My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Title: Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)
Pages: 386
Publication Date: 5/19/20
Categories: Women’s Fiction, Adult Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.
Content Warning: grief, cheating
I’ve read two Emily Henry books and this one is my third and maybe my favorite of the three! It’s summer and I wanted a summer time book and what better book than one named Beach Read and it’s set in summer? This is the perfect summertime beach read and aptly titled.
Gus and January are both authors and in the middle of writing their next books. They both have houses next to one another, but January is there only to pack up and sell the house while trying to get some reading done. She’s dealing with a lot of emotional baggage concerning the passing of her dad and the secret life she never knew he led. She is trying her hardest to figure who her dad was and dealing with his betrayal but also missing him and loving him just the same. Gus has his own issues he’s dealing with too. He didn’t grow up in a happy, stable home like January and that makes him see life differently than January. They are opposites that attract and spending the whole summer together makes them break down boundaries, build trust and love and so much more.
I loved the characters in this book, even Gus who is so tortured. January really is miss sunshine despite everything she is going through and her best friend Shadi is already a true love story. I love their friendship. Gus’ aunt Pete was also a fun side character.
I didn’t feel like this was a rom-com. There were funny moments yes, especially with the way Gus and January interacted but there are heavy issues taking place in this story like grief and parental abuse. This is definitely more women’s fiction than a rom-com. But I loved it. I love that January and Gus both grow from being with one another and letting down their guards. I could relate to her heartbreak and search for the truth about the person she loved.
Quotes from the book:
“…when the world felt dark and scary, love could which you off to go dancing; laughter could take some of the pain away; beauty could punch holes in your fear.”
“He fit so perfectly into the love story I’d imagined for myself that I mistook him for the love of my life.”
“I wanted to know whether you could ever fully know someone.”
“Happy endings don’t happen to everyone. There’s nothing you can do to make someone keep loving you.”
“No matter how much shit, there will always be wildflowers.”
“Unless the world freezes over in a second ice age. And in that case, there will at least be snowflakes, until th ebitter end.”
“The beautiful lies were all gone. Destroyed. And I was still upright.”
Tropes: opposites attract, writer romance
Why you should read it:
- characters are complex and there is lots of growth
- Gus and January’s relationship, they have fun together and them both being authors challenged the other which was great
- themes about marriage, love, friendship, life
Why you might not want to read it:
- not a typical rom-com, it deals with some tough topics like grief and infidelity
My Thoughts:
I’m so happy I got to read this one! It was exactly the kind of romance I was in the mood for, something with depth that challenged the characters to grow while they fell in love. January’s journey to making sense of her father’s life also made me tear up. It’s the kind of summer read I was looking for and I’m glad to knock this one off my TBR list. Great book!
Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
People We Meet on Vacation by. Emily Henry | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Lovers by. Emily Henry | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you for a great review! I’ve been looking at romance novels lately to read for style, character development and plot progression. This was one that caught my eye. Your review is thorough and informative which now gives me the confidence that it is a book that I will be reading soon and get the chance to actually see the things that I am interested in from another author in the romance genre. I don’t want to just write typical romance, I want something no -traditional, so knowing that this isn’t a typical romance is valuable to me as a writer so I am making good use of my valuable time.
Thanks! And I hope you like it when you do get around to reading it!
This seems absolutely amazing!! I do like that it’s a heavier read over a typical rom-com, because I feel like it’d add a really interesting spin to the story. Also, grumpyxsunshine vibes are always immaculate, and the opposites attract feels seem perfect!! I do like that the characters are out of their element, and from what I can tell from the quotes, this seems to have such pretty prose!! I’ll definitely need to read this. Amazing review!! ❤
Thanks! I hope you like it when you eventually read it!