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emotional
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ratings:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶.5/5
💧💧💧/5 (tear rating)
_________________________________________________
TWs:
•Cheating (past)
•Death
•Cancer
•Child abuse (past)
_________________________________________________
Tropes:
•Grumpy x sunshine
•Enemies to lovers
•Academic rivals
•It’s always been you
_________________________________________________
This is my 1st Emily Henry book. I did like it & it’s tropes but I’m not into long chapters. This book took me sm time 2 get into ,which kinda got me in a reading slump especially w/ those long chapters, but once I got into it, it instantly became a page turner. There r a few things in this book that rly took me by surprise. The characters r very lovable & the writing is so good!
IMO, chapter 25 is the most chapter that made my heart ache
_________________________________________________
Some of my fav quotes:
⚠️SOME OF THEM MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS⚠️
•”You are so perfectly my favorite person”
•“You called from a party and dumped your girlfriend. Why would you do that?”
“Why do you think, January?”
•”I lied”, he whispered against my ear. “I’ve read your books”
•"Fine, January," he said in a low voice. "I thought it was beautiful. Is that what you want me to admit?"
Again my heart buoyed through my chest. "Yes."
"I thought it was beautiful," he said immediately, sincerely.
•Love could be a life vest when you’re drowning
•”There’s nothing you can do to make someone keep loving you”
•”When I watch you sleep, I feel overwhelmed that you exist.”
•”Because you’re the bright light! Don’t you get it? It’s not about what’s happened. It’s about how you cope with things, who you are. You’ve always been this fierce fucking light, and even when you’re at your worst, when you feel angry and broken, you still know how to be a person. How to tell people you- you love them.”
•”When you love someone, you want to make this world look different for them. To give all the ugly stuff meaning, and amplify the good. That’s what you do. For your readers. For me”
•“I’ve wanted you for so long,"
•"I want you, I want you, in every way. I want to take you on dates and play with a fucking beach ball in a pool with you, but I’m a wreck, January”
•”Even if there aren’t any snowflakes, we’ll have January all year long.”
•“Then let me be happy with you, Gus”
•"And she knows-she knows how stupid I am when it comes to you, how crazy I was for you in college,"
•"What if we dont get a happy ending Gus?”
“Then maybes we should enjoy our happy-for-now”
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Sexism, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
i love emily henry’s books, they never fail to make me laugh out loud and this one hit me especially hard with the grief storyline.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Death of parent
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse
emotional
lighthearted
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
This was a much slower read than her other books, the pacing was sort of inconsistent. I loved the main character developments and the cast of supporting characters was diverse. It was just a little hard to really dig in and get swept away.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
funny
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Child abuse
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Title: Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: May 19, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Fun • Deep • Over-hyped
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Augustus, an acclaimed author of literary fiction and January, a bestselling romance novelist are polar opposites. Each struggling with writer's block and dealing with personal demons, they find themselves living next door to one another for the summer. One evening they strike up a deal: Gus will write something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Emily Henry's Beach Read has been absolutely everywhere, and so I fell victim to the hype and finally dove in. An original and deep plot with a side of romance is typically how I like my romance books, yet for me January and Gus lacked chemistry and I was expecting so, so, so much more from this novel.
There's no denying Emily Henry does banter unlike anyone else. It adds a lightness to often heavy content. With this book, there is excellent individual character growth, but I wasn't invested in the romance at all. In fact, I was way more invested in the plot and them writing their books. I felt as thought it started out strong, but faded by the midway point and never really regained traction. A few of the things I really appreciated were the exploration of grief, the east coast setting, and the letters.
For me, Beach Read was simply an average read, one I'll soon forget, which has me thinking Emily Henry's adult romances may just not be my cup of tea. I appreciate the depth of the plots, but the romance and lack of communication just don't cut it. With that said, I'll probably continue to read her books with hopes of finding one I really love.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the grump/sunshine and/or enemies to lovers trope(s)
• readers who like depth in their rom-coms
• Emily Henry fans
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Bad things don't dig down through your life until the pit's so deep that nothing good will ever be big enough to make you happy again. No matter how much shit, there will always be wildflowers."
"Because I know no matter how long I get to love you, it will be worth whatever comes after."
"It was okay to let a little ugliness into your story. That it would never rob you of all the beauty."
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.25
Pub Date: May 19, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Fun • Deep • Over-hyped
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Augustus, an acclaimed author of literary fiction and January, a bestselling romance novelist are polar opposites. Each struggling with writer's block and dealing with personal demons, they find themselves living next door to one another for the summer. One evening they strike up a deal: Gus will write something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Emily Henry's Beach Read has been absolutely everywhere, and so I fell victim to the hype and finally dove in. An original and deep plot with a side of romance is typically how I like my romance books, yet for me January and Gus lacked chemistry and I was expecting so, so, so much more from this novel.
There's no denying Emily Henry does banter unlike anyone else. It adds a lightness to often heavy content. With this book, there is excellent individual character growth, but I wasn't invested in the romance at all. In fact, I was way more invested in the plot and them writing their books. I felt as thought it started out strong, but faded by the midway point and never really regained traction. A few of the things I really appreciated were the exploration of grief, the east coast setting, and the letters.
For me, Beach Read was simply an average read, one I'll soon forget, which has me thinking Emily Henry's adult romances may just not be my cup of tea. I appreciate the depth of the plots, but the romance and lack of communication just don't cut it. With that said, I'll probably continue to read her books with hopes of finding one I really love.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the grump/sunshine and/or enemies to lovers trope(s)
• readers who like depth in their rom-coms
• Emily Henry fans
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Bad things don't dig down through your life until the pit's so deep that nothing good will ever be big enough to make you happy again. No matter how much shit, there will always be wildflowers."
"Because I know no matter how long I get to love you, it will be worth whatever comes after."
"It was okay to let a little ugliness into your story. That it would never rob you of all the beauty."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Vomit, Car accident
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the first Emily Henry book I’ve ever read, and I’m kind of mad at myself for not reading it sooner. I borrowed a copy from the library, because I wasn’t sure if I’d like it that much, but I’m happy to say that I just ordered my own copy…and a copy of her other books, too.
I’ve only recently started reading non-fantasy romances, and I started feeling like maybe the genre wasn’t for me, but Beach Read changed my mind. While it maybe isn’t the most groundbreaking story out there, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about it.
I’ve only recently started reading non-fantasy romances, and I started feeling like maybe the genre wasn’t for me, but Beach Read changed my mind. While it maybe isn’t the most groundbreaking story out there, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
I'm gonna be honest for like the first 50-60 pages I was struggling to get through this book. I was deeply afraid I wasn't gonna like it especially considering I had a pre-conceived notion about Emily Henry's books. I didn't think they were my cup of tea. But boy am I glad I kept reading cuz after like the first 60 pages it picked up and I LOVED IT! I loved every character (minus S. but she was complicated). Gus and January's banter was elite. And I also admired how multi-faceted these characters were. The book felt long but in a good way. Just alot happened.
And speaking of that this book deals with some heavy subjects that I wasn't expecting. Whenever this book was recommended to me no one seemed to mention how heavy this book could get so I'm personally warning whoever reads this review that there are some heavy details in this book.
I'd also like to add to the reason why I love this book so much. The characters honestly felt like real people especially Gus. He was probably the closest depiction of unemotional available men that I've ever seen. And Emily Henry captured this element of unemotional available guys perfectly. And she also did so without making the main character seem stupid everytime she wanted to pursue something with them (Gus). I'm not sure if this is a spoiler but Emily does a great job of making you see that Gus isn't purposefully hurting January and that he's aware of how he is. And that his intent was never to pursue her into false promises. Honestly this book felt too real at times if you catch my drift. I felt attacked sometimes.😅 It was obvious that both parties were smitten over one another and I admired how Emily dealt with the idea that you can strongly like/want something yet self-sabotage yourself into feeling like you don't deserve it. I likes how Gus isn't content on remaining stagnant with how he is. And I'm glad he learns how to love again. Gus and January worked so well together (romantically and platonically). And I also loved the father-daughter love in this book as well. This book really surprised me and it would've been a 10/10 read if I wasn't so iffy about how I started it, but I'm so happy I ended up enjoying it and would gladly read it again.
And speaking of that this book deals with some heavy subjects that I wasn't expecting. Whenever this book was recommended to me no one seemed to mention how heavy this book could get so I'm personally warning whoever reads this review that there are some heavy details in this book.
I'd also like to add to the reason why I love this book so much. The characters honestly felt like real people especially Gus. He was probably the closest depiction of unemotional available men that I've ever seen. And Emily Henry captured this element of unemotional available guys perfectly. And she also did so without making the main character seem stupid everytime she wanted to pursue something with them (Gus). I'm not sure if this is a spoiler but Emily does a great job of making you see that Gus isn't purposefully hurting January and that he's aware of how he is. And that his intent was never to pursue her into false promises. Honestly this book felt too real at times if you catch my drift. I felt attacked sometimes.😅 It was obvious that both parties were smitten over one another and I admired how Emily dealt with the idea that you can strongly like/want something yet self-sabotage yourself into feeling like you don't deserve it. I likes how Gus isn't content on remaining stagnant with how he is. And I'm glad he learns how to love again. Gus and January worked so well together (romantically and platonically). And I also loved the father-daughter love in this book as well. This book really surprised me and it would've been a 10/10 read if I wasn't so iffy about how I started it, but I'm so happy I ended up enjoying it and would gladly read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Grief
Minor: Cursing, Vomit