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dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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:
Complicated
It's complicated. I love how you get all the satisfaction of a romance book with a refreshing (though can be depressing) dash of a reality check. You get the feel that January wrote this book based on what you get from her character by the end. The main relationship is a messy romance kind, but the ones outside of that feel very real in a complexity sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
emotional
lighthearted
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: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
I bought three books by Emily Henry and read Beach Read first (since chronologically she wrote this one first). I loved the story, the humor, and January and Gus! I very much appreciated Gus’s pragmatism as a function of his childhood abuse and neglect . January’s handling of her parents and their shortcomings really resonated with me, too. Maybe I’m just at the stage of my life where I’m grappling with similar feelings. If I had to critique anything, it would be that January pushed Gus so hard to open up to her, while she kept so many of her own feelings about her dad’s affair to herself, which struck me as hypocritical, and also that we spent the entire book waiting for the MCs to get together but had the briefest of epilogues to see what they’re really like together but that really is just a nitpick. I loved the characters—not just the MCs but all the side characters as well (the book club members, the New Eden interviewees, all of them). I loved the journey that January was on and that we got to see her grow, even getting to see her writing deepen and develop as she writes the traveling circus book . Ironically, the part that I still find myself thinking about days later is how wistful and romantic dying from a meteor strike is . I really get on a cellular level all of Gus and parts of January, such as her ability to see the potential for happily-ever-afters. Great book—you won’t regret reading it.
UPDATE: I changed my rating to 5 stars after reading all her other books and also after reading the extended epilogue on EH’s website.
UPDATE: I changed my rating to 5 stars after reading all her other books and also after reading the extended epilogue on EH’s website.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
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, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Drug use
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Vomit
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
i really feel like this there isn’t much here but an insta-live romance and a third act conflict that is entirely guided by miscommunication and solved in three point five seconds
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
of the three Emily Henry books I’ve read, this one has the best “falling togetherness” of the two main characters. It feels like a realistic love story in that the characters are simply living their lives the best they can, so there’s less external pressure from plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
Gus is the best. That is all.
That and Emily Henry is the queen of witty banter.
That and Emily Henry is the queen of witty banter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Alcohol
Minor: Vomit
Gus the other MC is writing a book about cults, and they talk to someone for research and visit a former cult site.