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emotional
funny
medium-paced
Overall this is a cute read. The two main characters, January and Gus, end up switching genres of books for their latest release. It details their journey as individuals to eventually rekindling a previous flame. Overall, a great beach read! ;)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
I appreciate the reality Henry brings to her books. The characters are believably flawed and the conflicts aren’t contrived.
Beach Read is lovely and reminded me that life is hard, life can hurt, but it’s also made up of parts, and many of those parts are beautiful and bright. The brightness makes the dark survivable.
Beach Read is lovely and reminded me that life is hard, life can hurt, but it’s also made up of parts, and many of those parts are beautiful and bright. The brightness makes the dark survivable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Alcohol
Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
The book is about two authors, one of whom is researching a cult for a book. There aren’t details of the cult, but they do visit the burned remains of the compound in a scene.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
do I think it's a literary masterpiece? no. but I do think it's an extremely likeable contemporary romance. Emily Henry is master of all things, and I am here for it. the emotional rollercoaster from the silly banter to the crippling shame of the Third Act Misunderstanding™️ had me pulling out the Kindle every free chance.
Sexy, Evil Gus is exactly the kind of love interest I root for - complicated, a little broken, but sweet, well meaning, and unproblematic. He has no jealous rages, no toddler meltdowns, no commitment issues. Maybe a bit of a grump, but a very solid dude.
some readers will probably be put off by the strong themes of grieving a recently deceased parent and dealing with the paradigm shift of the parent's previously unknown second life. I'm here to cry so it worked for me :)
Sexy, Evil Gus is exactly the kind of love interest I root for - complicated, a little broken, but sweet, well meaning, and unproblematic. He has no jealous rages, no toddler meltdowns, no commitment issues. Maybe a bit of a grump, but a very solid dude.
some readers will probably be put off by the strong themes of grieving a recently deceased parent and dealing with the paradigm shift of the parent's previously unknown second life. I'm here to cry so it worked for me :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An easy read and by no means bad but overall not as good as I was hoping it to be!
To be completely honest, I went into this book unsure how I’d like it. I thought it would be overly cheesy and over the top but it was the opposite - it was calm in a way and it had a focus other than the development of Gus & January’s relationship (his divorce/childhood and her losing her dad/finding out about his affair) which I enjoyed. It felt more natural and that’s the type of love stories I am drawn to - sparkles within otherwise ordinary tales.
That being said there were a few bits I really didn’t like - Gus didn’t treat January well at times throughout the book. I was yawning and rolling my eyes at the same old trope of ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you!’. And when they slept together for the first time, he runs to the phone without any explanation knowing how vulnerable January is and also how any woman would feel having slept with someone, especially for the first time. He does it again at the book event when Naomi turns up and doesn’t priorities January. I really felt for her in the pages that followed.
Overall though I was drawn in with their flirting and banter and also with the depth of emotion both authors had. I felt the author explored that well.
To be completely honest, I went into this book unsure how I’d like it. I thought it would be overly cheesy and over the top but it was the opposite - it was calm in a way and it had a focus other than the development of Gus & January’s relationship (his divorce/childhood and her losing her dad/finding out about his affair) which I enjoyed. It felt more natural and that’s the type of love stories I am drawn to - sparkles within otherwise ordinary tales.
That being said there were a few bits I really didn’t like - Gus didn’t treat January well at times throughout the book. I was yawning and rolling my eyes at the same old trope of ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you!’. And when they slept together for the first time, he runs to the phone without any explanation knowing how vulnerable January is and also how any woman would feel having slept with someone, especially for the first time. He does it again at the book event when Naomi turns up and doesn’t priorities January. I really felt for her in the pages that followed.
Overall though I was drawn in with their flirting and banter and also with the depth of emotion both authors had. I felt the author explored that well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Death of parent
adventurous
funny
inspiring
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This feels very similar to Book Lovers, except the love interest and main character felt much worse. like holy fuck just communicate y’all
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
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, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity