Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emotional
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
The more I read of Beach Read, the more I wanted to read. However, I have some issues with the beginning and the end that kept me from loving this book.
Things I didn’t love:
- The cover, the title, and the blurb were all very misleading. All of those add together to market a romantic comedy, which is not what I would call this book. I would not want to read this in the summer on the beach, this feels like a piece of literature with a romance plot more so than a romance book with some other subplots. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not what was marketed to me and also not what I was looking for when I picked this book up.
- The books starts with two chapters of backstory dump. This is not my favorite way for a book to start. It’s not lazy, but it’s not the most creative way to convey all of that information to a reader. I feel like the first chapter would’ve been more interesting if it had been January at the funeral having these thoughts and then encountering Sonya instead of her thinking about all of it. She didn’t actually speak to a human face-to-face until the third chapter, all of the dialogue was in her memories, and that made it really slow for me to get into this book.
- the ending felt rushed. I wanted to spend more of the book with January and guess in a defined relationship. Not necessarily a third of the book, not necessarily earlier in the book, but I wanted more book after they got together before the epilogue.
And now that that’s out of the way, let’s end with the things I did like!
- Gus in January had the most adorable friendship. I prefer the grumpy sunshine dynamic in friendships to in relationships because I feel like it’s not actually true in relationships. Usually the grump isn’t grumpy with her and the sunshine person can be cloudy with their person, but they were genuinely grumpy and sunshine all throughout their friendship and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- The middle of this book was excellent. The writing style hit its flow, the plot was moving, the fun side characters were there and felt more present, and the pace kept me wanting to read more.
- I like the premises of this book. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about reading a book about authors, because it can (and was) be very meta but I thought it was cute!
What I recommend this book as a pallet cleanse book? No. Would you recommend this book to people who like romantic comedies? Probably. What I recommend this book to people who like women’s fiction? Probably. This book is a little weird and that I can’t tell if it’s a romance book or a piece of literary fiction, which makes it hard to find the right person to read it. But I did enjoy it, though I probably won’t read it again. 3.5 stars.
Things I didn’t love:
- The cover, the title, and the blurb were all very misleading. All of those add together to market a romantic comedy, which is not what I would call this book. I would not want to read this in the summer on the beach, this feels like a piece of literature with a romance plot more so than a romance book with some other subplots. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not what was marketed to me and also not what I was looking for when I picked this book up.
- The books starts with two chapters of backstory dump. This is not my favorite way for a book to start. It’s not lazy, but it’s not the most creative way to convey all of that information to a reader. I feel like the first chapter would’ve been more interesting if it had been January at the funeral having these thoughts and then encountering Sonya instead of her thinking about all of it. She didn’t actually speak to a human face-to-face until the third chapter, all of the dialogue was in her memories, and that made it really slow for me to get into this book.
- the ending felt rushed. I wanted to spend more of the book with January and guess in a defined relationship. Not necessarily a third of the book, not necessarily earlier in the book, but I wanted more book after they got together before the epilogue.
And now that that’s out of the way, let’s end with the things I did like!
- Gus in January had the most adorable friendship. I prefer the grumpy sunshine dynamic in friendships to in relationships because I feel like it’s not actually true in relationships. Usually the grump isn’t grumpy with her and the sunshine person can be cloudy with their person, but they were genuinely grumpy and sunshine all throughout their friendship and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
- The middle of this book was excellent. The writing style hit its flow, the plot was moving, the fun side characters were there and felt more present, and the pace kept me wanting to read more.
- I like the premises of this book. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about reading a book about authors, because it can (and was) be very meta but I thought it was cute!
What I recommend this book as a pallet cleanse book? No. Would you recommend this book to people who like romantic comedies? Probably. What I recommend this book to people who like women’s fiction? Probably. This book is a little weird and that I can’t tell if it’s a romance book or a piece of literary fiction, which makes it hard to find the right person to read it. But I did enjoy it, though I probably won’t read it again. 3.5 stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Vomit
funny
hopeful
medium-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:
Complicated
2023 edit: Pretty much ditto to what I said before. When I started, I was a little less hooked than I normally am with Emily Henry, but it hooked me pretty quickly still. It is heavier than either PWMOV or Book Lovers, but I think it works really well. There are great characters and significant development of our MCs. And again, I was charmed by it!
2022
I was charmed by it :)
Maybe it's the English-major/writer in me, but I loved the premise of this book. January and Gus are two writers (fairly successful in their own genres) having writer's block and they come up with a competition to get over it. Again, totally my style because I thrive on competition, especially if it has a deadline. I liked their banter, for the most part, and I thought they were well-written and had significant development for a novel in a genre that isn't known for its deep character development. There were several heavy topics in the books. January's struggle with her memories of her dad are especially poignant and relatable. Some of the "romantic" scenes were a little forced or awkward, but it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book.
2022
I was charmed by it :)
Maybe it's the English-major/writer in me, but I loved the premise of this book. January and Gus are two writers (fairly successful in their own genres) having writer's block and they come up with a competition to get over it. Again, totally my style because I thrive on competition, especially if it has a deadline. I liked their banter, for the most part, and I thought they were well-written and had significant development for a novel in a genre that isn't known for its deep character development. There were several heavy topics in the books. January's struggle with her memories of her dad are especially poignant and relatable. Some of the "romantic" scenes were a little forced or awkward, but it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
i absolutely loved this book, so close to being 5 stars, just wish the chapters were more broken up and there was a more diverse set of characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
this was not what i was expecting, and did not live up to the hype around the book. It was still okay, I didn't particularly like the characters that much especially Gus.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
the definition of style AND substance. i started the book thinking it was another romcom (WHICH I LOVE) and was blown away at the emotional topics discussed. it was raw and a real and still so funny and romantic. and above all it was relatable. i found myself in each character. i cried and laughed and squealed. !!!there’s smut!!!! the ending was just the tiniest bit rushed and there’s the occasional millennial humour but nothing you can’t look past, gus and january made all of it worth it. with quotes like “hemingway circle jerk fan fiction” and “every time she fell in love… joy seemed to overflow” and “when i watch you sleep i feel overwhelmed you exist” HOW COULD YOU NOT BE HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE W THE CHARACTERS. people say it’s enemies to lovers but if anything it’s more miscommunication and unrequited love diet enemies to lovers
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Chronic illness, Vomit
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol