Beach Read was a lighthearted but also heart wrenching read that had my eyes watering from the first chapter. This was my first Emily Henry novel but it won’t be my last. The characters had inevitably taken on a life of their own. I wanted to be friends with them from the very first page.
Goodreads Summary
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.
Personal Review
Emily Henry set up the arc for the story right in chapter one. She went straight into the plot, which I greatly appreciated. The chemistry between Augustus and January was phenomenal, it was not just physical but also the emotional aspect that got me. There were pent up emotions that came forth at perfect moments, divulging the past. There was witty banter and sarcasm not only from the Augustus and January, but from the various side characters.
…when the world felt dark and scary, love could whisk you off to go dancing; laughing could take some of the pain away; beauty could punch holes in your fear. I decided then that my life would be filled with all three. -January, pg. 3
The underlying subplots are interwoven expertly. I lost count of how many subplots there were throughout the novel. Whenever they were referenced, however, I was immediately there, not lost a single moment. It was one of the most realistic books I have ever read. Even though the main plot is the romance, there are other facets of January’s life that she had to come to terms with. The family of the main character, January, was so raw and touching, it showed a psychological struggle for her. She was torn between two truths and which one she had to accept.
Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into. your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are. -Shadi, pg. 338
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