btg 's review for:

Beach Read by Emily Henry

5.0

hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A truly spectacular romance book, "Beach Read" gets my five-star rating for the following reasons: 

1. Despite being a romance book, it doesn't feel like eating pure sugar. By including Gus's character, Henry creates a world that is, at times, truly awful -- and yet the characters manage to earn their happy ending anyway. 
2. A spectacularly creative premise, grounded in realistic experience
3. The wonderful emotional hurt/comfort scenes that hit all the notes 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse

The premise of the book starts with the death of a major character's parent, and one major character arc is on reconciling that character's adultery. Main characters discuss a parent's previous battle with cancer, but the cancer remains in remission throughout the entire book timeline and said character only shows up a couple of times. A side plot on the book focuses on investigating a suicide cult; multiple side characters interview with the main characters, describing specifics (though not graphically) and at one point the main characters visit the site of the cult. Physically and emotionally abusive practices of the cult are discussed, though again, not graphically. A major character has a backstory of emotional and physical abuse from a parent which largely forms their character arc. The abuse itself is never depicted, but is discussed and consequences are clear in the character's actions.

Said major character admits to having a mental health disorder, taking medication and being in therapy; it's a one-off line, and the specifics of this and diagnosis in question are never discussed.

A major character vomits in the carnival scene, prompting the other major character to admit they are emotophobic. Said emetophobia is brought up a couple more times (sometimes in a teasing fashion), but usually handled respectfully. If a reader skips a few lines, they can get past the part of the vomit scene that is potentially triggering.