Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

74 reviews

prairieraven's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing sad fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Death of parent, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

rad_reads_123's review

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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Vomit

tigerkind's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Title is exactly what you’re getting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, and Car accident

taraaleitz's review

emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

booksawyer's review

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

Since Beach Read came out in 2020, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Emily Henry’s first adult romance novel. Years later, Henry has released three more novels in this genre and I still have yet read any of them - until now!

Beach Read follows the story of January Andrews, a published romance writer who recently lost her father. His death opened up numerous wounds when January discovered secrets he has been keeping from her, the aftermath of which sent her into an extreme writers block. Since she hasn’t sold a book and recently spilt with her long-time boyfriend, January moves into a lake house left to her by her dad, hoping write her next novel by the end of the summer. 

Upon moving into the house, January “meets” her neighbor, who turns out to be her college rival Augustus Everett, a successful literary fiction writer. The two decide to make a bet, deciding they will each try to write a book in the other’s genre. The terms of their agreement cause them to spend a lot of time together, and sparks may fly… 

Saying I enjoyed this book is an understatement. From the moment I started reading, January and Augustus’s story captivated me. I was swept up in the romance, rooting for them the whole way.

What pushes Beach Read into the category of an all-time favorite is the inclusion of difficult themes. I always enjoy books that cover difficult topics, so the discussion of grief and the impact that January’s fathers actions had on her was an element of the book I really enjoyed. 

This book also finds our characters researching a cult, something I never expected to see in a romance novel. However, I think it was handled well. The scenes in which this topic was discussed were moving and I found myself getting goosebumps once or twice. 

Despite the heavy themes, this book makes for an excellent cute romance. January and Augustus have undeniable chemistry, and the development of their romance was enough to make me giddy.

Emily Henry is an excellent writer who masterfully crafted this novel. I truly can not wait to immediately pick up one of her other books!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide

This book also deals with cults, particularly the fallout of being in the cult on survivors, as well as the family of cult members who died.

kaylameaux's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Cancer, and Death of parent

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism

fanboyriot's review

lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0

Read For:
Quick Read

Hurt/Comfort

Summer Read

Author x Author

Beach Read (much like the title says)

Honestly, I wasn't feeling this one as much.  The characters were okay but at times really annoying.  The relationship felt rushed and a bit too forced.  After they admit their feelings it’s revealed they always felt that way since they were in college… it just kinda comes out of nowhere.  Then there was the ending.  I love romance books as much as the next person but that was way too cliché and just really annoying.  I will say I did like some of the banter was pretty good and I did like the cozy summer vibes it had.

(First Person POV)

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rep: Idk

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, Cancer, and Cursing

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Vomit

bg_oseman_fan's review

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Sexual content, Cancer, Grief, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Vomit, Car accident, and Child abuse

cmags18's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism

sourkiwi's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

it had my favorite trope regarding enemies/rivals to lovers which is that one of them has always had feelings for the other and it made me scream when i realized

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity, Child abuse, Death of parent, Cancer, and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism