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forgottencupoftea 's review for:
Beach Read
by Emily Henry
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
With a title like Beach Read, you’d think you’re about to read a sweet, easy, cheesy romance: the perfect book to take with you on a holiday, to entertain you next to the pool before you inevitably get sun-drunk and fall asleep. And I guess, this book can be exactly that. But, it is also so much more. What I, personally, found instead was an amazing fiction juggling romance, friendship and family; a wonderful tale of rivalry, regrets, illness, grief and secrets.
Do not get me wrong, at first glance, there is nothing quite new about this story: January Andrews moves in her dad's beach house and her new neighbour happens to be Gus Everett, her old college rival. The set up is very simple and if you read romance on the regular you might even already know where this is going.
But! This was written by Emily Henry and if there is one thing Emily Henry does well, it’s character psychology. She (in my humble opinion) absolutely nails it every. single. time. She does not hesitate to give her characters those very authentic imperfections and they end up feeling like very real, actual human beings. January's conflicted feelings about her father, his imperfections and his lies are such an accurate representation of humanityher whole internal conflict about how she’s mad at him and can’t even have that one fight/harsh conversation she is so desperate for because he is dead was so extremely heart crushing . There is something so very real to Gus’ struggle to open up and communicate directly while also being completely willing to have January know him. Honestly, it’s a resounding 10/10 on characters from me.
I'll end this review with a list of a couple of my favorite things:
- The whole dynamic that develops between January and Gus, their banter and (for the most part, once they've realized it could be that way) easy going communication.
- The slow-burn! How they’ve clearly liked each other for a long time but are very hesitant of taking it a step further for fear of "ruining" something good.
- The incredible tenderness with which very difficult/heavy subjects are discussed.
- The father-daughter relationship, how easy it seemed and how complicated it was actually revealed to be.
Do not get me wrong, at first glance, there is nothing quite new about this story: January Andrews moves in her dad's beach house and her new neighbour happens to be Gus Everett, her old college rival. The set up is very simple and if you read romance on the regular you might even already know where this is going.
But! This was written by Emily Henry and if there is one thing Emily Henry does well, it’s character psychology. She (in my humble opinion) absolutely nails it every. single. time. She does not hesitate to give her characters those very authentic imperfections and they end up feeling like very real, actual human beings. January's conflicted feelings about her father, his imperfections and his lies are such an accurate representation of humanity
I'll end this review with a list of a couple of my favorite things:
- The whole dynamic that develops between January and Gus, their banter and (for the most part, once they've realized it could be that way) easy going communication.
- The slow-burn! How they’ve clearly liked each other for a long time but are very hesitant of taking it a step further for fear of "ruining" something good.
- The incredible tenderness with which very difficult/heavy subjects are discussed.
- The father-daughter relationship, how easy it seemed and how complicated it was actually revealed to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity