Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i enjoyed this but not as much as People We Meet On Vacation.
i didn’t connect with January and Gus all that much. also, the amount of times Gus’s “crooked mouth” and “inky, dark eyes” was brought up was actually insane. i imagine this is what he looked like half the time —-> ⚫️🫦⚫️
this book did have cute moments and i liked the cheesy ending. maybe the next Emily Henry book will be a another hit for me.
i didn’t connect with January and Gus all that much. also, the amount of times Gus’s “crooked mouth” and “inky, dark eyes” was brought up was actually insane. i imagine this is what he looked like half the time —-> ⚫️🫦⚫️
this book did have cute moments and i liked the cheesy ending. maybe the next Emily Henry book will be a another hit for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content
emotional
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, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
first off, misleading title, because i was expecting an actual ocean, not lake michigan. maybe to a usamerican it would be a beach, but like, no. also, the cover shows them reading on a beach, which i don't think they ever did??
second, it's a good book. quite chill, perfect for a light read (i guess the title isn't misleading in *all* aspects), and it's great to turn your brain off to. but it was also quite boring, and imo dragged on quite a bit. the characters were also quite generic, grumpy x sunshine, which i guess has its charms, but i found it too trope-y. to be fair, i have no one but my own expectations to blame, emily henry has been on my tbr for so long that my standards were set too high.
the plot was basic and simple, and to be frank, i was much more interested in the writing process of january's book about the circus family. by the end, i was just fast-flipping through the pages to get to the part where she's working on the story. it's something i would definitely love to read! and the book that gus published at the end also let me down a little because i really didn't feel like he did the subject the justice it deserved. but that could just be me, of course.
the characters were also quite bland for me. honestly, if it wasn't for the trope, i don't even see how these two would even work as a couple. i just don't see the chemistry. and no wonder bcs like, they were both soo one-dimensional? especially gus, name one personality trait he has apart from being broody, mysterious, and, in january's words, coldly horny. he just seemed so untidy by her description alone that it gave me an ick. and for some unknown reason, he is absolutely head over heels for january, and we are never told what's the story there. the only fun thing about them was their banter, which also at times felt very forced.
i was quite into the book at first because i really felt sympathetic towards january's predicament, but she lost me halfway through when you start seeing her self-centrism. to her, everything circles back to all the ways her life has been ruined and destroyed by discovering about her father, like babe. yeah, it's sad, but also, get a life! her reaction to it may be realistic in a way, but i just can not get behind a character who whines and cries about the oh so unfair trials and tribulations of life all the time.
shaadi was the most interesting person to me, but because she is the Protagonist's Best Friend (tm) we only see her in that context and not as a fully-fleshed out character, which is quite a shame. her and january's friendship is absolute goals. and also the characters that gus interviews for his books. frankly, they had much more going on than our leads. i loved dave's mom, julie-ann for the barely two pages that we see her for, and her monologue about good people and bad things. some of the quotes were honestly so good!
all in all, not a bad book, it has a lot of good scattered aplenty but not enough to make it the best either. once again, i would love to see Family_Secrets.docx come to life irl as an actual book! the main reason i'm even giving this book a 3-star is because that one's a masterpiece.
second, it's a good book. quite chill, perfect for a light read (i guess the title isn't misleading in *all* aspects), and it's great to turn your brain off to. but it was also quite boring, and imo dragged on quite a bit. the characters were also quite generic, grumpy x sunshine, which i guess has its charms, but i found it too trope-y. to be fair, i have no one but my own expectations to blame, emily henry has been on my tbr for so long that my standards were set too high.
the plot was basic and simple, and to be frank, i was much more interested in the writing process of january's book about the circus family. by the end, i was just fast-flipping through the pages to get to the part where she's working on the story. it's something i would definitely love to read! and the book that gus published at the end also let me down a little because i really didn't feel like he did the subject the justice it deserved. but that could just be me, of course.
the characters were also quite bland for me. honestly, if it wasn't for the trope, i don't even see how these two would even work as a couple. i just don't see the chemistry. and no wonder bcs like, they were both soo one-dimensional? especially gus, name one personality trait he has apart from being broody, mysterious, and, in january's words, coldly horny. he just seemed so untidy by her description alone that it gave me an ick. and for some unknown reason, he is absolutely head over heels for january, and we are never told what's the story there. the only fun thing about them was their banter, which also at times felt very forced.
i was quite into the book at first because i really felt sympathetic towards january's predicament, but she lost me halfway through when you start seeing her self-centrism. to her, everything circles back to all the ways her life has been ruined and destroyed by discovering about her father, like babe. yeah, it's sad, but also, get a life! her reaction to it may be realistic in a way, but i just can not get behind a character who whines and cries about the oh so unfair trials and tribulations of life all the time.
shaadi was the most interesting person to me, but because she is the Protagonist's Best Friend (tm) we only see her in that context and not as a fully-fleshed out character, which is quite a shame. her and january's friendship is absolute goals. and also the characters that gus interviews for his books. frankly, they had much more going on than our leads. i loved dave's mom, julie-ann for the barely two pages that we see her for, and her monologue about good people and bad things. some of the quotes were honestly so good!
all in all, not a bad book, it has a lot of good scattered aplenty but not enough to make it the best either. once again, i would love to see Family_Secrets.docx come to life irl as an actual book! the main reason i'm even giving this book a 3-star is because that one's a masterpiece.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Vomit
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: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcohol
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Child abuse, Suicide
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity