cute, lighthearted read that i thoroughly enjoyed.
lovable, vulnerable characters with an undercurrent of unspoken attraction in their fun and witty banter, told from the point of view of the painfully relatable, hopeful female protagonist. all the essential elements of the classic Emily Henry romance novels.
in the cozy, charming fictional town of North Bear Shores, Michigan, two promising writers find themselves living in neighboring beach houses for the summer and they could not be any more different:
• January (Janie) Andrews - romance author who strongly believes in and has only ever written happily ever afters… that is until the events of the past year has her questioning the existence of true love. only heard of May, June, August as names so January was a first and took a bit get using to. imagine if her name was July, then her nickname could’ve been Julie… as in Julie Andrews. 😂
• Augustus (Gus) Everett - literary fiction author known for penning stories with dark themes – none on which border the topic of love, and who January regards as her competitor and nemesis from college. and his name also resembling a month, a coincidence? i think not! 🧐
at the start of the book, the only thing they have in common is their writer’s block. so with the mounting pressure to submit something to their agents by end of the summer, what do they do? challenge each other to swap genres then bet on who's book gets sold first of course. and out of the pure generosity of their hearts, they decide to spend every weekend giving each other lessons: him inviting her to join his field research and her planning romantic “dates” for them to derive inspiration. two rivals agreeing to spend an inordinate amount of time together and to keep things platonic… a quintessential romcom premise and i love it lol.
coincidentally People We Meet on Vacation was the previous Emily Henry book i read so i picked up on many parallels as i was reading through but actually ended up liking the setup and execution of this one a lot more.
lovable, vulnerable characters with an undercurrent of unspoken attraction in their fun and witty banter, told from the point of view of the painfully relatable, hopeful female protagonist. all the essential elements of the classic Emily Henry romance novels.
in the cozy, charming fictional town of North Bear Shores, Michigan, two promising writers find themselves living in neighboring beach houses for the summer and they could not be any more different:
• January (Janie) Andrews - romance author who strongly believes in and has only ever written happily ever afters… that is until the events of the past year has her questioning the existence of true love. only heard of May, June, August as names so January was a first and took a bit get using to. imagine if her name was July, then her nickname could’ve been Julie… as in Julie Andrews. 😂
• Augustus (Gus) Everett - literary fiction author known for penning stories with dark themes – none on which border the topic of love, and who January regards as her competitor and nemesis from college. and his name also resembling a month, a coincidence? i think not! 🧐
at the start of the book, the only thing they have in common is their writer’s block. so with the mounting pressure to submit something to their agents by end of the summer, what do they do? challenge each other to swap genres then bet on who's book gets sold first of course. and out of the pure generosity of their hearts, they decide to spend every weekend giving each other lessons: him inviting her to join his field research and her planning romantic “dates” for them to derive inspiration. two rivals agreeing to spend an inordinate amount of time together and to keep things platonic… a quintessential romcom premise and i love it lol.
coincidentally People We Meet on Vacation was the previous Emily Henry book i read so i picked up on many parallels as i was reading through but actually ended up liking the setup and execution of this one a lot more.
- sympathized with January and Gus’ situations/backstories: both of them grappling with their complicated family relationships and their hesitancy to open up to each other — very valid given the weight of the secrets they were holding on to.
- despite having differing tastes and outlooks on life, they were mutually curious about the other –open to listening to each others’ opinions and respecting them. then the fact that they were able to pick up and keep up with each other’s banter (helps that they're both working in the same industry) shows they were oftentimes on the same wavelength, which made their chemistry more believable. also, people who had never/rarely crossed paths in school becoming reacquainted and clicking later in life does happen quite often and they usually end up being a pleasant surprise.
- felt like another major reason why the two meshed so well is that they knew when to push and pull back. as they grew more comfortable with each other, they would unconsciously let slip tidbits about themselves they didn't mean to share. and although they both want to probe more, they never put pressure or cross boundaries if they sensed that the other was not ready to dive deeper.
- many wholesome moments: talking to each other across their respective back decks, holding up notes to converse through their adjoining windows, playfully teasing one another during their lessons/field trips, spending time with Pete and Maggie. just a ton of feel-good, small-town hospitality.
- equally as many swoon-worthy moments (without being too sappy) in their stolen second glances, sweet gestures, and a whole lot of flirtatious subtext that often has Jan thinking "is he saying what i think he's saying or am i just reading too much into this" haha 🤭
- what was also realistic about all of this was that throughout their situationship?, they weren't the center of each other’s universes, rather they were just in each other’s orbit. and they actually spent time separately to reflect and sort out their individual problems.
- found Jan’s internal monologues painfully relatable and refreshingly self-aware. many of the metaphors / analogies were also very pretty (a creeping blush as fireworks across the cheeks 🙊). there are occasionally some parts that made me 🤔 ("i'm a dumb bunny"?? what lol)
- even though i know it would've been too much of tangent, still a bit disappointed we didn't get more on that cult sideplot. i started getting invested but again i know delving into it would have made this belong into a whole other genre lol.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]:
so funny to find out that these two had polar opposite first impressions of each other in college:
- January holding a grudge on Gus (for years?!) for a critique he made about her writing in their class – which to be fair, was a very ass-holey thing to say, so then she creates this rivalry with him in her head and can't help but acknowledge his talent while also secretly growing attracted to him. truly a fine line between love and hate.
- meanwhile Gus over here was off in la la land, head over heels for her trying to get her attention and couldn't figure out for the life of him why she was ignoring him and what he could have done to make her hate him so much
it really be like that sometimes... two different realities haha.
Emily Henry skillfully conveyed how messy people and relationships can be:
- January's conflicting feelings about her dad – how she can love him and miss him after his death, while hating him for having an affair while her mom was battling cancer and how she can view him as two-faced for the shitty thing he did but still never doubt that he loved her (his letters to her made me tear up 🥲)
- January confronting her mom for knowing about the affair all along then blaming her mom for growing distant because she refused to discuss it. but still missing her and feeling sympathy for her keeping the secret in order to keep up with the illusion that everything was alright.
- January holding grievances – biggest being not going to grad school like her peers in order to stay with her mom – and growing tired of maintaining a facade (ie. staying in a relationship to assure her parents). although she knew it was all beyond her parents control , she still couldn't help place a little blame on theme.
- Gus and January exploring and learning why some people don't leave bad situations. it's very easy from the outside looking in to ask "why didn't they leave?" but through both of their parents' relationships and the ex-cult members' stories, it's difficult to navigate those situations once you're in them.
biggest surprise was Gus having been married and in the middle of a divorce. felt sort of... bleh? that he kept that a secret from January for so long while they were flirting. he still could've told her but left the part out about his ex-wife cheating and leaving him for his former best friend.
also his confession to her was a bit eyebrow-raising because why did he tell January he could imagine reuniting with his ex-wife after she proposed getting back together? i understand sometimes people choose the familiarity of the known over the fear of the unknown but that was quite a long-winded way to get to the "but i want to be with you" part lol.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Grief
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
A romance. Set in a fictional beachside town in western Michigan. I got homesick reading about it. Yeah, the two author characters are fine and, yay, they fall in love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol