Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

101 reviews

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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: Yes

I adored this book. It may even have been a full five stars for me, but I’m trying to sit with books more before I give them that distinction hahaha. January and Gus were absolutely adorable and funny and relatable in the most gut-punching, tear-jerking ways. This one is a bit of an emotional sneak-attack! The way both Gus and January grow and learn to trust each other and learn to accept themselves is so beautiful and inspiring. I just loved them. Augustus Everett will forever be one of my favorite leading men. He was positively swoon-inducing at every turn, but also incredibly real and human in his struggles. And the BANTER between these two!! I audibly giggled several times throughout the book because of how FUN the dialogue was. So much to love about this book. I read it on the beach in Hawaii, and it really set the mood (even though it takes place on the shores of a lake and not the ocean, haha). Definitely recommend highly!!!

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adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

It was such a cute fast read and perfect for the summer! Wasn’t the best book I read tho but such a good story, cheesy, and predictable but fun!

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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 looked up from the page several times to say aloud, “god this is good”. i dropped a few expletives in regards to how beautifully written this book was. i shed a few tears and hastily swiped the running mascara from under my eyes while riding the metro home. i am eternally grateful that emily henry wrote this book. and i am eternally grateful that i read it.

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-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: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
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

Average, didn’t really connect with the characters and some bits made me roll my eyes because they were so cliche and cringey

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional lighthearted reflective 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

Eep. The first couple of chapters had me really excited. I thought it was so meta; instead of playing into familiar tropes, we get a couple (both writers) who discuss these tropes and make fun of them while acknowledging why they work.  Just when I think we're going to dive headfirst into a cliche
(for example, Gus and January communicating via handwritten notes that they show through their windows)
, Henry subverts it by acknowledging it
(January writing "This is like that Taylor Swift song")
. January's defense of the romance genre was bitingly funny at times. Gus manages to be ~brooding and mysterious~ without being an asshole. I enjoyed how he bantered with her but was sincere when he needed to be.

That said, the melodrama heightened pretty quickly and I found myself wincing more and more as I neared the end. I really don't like miscommunication (or lack of communication) as a plot device, and so I wanted to shake January by the shoulders multiple times to get her to stop her ruminating. Things went from cheesy in a self-aware way to just plain cheesy; it's like the story set itself up to prove that the romance genre had more to offer beyond stereotypes, and then it...didn't do that.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
hopeful lighthearted 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

A truly spectacular romance book, "Beach Read" gets my five-star rating for the following reasons: 

1. Despite being a romance book, it doesn't feel like eating pure sugar. By including Gus's character, Henry creates a world that is, at times, truly awful -- and yet the characters manage to earn their happy ending anyway. 
2. A spectacularly creative premise, grounded in realistic experience
3. The wonderful emotional hurt/comfort scenes that hit all the notes 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

While this book falls into some of the typical troupes of rom-com books, it was still fantastic. The characters were believable in their grief and trauma, but still so lovable! I got this book from the library, but I'm probably going to go buy it so that I can re-read it!!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Absolutely adored this! 

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