Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Beach Read

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Beach Read by Emily Henry

232 reviews

helena_chris's review against another edition

2.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It's not really a beach read in my opinion, and also not as lighthearted as I'd expected. I enjoyed the first third of book but then just kind of lost interest in the storyline??

Content Warnings

lisa_ella's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny 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: Yes

Beach Read by Emily Henry was such an unexpected mix of heartbreak, banter, and healing that I couldn’t put it down.

January is a romance writer who once believed in happily-ever-afters because of her parents’ love story, but after her father’s sudden death and the painful truth of his affair, she’s left disillusioned and lost. With no home or direction, she ends up at her father’s secret beach house to try and write again. Enter Augustus Everett — her grumpy, brilliant, and frustratingly attractive college rival who just happens to live next door. He writes darker, literary fiction, and the two strike a deal to swap genres for the summer: she’ll write something tragic, he’ll try his hand at romance. What starts as a competition quickly becomes something deeper, as they challenge each other, peel back old wounds, and slowly fall into a love story neither of them thought they believed in anymore.

I loved how Emily Henry explored grief, family secrets, and how our past shapes our ability to trust and love. January’s journey felt raw and real— her writer’s block wasn’t just creative, it was tied to her heartbreak and betrayal. Gus, meanwhile, had his own layers of pain that explained his cynicism, and their slow-burn connection had just the right mix of tension and vulnerability. Their banter genuinely made me laugh, and the way they challenged each other’s worldviews felt so authentic.

That said at times the pacing dragged with some of the cult interview plotlines, and I occasionally wanted more clarity around Gus’s emotional availability (he was broody a little too long). Still, the payoff was worth it — their romance felt hard-won, messy, and true.

If you love books that blend witty romance with deeper emotional themes of loss, healing, and learning to believe in love again, Beach Read is absolutely worth picking up.

Content Warnings

dalenora's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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 thoroughly enjoyed this book, which was a delightful surprise since I didn't really expect to. Lately I've been pretty put off/bored by author self insert fiction- AKA books where the main character is either a reader or a writer (or both). There's nothing wrong with those books, but I have read so many that I really can't stand the trope lately.

That being said, this book was precisely that, and it's one of the best books I've read lately. Sure at times the dialogue leaned a little cringy or overly saccharine, but it was also self referential, meta and felt like the perfect rom com to sink into. For anything you might point to and go "hey that's a bit silly" the book is also pointing to it and going "Hey isn't this a bit silly? But you love it anyways don't you. That's why life is beautiful!" It was really a delightful book to read.

Content Warnings

kgarv's review against another edition

5.0

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.

Content Warnings

liizabee's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad 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: Yes

Really really enjoyed this book! This is my first time reading Emily Henry & I understand the hype now.

Beach Read felt like a Sarah Dessen book but all grown up.

I like that it wasn't just a fluffy romance. She dived into heavier topics like death, grief, childhood trauma and abandonment issues. The cult storyline/subplot(?) was really interesting and I liked how it tied into

Gus's

story.

I'm happy we got actual details about the book January was writing instead of a vague sentence or two. It felt like I got to read 3 books (

Beach Read, Janie's book, and the cult interviews (Gus's book)

) in one and I absolutely loved it. I guess the changes in tone and setting was great for my ADHD brain. But it also didn't feel like too much was happening at once.

I enjoyed the slow-ish burn between January and

Gus

. Although this is a romance book, I genuinely wasn't sure if they'd end up together in the end.

At some point, I would have been happy to see her (literally) sailing off into the sunset all by herself.

I would have liked to see more sexually intimate scenes or at least make the existing ones a bit more explicit, but that's just me (a girly who grew up reading smutty fanfics 👀🤭).

I have daddy issues so some of this book wrecked me. Looking at you, chapter

!! I was bawling my eyes out, tears and snot rushing down my face and onto my ereader. But imma be real, that just made me love the book even more lol.

Though I read this book in summer, I didn't have the privilege of reading it on the beach, but I think it would be a perfect beach read. ☀️🏖📖💛 Can't wait for the movie!

Content Warnings

fresh_tepid_snoozed's review against another edition

4.0

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

purplesteffi's review against another edition

3.75

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Content Warnings

yicell's review against another edition

3.0

dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I think the only reason I give it a 3, it's cause there's some good commentary of the book industry and double standards for women writers. But for a romance book it does take quite a dark turn into heavy topics, that are not always addressed in a respectful way...

Content Warnings