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Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse
I get that it takes some of the glamour out of the book industry, but my understanding is that even multiple NY Times bestselling authors can rarely support themselves through writing alone. You either need a day job, a partner who can support your writing career, or you need to be independently wealthy. So it's not a surprise January couldn't survive on her book sales alone, but there was no suggestion that's actually pretty common.
I liked the town, and Gus' aunt and her wife in particular.
I also really liked the introduction to the reader questions at the end which talked about writer's block.
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse
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."
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
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Vomit
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Physical abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Murder
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Vomit, Car accident
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Vomit
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
Minor: Mental illness
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, Murder