Review | Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Book: Beach Read
Synopsis
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.
My Thoughts on "Beach Read"
“And that was the moment I realized: when the world felt dark and scary, love could whisk you off to go dancing; laughter could take some of the pain away; beauty could punch holes in your fear. I decided then that my life would be full of all three.”
This book was so unexpected. It hit me harder than I thought it would. I went in with no expectations because this was my first Emily Henry book - booktok made me buy it and I have no regrets.
I think the title of the book is a little misleading - in a good way - because it just didn’t prepare me for how layered-with-feeling the book is. Both characters are going through tumultuous times, and I think everyone can/will relate to their individual turmoil even if the circumstances aren’t precisely similar.
Gus and January unpacked A LOT in a short period of time, and I enjoyed watching them duel (verbally), sitting in comfortable silence, working alongside each other, pushing and pulling at each other. It definitely plays excellently to the opposites attract/ grumpy-sunshine trope but Emily does it in a delightfully refreshing way.
I’ll reiterate Christina Lauren’s thoughts - Beach read is…the perfect anywhere read.
5/5 stars
“You know that feeling, when you’re watching someone sleep and you feel overwhelmed with joy that they exist?”
“Again and again he told me I wasn’t myself. But he was wrong. I was the same me I’d always been. I’d just stopped trying to glow in the dark for him, or anyone else.”
“I know feeling small gets to some people, but I kind of like it. Takes the pressure off when you’re just one life of six billion at any given moment. And when you’re going through something hard, it’s nice to know you’re not even close to the only one.”