Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Beach Read

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

715 reviews

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

Rating: 5/5 stars

January is reeling from the implosion of her personal life when she arrives in a lake house for the summer only to find her college rival Gus living next door. They agree to swap genres in an attempt to combat their mutual writer’s block, but they’re not prepared for the feelings developing between them.

I’m finally in my Emily Henry era and I could not be happier. This book was everything everyone promised it would be, and I’ll keep this review short and sweet because we all know the internet really doesn’t need my opinions added to the ten million reviews of this book already out there.  That said, I LOVED this and I have to scream it from the rafters at least once, so consider this that scream. I cried SO HARD (from literally 3 pages in and then again all the way through the last 50 pages). The characters are SO good, and so many lines will live rent free in my mind forever (why say ILY when Gus Everett said WIWYSIFOTYE). I am so glad I finally read this and truly can’t wait to continue my EmHen journey!

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: rivals to lovers; small town vibes; crying

CW: Loss of parent; grief; mentions of child abuse/domestic violence; infidelity

Content Warnings

cassie7e's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing 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

Both a substabtial literary novel and a romance. Unexpectedly charming and funny, with some lovely descriptive lines. The characters are fully individually developed and have stories outside the romance plot. The banter feels genuine and personal (though book dialogue is never realistic) rather than generic and cheesy like so many others I've read. I so appreciate characters that actually speak to each other and express vulnerability, very refreshing. And a much more interesting deal than the contrived "pretend to be fiances" plot, and developed characters and story beyond the relationship between the main characters.

This book feels like a commentary on itself - the combination of literary and romance tropes - and I always love stories about the process of writing and how stories come out of so many pieces of us and what we're working through.

Content Warnings

mylifeasjessskincare's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring 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

Content Warnings

kat_rowlen's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-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

I didn’t think January and Gus had much chemistry and their romance seemed forced. Also, the conflict at the end was basically just a misconception which was annoying. The story just never really came together for me. I would have rather read the fake books in this story.

Content Warnings

khloereads86's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved this one so much more this time than the first time I read it a couple years ago. January & Gus <3 both healing and trying to be their best for themselves and each other. It was so sweet and funny and real. Emily Henry books always feel like home

Content Warnings

rad_reads_123's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

angelfireeast24's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

Content Warnings

tifalockhvrt's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful 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

At first it was pretty boring but maybe it had to do with the fact that I wasn't in a mood to read a romance book and I felt the writing was too much like a romance YA so I had to drop it and then I just kind of forgot about it, and when I finally felt in a good enough mood to read a romance I decided to give it a second chance... and I am SO glad I did.
It was so good, it was everything I didn't know I wanted in a romance story and all the characters feel so alive it's just wow 🩷
I owe you an apology Emily Henry. I wasn't really familiar with your game

Content Warnings

sammymilfort's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

braveprincess11's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

You can definitely see the beginnings of the classic Emily Henry style in this one. It was a cute premise, and handles the tropes just differently enough that I could tell whose book it was.

But, as is the case with all “first books” it needed a bit more polishing. The bones are there, it’s clearly Emily Henry, but it‘a not quite as tight and purposeful as I’ve come to expect from her writing. It leaned into the tropes a bit more than I’d like.

That being said, I love Gus, I absolutely adore him. January took a little longer for me to warm up to, but I did end up invested in her existence outside of Gus. I understand everyone’s got their fatal flaw, but January’s instinct to start fights with Gus, rather than actually talk about her insecurities made it tough to like her. She needed to cut Gus some slack, especially after she’d heard bits of his past from Pete; if he doesn’t feel ready to talk about his life, give him time, don’t drunkenly confront him because you’re unhappy with his timeline.

Content Warnings

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