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A review by rosereads_books
Beach Read by Emily Henry
5.0
My Happily Ever After was a strand of strung-together happy-for-now, extending back not just to a year ago, but to thirty years before. Mine had already begun, and so this day was neither an ending nor a beginning.
how fucking perfect was that book.
I had try to read Beach Read last year, but wasn’t in the right mood for it. It would have been a mistake not to give it another try. Beach Read tells the story of January, a romance writer finding herself in a rut. She can’t write. After her father passes away, she inherits a beach house where she’s confining herself in the hopes of producing a full grown novel for the end of the summer. There she meets her neighbour, Augustus Everett, another renowned writer and old school rival. And there follows a bet, a connection and a reality check.
I absolutely devoured and loved this book. I legit just laid in my bed thinking about it for 20 minutes about I closed the book.
What I loved about this book :
The characters : everyone in this book was delightful. January and Gus make great main characters as they each are relatable in their own ways. Side characters such as Pete and Shadi were funny and fully developped. I was looking forward to seeing more of her best friend, but she finally got there, it make me long for a comprehensive friendship like her and January had.
The relationship : I loved how the attraction could be felt very early in the book, yet the longing and the tension between Gus and January built kind of slowly. It gave me the time to get to know the characters individually before jumping into how they worked together. I loved how they were supportive of each other, how they build the other up.
Communication : One of my small pet peeves is when the plot of a book relies entirely on one moment of miscommunication between the main characters. This book was not that. And I fully appreciate it. Was their communication the best? Absolutely not. But it didn’t prevent them from trying and getting where they wanted to be eventually.
The pacing : The pacing of this book was great! There wasn’t a moment where I wished things went faster of slower. It gave us the opportunity to really dive into the point of view of both January and Gus. It also allowed for a very good mix of romcom with witty banter and sensible and sad moments where the tough family history of both the main characters in explored.
What I didn’t like about the book :
The ending : Listen, was it a bad ending? No, it wasn’t. But it definitely felt rushed. (I’m going to try not to spoil) We leave the one-before-last chapter having in mind that a certain character is very clearly opposed to something. And then, in the last chapter, that character made a 180 that wasn’t explained, that hadn’t been put in context. The time jump didn’t help for that aspect, but it felt kind of weird.
In the end, Beach Read was a perfect summer read, exactly all that I loved in a contemporary romance. All I can do now is recommending it to everyone who also find themselves in search of a cute read!
how fucking perfect was that book.
I had try to read Beach Read last year, but wasn’t in the right mood for it. It would have been a mistake not to give it another try. Beach Read tells the story of January, a romance writer finding herself in a rut. She can’t write. After her father passes away, she inherits a beach house where she’s confining herself in the hopes of producing a full grown novel for the end of the summer. There she meets her neighbour, Augustus Everett, another renowned writer and old school rival. And there follows a bet, a connection and a reality check.
I absolutely devoured and loved this book. I legit just laid in my bed thinking about it for 20 minutes about I closed the book.
What I loved about this book :
The characters : everyone in this book was delightful. January and Gus make great main characters as they each are relatable in their own ways. Side characters such as Pete and Shadi were funny and fully developped. I was looking forward to seeing more of her best friend, but she finally got there, it make me long for a comprehensive friendship like her and January had.
The relationship : I loved how the attraction could be felt very early in the book, yet the longing and the tension between Gus and January built kind of slowly. It gave me the time to get to know the characters individually before jumping into how they worked together. I loved how they were supportive of each other, how they build the other up.
Communication : One of my small pet peeves is when the plot of a book relies entirely on one moment of miscommunication between the main characters. This book was not that. And I fully appreciate it. Was their communication the best? Absolutely not. But it didn’t prevent them from trying and getting where they wanted to be eventually.
The pacing : The pacing of this book was great! There wasn’t a moment where I wished things went faster of slower. It gave us the opportunity to really dive into the point of view of both January and Gus. It also allowed for a very good mix of romcom with witty banter and sensible and sad moments where the tough family history of both the main characters in explored.
What I didn’t like about the book :
The ending : Listen, was it a bad ending? No, it wasn’t. But it definitely felt rushed. (I’m going to try not to spoil) We leave the one-before-last chapter having in mind that a certain character is very clearly opposed to something. And then, in the last chapter, that character made a 180 that wasn’t explained, that hadn’t been put in context. The time jump didn’t help for that aspect, but it felt kind of weird.
In the end, Beach Read was a perfect summer read, exactly all that I loved in a contemporary romance. All I can do now is recommending it to everyone who also find themselves in search of a cute read!