Take a photo of a barcode or cover
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like they didn’t spend enough time hating/disliking each other for it to be considered enemies to lovers. I also found January to be a bit annoying at times with all the jumping to conclusions she was doing. I would’ve liked to see more competition between the two when writing their books. I liked the banter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
Moderate: Death, Death of parent
Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Vomit
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
emotional
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Vomit
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
She learned to let it out, bit by bit, and that sometimes, it was okay to let a little ugliness into your story. That it would never rob you of all the beauty.
this was a super sweet romance with a lot of laughs and a little angst. january and gus's journey from a (one-sided) rivalry to reacquaintances to friends to lovers felt well-paced and organic. i always love me a total simp mmc and gus definitely fit the bill, even when january was mistaking it for his superiority complex (which was kinda true too lol).
i enjoyed the aspect of them both being writers as well and how fiction and storytelling are used to not only work through our own lives, but to change them. i'm not really sure how i feel about january's dad with the affair, but i think at least as a dad the relationship between him and january was touching.
this wasn't as emotionally devastating as i was expecting it to be, but i felt like it did a good job working a bit through some topics of trauma and grief. there were also a lot of humorous moments, i absolutely loveddd january and gus's dry banter. honestly what made it a 4.5 for me.
i'm excited to read more by emily henry, but this was a solid book to start with!
If you think the story has a sad ending, it’s because it’s not over yet.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity
Minor: Death, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent
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 enjoyed the book but found the ending to be a bit abrupt and the climax to not be as developed as it could be. Recommend reading this as your first Emily Henry book if you want them to keep getting better!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent