Scan barcode
A review by v_larr
Beach Read by Emily Henry
4.0
4.25 stars.
So this is the last of Emily Henry’s “catalogue” that I’ve read. I see she’s got more books on her GR but she has those four books that are popular and have that cartoony style on the cover and are centered on the niche of “summer romance,” and with this one I’ve finally read them all. With Beach Read, I have cemented that I absolutely adore Emily Henry as a romcom author.
What I love about Henry is that she truly writes about people. Her characters feel so real and flawed and fucked up and it shows both on the surface and within. I really appreciate how much depth she puts into what her characters face. I have always said that centering a story around a romance just feels like there’s something missing because I don’t understand who the characters are outside of the romantic relationship they get into. Often, there are side plots and conflicts, but they feel like an afterthought compared to the protagonists getting together. But in these books, these “side plots” show us so much more about the people that Henry is writing about and they build up the romance. Does that make sense? I’ve given Henry a range of star ratings from two to five stars, but every one of her books has this aspect that I am really grateful for. I think I’ll talk more about it one day.
Getting more specifically into Beach Read, this book was…unexpected. It had a thickness to it, almost like there was goo in my chest as I read it. It’s definitely the darkest of her novels. Despite it being marketed as a romantic comedy, I found it to be more a story about grief, about mental blocks, losing yourself, about your perspective of life being shattered and finding someone equally as lost to help you pick up the pieces. It was melancholic in that regard. And I did cry.
I mean hell, they do research and visit the remains of a cult. Her dad dies and she finds out he was having an affair that even her mom knew about. Jeez.
I remember getting to less than 100 pages left in the novel, and the main couple got together, and I was scared of a third act breakup. But they…didn’t really? They both had their demons to face and what I thought was incredible was that they faced them alone. Or rather, mostly independently of each other.
There was a lot of miscommunication but…as annoying as I found it, I thought it made sense? He kept a lot from her but that wasn’t because he didn’t like her, he was just emotionally constipated as hell. It felt like it was more reasonable. Sometimes people just do act stupid.
What I also found really interesting was the fact that I wasn’t really rooting for January and Gus. I mean like, they really did need to bone, and they did, and it was great. But individually they’re so messy that it caused so many problems AS THEY WERE GETTING TOGETHER. But what I liked was that the book was self aware of this. They knew they might be getting into something that would break their hearts. And they did it anyway.
They changed the concept of “happily ever after” from something that starts at the end and lasts forever, turning it into a series of present moments. I am happy now. I am happy now. I am happy now. Even if it doesn’t work for me later, it works now. It reminds me of that scene in How I Met Your Mother, even though I hated the ending, I loved when the divorced couple said it wasn’t a failed marriage, but rather a very successful marriage that only lasted x amount of time. So even though I don’t really trust whether this couple will last, I can trust that what they are in the moment is perfect. And I’m fine with that.
Once again I must commend Henry for the way she writes attraction and sexual tension. No, I don’t want something like “I stared at his chiseled chest. He was so hot and sweaty and twice my height, towering over me, his super hard muscles muscling in the light. I fell to my knees in a Walmart.” I always say this. Tell me about how you can’t keep your hands off each other, hands on waist, light arm touches, leaning on each other. Tell me about how you want to find out all the different ways he can smile. But anyways.
Also. They fucked against a bookshelf. With condoms. My standards may be low but to be honest that’s enough to make me happy.
So this is the last of Emily Henry’s “catalogue” that I’ve read. I see she’s got more books on her GR but she has those four books that are popular and have that cartoony style on the cover and are centered on the niche of “summer romance,” and with this one I’ve finally read them all. With Beach Read, I have cemented that I absolutely adore Emily Henry as a romcom author.
What I love about Henry is that she truly writes about people. Her characters feel so real and flawed and fucked up and it shows both on the surface and within. I really appreciate how much depth she puts into what her characters face. I have always said that centering a story around a romance just feels like there’s something missing because I don’t understand who the characters are outside of the romantic relationship they get into. Often, there are side plots and conflicts, but they feel like an afterthought compared to the protagonists getting together. But in these books, these “side plots” show us so much more about the people that Henry is writing about and they build up the romance. Does that make sense? I’ve given Henry a range of star ratings from two to five stars, but every one of her books has this aspect that I am really grateful for. I think I’ll talk more about it one day.
Getting more specifically into Beach Read, this book was…unexpected. It had a thickness to it, almost like there was goo in my chest as I read it. It’s definitely the darkest of her novels. Despite it being marketed as a romantic comedy, I found it to be more a story about grief, about mental blocks, losing yourself, about your perspective of life being shattered and finding someone equally as lost to help you pick up the pieces. It was melancholic in that regard. And I did cry.
I mean hell, they do research and visit the remains of a cult. Her dad dies and she finds out he was having an affair that even her mom knew about. Jeez.
I remember getting to less than 100 pages left in the novel, and the main couple got together, and I was scared of a third act breakup. But they…didn’t really? They both had their demons to face and what I thought was incredible was that they faced them alone. Or rather, mostly independently of each other.
There was a lot of miscommunication but…as annoying as I found it, I thought it made sense? He kept a lot from her but that wasn’t because he didn’t like her, he was just emotionally constipated as hell. It felt like it was more reasonable. Sometimes people just do act stupid.
What I also found really interesting was the fact that I wasn’t really rooting for January and Gus. I mean like, they really did need to bone, and they did, and it was great. But individually they’re so messy that it caused so many problems AS THEY WERE GETTING TOGETHER. But what I liked was that the book was self aware of this. They knew they might be getting into something that would break their hearts. And they did it anyway.
They changed the concept of “happily ever after” from something that starts at the end and lasts forever, turning it into a series of present moments. I am happy now. I am happy now. I am happy now. Even if it doesn’t work for me later, it works now. It reminds me of that scene in How I Met Your Mother, even though I hated the ending, I loved when the divorced couple said it wasn’t a failed marriage, but rather a very successful marriage that only lasted x amount of time. So even though I don’t really trust whether this couple will last, I can trust that what they are in the moment is perfect. And I’m fine with that.
Once again I must commend Henry for the way she writes attraction and sexual tension. No, I don’t want something like “I stared at his chiseled chest. He was so hot and sweaty and twice my height, towering over me, his super hard muscles muscling in the light. I fell to my knees in a Walmart.” I always say this. Tell me about how you can’t keep your hands off each other, hands on waist, light arm touches, leaning on each other. Tell me about how you want to find out all the different ways he can smile. But anyways.
Also. They fucked against a bookshelf. With condoms. My standards may be low but to be honest that’s enough to make me happy.