Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
First Published: May 19, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 9781984806734
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Very, very cute, but dragged a little in the beginning.
Re-readability: 🌟🌟🌟
Definitely re-readable, but I’d probably skim and start after Chapter 4 as I felt it was slow before then.
Pair with: Alcohol. Because they drink quite a bit in this book. Could be fun to make it a drinking game.
Trigger Warnings: parent death, grief. Moderate trigger warning for infidelity.
Disclaimer: This post will include affiliate links to Apple Books & Bookshop (below). Also, light spoilers below.
When one of my good friends asked if we could do a buddy read, I immediately said yes and let him choose the book. To my surprise, my thriller-loving friend chose a surprise romance read – “Beach Read” by Emily Henry – which was good for me since it had been collecting dust on my TBR shelf since I bought it however long ago. And while we both agreed it was a bit of a slow start, once the story picked up, the book was a great and easy read.
“Beach Read” follows two authors suffering from severe writer’s block, yet both are on deadline and have books due relatively soon. Award-winning romance writer January Andrews can’t write any more happily ever afters after her own imploded, and her parents’ fairytale-worthy romance exploded. After she moves into her newly inherited home, formerly known as her father’s hidden love nest, she realizes her next-door neighbor is acclaimed author Augustus Everett, also known as her former arch-rival, and also her complete literary opposite. They decide to challenge each other to write a book out of their comfort zone, and sparks fly.
Honestly, I absolutely love romances in all forms – but especially in book form. This one started off a bit slow – it took me quite a while to read through to chapter four. However, thanks to my friend reading ahead and telling me it gets better, I pushed through and read the rest of the book in less than 48 hours. I absolutely loved the premise – two authors suffering through writer’s block and challenging each other to write out of their genre – and I also absolutely loved January. She was so loveable and I loved seeing her growth throughout the book. I’m also a sucker for grumpy x sunshine, guy-falls-first and slow burn relationships, and this one was done quite well.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading “Beach Read” – despite the slow start and the slightly unnecessary drama in Act III of the book. I mean, I see why the drama was slightly needed from a character growth standpoint, but is it always needed in a romance? However, I appreciated that it was resolved within five pages or so. I also liked that while it was a romance, it wasn’t 100% focused on the romance and there was also solid character growth and a slight mystery (regarding the father’s infidelity from an otherwise seemingly fairytale-worthy romance) to solve.
I do have one bone to pick though – why did Emily Henry have to make all those books sound so good?! Now I want to read January’s book, as well as Augustus’ book. Not fair.
If you’re looking for a realistic but lighthearted romance, I’d recommend reading “Beach Read.” It’s not spicy either, for those who enjoy PG-13 romances instead of the R-rated or the (usually Kindle Unlimited) NC-17 versions. It’s also realistic in that they slowly fall in love (or at least she does) and has to battle her insecurities, and it feels like something that could happen in real life. “Beach Read” also ended up being quite a fun buddy read, as it’s always fun to discuss a read with a friend – we both agreed that we needed January’s and Augustus’ books on our shelves ASAP.
And while I enjoyed this book, I probably won’t reread it any time soon as it was too realistic of a romance for me to really lose myself into. However, it’s definitely re-readable material – it’s chock full of really cute moments, a fantastic female lead, and a well-written slow-burn romance.
Check out “Beach Read” below:
Storygraph | Goodreads | Penguin Random House | Bookshop | Apple Books | NYPL (or your local library)
Note: I’m officially a Bookshop & Apple Books affiliate, which is awesome because they’re both services I use! I promise this didn’t influence my review at all. This just helps me make a little extra money to buy more books that I’ll read… eventually.
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