Beach Read
Ratings702
Average rating3.9
you guys can all judge me if you want but I do not care, I have never ever been happier
Solid romance/general fiction - it really does straddle the line a bit, because there's almost as much about January coming to terms with her dad's death and reconciling who he was with who she thought he was, which is all very well-handled and a good exploration of grief and disillusionment. I do just have to say, however, write as beautifully as you want in letters to your daughter about CHEATING ON YOUR WIFE WHO HAS CANCER, you're still cheating on your wife who has cancer, justify it however you like, you're garbage, sorry about it.
I really enjoyed the dialogue in this book, especially the banter between January and Gus as they get to know each other early on. Some of the drama late in the book with Gus's ex-wife coming back and January kind of spiraling out as a result seemed a little bit unnecessary, but other than that I liked this a lot and the development of the romance was really natural and fun.
(2020 summer romance bingo: “protagonist smells uniquely like themselves,” though really, once you're looking for it, almost every romance has a description or two that would qualify for this square. Would also work for “I'm on a boat,” and maybe for “dad jokes.”)
It's September so I'm not in a summer mood anymore 😭 will finish some other time I guess lol
Nunca falla una buena relectura de Beach Read, qué decir... son todo lo que me hace feliz.
And other times, we'd sit in silence, not quite together but definitely not alone.
Contains spoilers
Mi primer romcom!! Me gustó mucho mucho mucho, agradecido con Larita por el regalito (la amo) y seguro que es mi inicio en el mundillo de las romcoms.
Me gustaron mucho los protas y las reflexiones amorosas que terminas sacando cuando acabas el libro. En todo momento estuve enganchado a la historia y si hubiera podido habría terminado el libro en tres/cuatro sesiones de calentada (pero leerlo así poco a poco ha sido genial).
«Fue solo otro buen día. Un día perfecto. Un felices por ahora tan grande y profundo […] que no tenía que preocuparme por el mañana».
After many years, I decided to dive back into the romance genre with Beach Read by Emily Henry. Did it disappoint me? Not exactly—but my expectations for romance novels are admittedly low. Here's my take.
Beach Read is about two authors who find themselves neighbors for three months. Gus writes literary fiction, while January writes “happily ever after” books. Both struggling with writer's block, they strike an unusual deal: Gus will attempt to write a romance, and January will try her hand at literary fiction. But it's not as easy as it sounds. As they navigate their creative challenges, they also confront the tension simmering between them—along with their own personal baggage. Will they fall in love? And can they resolve their individual struggles?
While Emily Henry's writing is undeniably good, this book just wasn't for me. To be fair, the romance genre as a whole isn't my thing. The tensions, hesitations, and misunderstandings between the characters felt unrelatable to me—perhaps because I'm in a serious relationship where things have always been straightforward. I struggled to connect with the characters or the story's emotional beats, which made the experience feel somewhat pointless.
That said, I can see why others might love this book. It's light, entertaining, and perfect for fans of slow-burn romance with a touch of personal growth. But as for me, I'll stick to literary fiction. Apologies to Emily Henry fans—I'm just not the target audience for this one!
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Not my favorite Emily Henry, but a charming romp nonetheless - will say she's great at evoking a location, in this case the Great Lakes.
Between the Covers Romance Book Club November Choice. Selected Trope: Enemies to Lovers
okay my review was GOING to be Gus and January I love you..... but ....... ugh the last fourth (or so) of the book was really not great IMO! I took a whole star away for the ending. like maybe when they got together it just wasn't FUN ANYMORE sorry does that make me basic? I don't know? I just felt the ending really soured Gus especially in my head. :(
I’m not the biggest fan of romance books but this one was pretty good. I kept a smile on my face while reading this book. What I appreciated most was that this was not super corny and close to being pretty realistic.
What I did have a problem with was the talk of “hot breath” in intimate moments. This happened a couple times in the book. Someone’s “hot breath” on me is not sexy, it’s more so the opposite. I understand trying to paint the picture of the closeness, but “hot breath” is not the best way to describe it.
Overall this book didn’t blow my mind in anyway, but I did have a good time reading it.
It's rare that I rate a book as a 5, but I think this one truly deserves it. This is my 3rd Emily Henry read and I've been impressed every single time. This one might be my favorite so far.
I love her characters. They are snarky, funny, and perfectly imperfect. She makes you want to root for January and Gus and leaves you wanting more of them at the end.
This book was steamy, but not gratuitous. It's emotional in all the best ways and the flaws if the characters is what makes you root for them. They aren't trying to fix one another, but rather so them in a different more positive light.
If you're new to Emily Henry, I think this would be a perfect first read.
3.5/5 - This was a cute story. I think it could've been a 4 had I read it vs listening to the audio, because the narrator didn't really sell the romance. I'll continue down my Emily Henry rabbit hole.
Beach Read started off very compelling but Gus just wasn't my fave male lead, and it was hard to stay engaged the rest of book
this book was actually really good i've never read an emily henry book but the emotion in this one is amazing!!
I loved the book, mostly, I enjoyed the story, the banter, the illusion of a happy ending and the conflict January has with her father's choices in life... to me it was pretty relatable, and it had a lot of funny times too, so I had a great time.
I enjoyed the writing behind January's personality, to make me understand it's not like she sees life under rose-colored lenses because she has a perfect life, she just chooses to see it that way regardless of the bad going on around her and look for her happy ending. And that is a nice way of viewing life, actually. Gus even points that out as kudos to her ability to be the bright light in a dark room.
Also... how she starts feeling comfortable in a town she thought she would feel the opposite due to its history, and later understanding why she's there is so beautiful and emotional... this actually brought me to tears.
My favorite chapter is 25
Contains spoilers
Undoubtedly charming, but suffers under the weight of its genre obligations. Also, I just don’t buy this male character. I think it’s too much laid on too thick that he’s loved her from afar for years (semi-openly!), that he’s emotionally repressed but also incredibly emotionally articulate… tips too far over the edge of disbelief for me. At one point she’s like “I expected him to be mean to me!” But he literally barely has ever even been rude to you. It’s tough to make a character difficult enough to facilitate the narrative while also not a total asshole you want dead, and you can really feel Henry struggling with where to draw that line. Also I think it’s always so funny when a book like this ends with a stapled-on final chapter reassuring you that they got engaged. Like, true love— not quite enough! Readers need to know they made it legal, apparently. Anyways my favourite line in the whole thing was when she said her best friend “screams whenever she turns left”. Soo fucking real and such a tight, funny, vivid character moment— I wanted more like that and less “I’m the sexiest and most in touch with my feelings guy ever 😇 except when I’m not 👿”.
No I literally loved this. So much of this resonated so strongly and my unrealistic expectations for a husband have just become more unrealistic
29/06 - This book did not pan out the way I expected it to, but it actually fit into my usual type of reading more.
01/07 - Honestly, I thought this would be a light, fluffy beach read (as indicated by the title and bright-coloured cover) and yet the deeper I got into the story I realised that it was very realistic, and some parts bordered on no-nonsense almost despite the banter and clich??s between our main character and love interest.
While the setting seemed to be set well, the underlying reason behind why January was there to begin with was not. The book, while still having its moments of romance and cute interactions, was almost a (second) coming of age for our main lead, who has had reality crash down on her, and she's slowly trying to understand that it's OK for it to not be OK. Life isn't something you can plan down to the nth degree, and it certainly isn't (always) a hallmark film waiting to happen.
I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would since it seeped into my usual genre of reads with the realism added in. Looking forward to reading more Emily Henry books in the future.
June 26 so I loved this and I can't wait or deny it any longer
June 17 The general consensus in the book community is that this is either top tier or #5 in readers Emily Henry ranking and I firmly fall into one of those camps but am feeling cheeky and won't reveal my rating until book club hehe