Scan barcode
A review by mc7196
The Beach Reads Book Club by Kathryn Freeman
2.0
The concept and structure of the book was really interesting and engaging, unfortunately, I found the central relationship to be quite lackluster. When her book club gets too serious and uptight for her, Lottie decides to form her own club focusing on fun rom coms, or 'beach reads.' Lottie decides to run the book club at a small indie book store. The book store's new owner is a tall, dark, and handsome mans who just moved to this coastal area with his family to run the store together.
I really enjoyed the concept, as well as how the book started off building upon each book club read. The chapters would start off with the club's current book, and their discussion on it before flowing into more plot. I think the author could have integrated it more into the book though. Not every chapter started off with a book, and especially towards the later half, the plot started diverging from the book club structure. I found this to be a missed opportunity where the author could talk about each club read and tie it into the plot with lessons learned, or parallel plots, or something along those lines.
My biggest complaint with this book was that I found there to be no chemistry between Lottie and Matt. Their conversations are e x t r e m e l y awkward, and instead of the spark being shown through their actions/dialogues, we're simply just told they have a literal physical spark-- they feel an electric zap when they touch. But I just found their entire dynamic to be really dry and rife with miscommunication. The book emphasized how well Matt was able to understand her, and yes, maybe on a fundamental personality level, but most of their interactions were Matt and Lottie misinterpreting each others actions and taking the completely wrong message away?? It just seemed like the two were not on the same wavelength at all.
On another note, this book has made me realize that my type is DEFINITELY confident guys. Matt's lack of confidence and his constant belief that he's constantly disappointing others was just too angsty for me. His relationship with his family was also really confusing. I didn't really get why there was tension, and it definitely felt like some arbitrary roadblock put by the author to show 'character development.'
Additionally, Henry is such a dick I don't get why Lottie let him trample over her and why she / other people thought she would even entertain the thought of him?
I think this book had a lot of potential to become a fun quick read, but unfortunately, it just fell very flat for me.
--
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I really enjoyed the concept, as well as how the book started off building upon each book club read. The chapters would start off with the club's current book, and their discussion on it before flowing into more plot. I think the author could have integrated it more into the book though. Not every chapter started off with a book, and especially towards the later half, the plot started diverging from the book club structure. I found this to be a missed opportunity where the author could talk about each club read and tie it into the plot with lessons learned, or parallel plots, or something along those lines.
My biggest complaint with this book was that I found there to be no chemistry between Lottie and Matt. Their conversations are e x t r e m e l y awkward, and instead of the spark being shown through their actions/dialogues, we're simply just told they have a literal physical spark-- they feel an electric zap when they touch. But I just found their entire dynamic to be really dry and rife with miscommunication. The book emphasized how well Matt was able to understand her, and yes, maybe on a fundamental personality level, but most of their interactions were Matt and Lottie misinterpreting each others actions and taking the completely wrong message away?? It just seemed like the two were not on the same wavelength at all.
On another note, this book has made me realize that my type is DEFINITELY confident guys. Matt's lack of confidence and his constant belief that he's constantly disappointing others was just too angsty for me. His relationship with his family was also really confusing. I didn't really get why there was tension, and it definitely felt like some arbitrary roadblock put by the author to show 'character development.'
Additionally, Henry is such a dick I don't get why Lottie let him trample over her and why she / other people thought she would even entertain the thought of him?
I think this book had a lot of potential to become a fun quick read, but unfortunately, it just fell very flat for me.
--
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!