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emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
No
Gus is my favorite of Emily Henry's male leads. I almost made it through the whole thing without crying, but the second to last page got me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
This book totally made me cry in the last 20 pages. I love Emily Henry’s writing, I get a solid romance, characters with depth, and it’s not all about the spice (though I’m totally here for it!). This book’s exploration of grief and reconciling the different sides we know of people (friends, family, and lovers) was really interesting and felt so real. I’m not usually a fan of the miscommunication trope, but Henry’s use of it is self-aware and feels so real- I would have held back from telling all too! And the miscommunication isn’t the main basis for the plot. So it contributed to the depth of the characters but didn’t draw out the plot. I ate this book up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Alcohol
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This might have to be my favorite Emily Henry book like I genuinely feel like someone punched me in the chest.
January is essentially undergoing a huge change, and while learning about herself, she’s unraveling the mystery that is Gus and the way they so effortlessly just fall into each other makes me want to cry.
And this quote? Forever etched into the depths of my mind:
“Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.”
January is essentially undergoing a huge change, and while learning about herself, she’s unraveling the mystery that is Gus and the way they so effortlessly just fall into each other makes me want to cry.
And this quote? Forever etched into the depths of my mind:
“Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent
emotional
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
"That’s the key to marriage. You have to keep falling in love with every new version of each other, and it’s the best feeling in the whole world."
It's a meh book. I'm not sure why it's a hype but in my opinion, it's overhyped. I'm writing this review after maybe a week after I finished reading the book but to be honest, nothing important came up. Sure Gus is the dark and mysterious boy that she calls her writer rival and January is this emotionally damaged girl that went from writing romance-happy ever after book from can't stop thinking her dad was a cheater. To be honest, it's a bit of miscommunication between the two love interest. They could have talked it out a bit more here and there so there wouldn't be any crying or misjudging or overthinking but nah, talking is meh apparently. I don't know what else to say aside from this book being an okay book but not something I'd recommend to someone or reach out in my bookshelf to reread.
Side note: It made me research a bit about cults (lol). Also, lesson learned: don't trust bookstagram as much...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Death of parent
Minor: Toxic friendship
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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 loved this book so so so much. I think it was a mix of the amazing romance but emotional storylines that made me enjoy it so much. Plus, the fact that I read it while at the beach was just a plus.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
sad
I've mostly seen very positive reviews for this book, but it was just okay for me. I thought that January and Gus did have good chemistry and I enjoyed their banter, and I liked the way their story ultimately ended, but I didn't feel overly connected to either of them, and found them both a bit irritating at times.
This is much more a serious story with a romance heading through it rather than a more lighthearted full-on romance - which I generally prefer, but it bugged me that this is marketed as a romcom when it's really not. It's funny in a few parts, but a lot of it is pretty depressing, and much of the focus is on both January and Gus dealing with their own traumas, and I just wish that that was how it had been advertised, especially as it does mostly do a good job of discussing trauma and healing and several dark topics.
Also, a lot of the story is also based around January coping with the fact that her father had been having an affair before he died, and I understand that that's a difficult thing to deal with, but I personally felt as if how difficult it was for January was so over-egged and just a bit unbelievable, especially due to the lacklustre way that part of that thread of the story ended up culminating.
I did like Emily Henry's writing, and as I've said, there are parts of the story that I did really like, but ultimately I just didn't love this book the way I wanted to.
This is much more a serious story with a romance heading through it rather than a more lighthearted full-on romance - which I generally prefer, but it bugged me that this is marketed as a romcom when it's really not. It's funny in a few parts, but a lot of it is pretty depressing, and much of the focus is on both January and Gus dealing with their own traumas, and I just wish that that was how it had been advertised, especially as it does mostly do a good job of discussing trauma and healing and several dark topics.
Also, a lot of the story is also based around January coping with the fact that her father had been having an affair before he died, and I understand that that's a difficult thing to deal with, but I personally felt as if how difficult it was for January was so over-egged and just a bit unbelievable, especially due to the lacklustre way that part of that thread of the story ended up culminating.
I did like Emily Henry's writing, and as I've said, there are parts of the story that I did really like, but ultimately I just didn't love this book the way I wanted to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
funny
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
Beach Read was next to impossible to put down. I love the way she writes characters so you really feel like you know who they are. Typical romance tropes are incorporated without feeling tired, played out, or unnatural. At times I found January frustrating, however this didn’t make me dislike her. Nothing in the book feels unbelievable or like it came out of nowhere as can often be the case in romance novels. No one writes romance like Emily Henry.
The one thing that annoyed and disappointed me was that Gus doesn’t write a proper romcom or romance novel, but just litfic with a romance plot line.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse