Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Beach Read

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

314 reviews

kcarney86's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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: Yes

Content Warnings

kajasversion's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I loved this book. It made me scream and curl up in excitement. What i think i loved most about it was how real it was. The characters were well rounded and there were no more characters than there needed to be. They all had depth and they just seemed so real, like anything that happened to them can happen to us too. January and Gus’s love is so pure and i love when the boy falls first. There’s just something about it. It’s the best summer read you can possibly get your hands on. I should also mention the immaculate writing style. I had loved every second of reading this book because of the writing alone. Truly nothing like it. Highly recommend.

Content Warnings

ah14's review against another edition

2.25

funny relaxing 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

june in january - dean martin

Content Warnings

tragedies's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I went into this book wanting a fun and heartwarming summer romance, and while it definitely was, I also found it to be incredibly profound and intimate. Along with cute carnival dates and hot nights at the drive-in theater, there were conversations about grief, trauma, and the inexplicable resentment at people whom you loved with all your heart but ended up hurting you in ways that broke you and your faith in the world. There were moments of vulnerability and comfort, of seeing each other’s deep-seated hurts and fears and inspiring one another to face such with the same care and gentleness they treat those around them. Beach Reads was as much a story of two individuals growing into themselves as it was of two people falling head over heels for each other, and I love it.

There were many other things I love about this book. The grump and sunshine combined with my favorite rivals to friends to lovers dynamic. The cliché premise of absurdly ridiculous bets. The second chance romance trope. The funny yet clever banter. The effortless chemistry between the two main characters. And of course, some sneaky Taylor Swift references (My Swiftie heart is full). Beach Reads had all of this and more.

It's no wonder then that when I set out to read a couple of chapters before bed, I ended up binging the entire thing instead, crying and laughing and crying again until three in the goddamn morning. It was surely an emotional rollercoaster but one I would happily go through again.

Content Warnings

visenyasdragon's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

okay this fucking slapped. granted, the common accusations of false advertising in this book are probably well-founded, but i read it on kindle, so i barely ever saw the fluffly summery cover while reading. i myself loved it and could not put it down, despite the heavy subject matter. most of the time it felt almost like something that could happen in real life, which is a rarity in this genre i think?

honestly i don't think someone like 23yo gus would fancy someone like january, brooding guys at this age just don't function that way,

but their relationship at the lake houses was both believable and compelling. i also loved the pace, not too slow and not too fast, with just the perfect amount of introspection. the humor was a little stale though, and also there was a little of this overwrought time travelers wife-style romantic melodrama at the end, but i feel like that is to be expected with an american romance book, so i let it slide. if not for those, it would have been a full five star

Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

I loved this book so much. I resonated with January on a deep level for many reasons. It’s a love story — a story about how our flaws make us human — and a finding yourself story. This book is more than just a romance novel, it’s a story about people who are trying to figure out the meaning of life through all of the heart aches that life is wont to throw our way.

Content Warnings

dalmavatai's review against another edition

4.5

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

I'm convinced that Emily Henry can do no wrong. While I didn't love this quite as much as Book Lovers and didn't find January and Gus as great of characters as Nora and Charlie, I still loved this book. I love how Emily Henry makes her MC & LI go through a lot of shit & have a lot of trauma in their past, but then they process & address it together and help each other heal, it's the most beautiful shit ever 😭 I also enjoy the author's meta writing style where she writes about books and writing and being an author, and the things her characters write in their books are also happening in the actual book that we're reading! In this book, I wanted just a bit more of January and Gus and perhaps a bit less of the other elements going on, but I did really appreciate January's whole process of grieving her dad but also being mad at him for what he did, such a complex but beautiful and beautifully human process! So again, not quite Book Lovers but still probably among my favorite books of the year. I am simply obsessed with Emily Henry's writing style and plotting and the way in which she makes two broken characters come together and make each other slightly less broken.

Content Warnings