I had some friends talk about this book and I was having major FOMO. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as they did.

I never felt really connected to the characters and I felt like they fell for each other really fast, so I wasn't too invested. I definitely did enjoy some of their banter and appreciated the author's sense of humor.

I think the cover and title make it seem like this is just a light and fun read, but it actually has a lot of depth and deals with some serious issues, so perhaps my mindset just wasn't right when I started it.

For the conservative reader, there is definitely steam and language too, so heads up if that's a concern for you.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my gifted advance copy.

This was an enjoyable romantic comedy that also dealt with some heavier issues. January is a romance writer who retreats to her late father's lake house to deal with her grief and finish her latest novel. When she arrives, she realizes her next door neighbor is Gus, an old college classmate and fellow author. The two have a funny rivalry and romantic chemistry, but both are dealing with more serious problems and have complicated family histories. I enjoyed their banter and the challenge they set up for each to write in the other's genre, as well as the supporting characters and townspeople. However, I felt their relationship and the stakes in general were a little lackluster. The book was well written and I wanted to find out what happened, but I wasn't completely invested in January and Gus's love story, and their personal issues -- particularly Gus's -- weren't explored enough for them to work.

What a delight this book was! One of the better romances I have read over the last few years. January and Gus are real, relatable, and dealing with heavy issues that are just as much a part of their character development as the romance arc is. If you are looking for a light, fluffy beach read, you may want to do more research! Grief, loss, mental health issues and more are openly discussed (and discussed well). This has steam and a love story, but it is about so much more than that. I love the direction Emily Henry took with this novel (especially the angle of writer's block...we don't see a lot of writers writing about other authors). I will recommend this to all romance and contemporary fiction lovers.

This book!! It was a breath of fresh air and so much more than a love story! The fact it also takes place in Michigan made my day! January Andrews who is a romance author has just lost her father and at his funeral discovers he had a secret life and a beach house in Michigan. With everything going on she’s suffering from writers block and to make matters worse she’s broke, hoping to figure things out she heads to Michigan and stay at the beach house. While at the local bookstore and talking to its owner Maggie, she’s surprised to hear another author is staying next door to her, and it’s her college rival and enemy Gus Everett. As they talk and open up they realize they both are suffering from writers block so they make a bet and switch genres he will tackle romance and she will tackle a darker book. What happens this fateful summer will change both their lives, they peel back layers they keep hidden from the outside world. Each character confronts their past and the chemistry between these characters were everything. I loved the journey I was taken on in this book this is so much more than a rom com. So many emotions I cried I laughed I felt like this was real relationship and I find myself closing the book with a smile on my face!

Emily Henry’s Beach Read might, by its title, imply an easy reading experience, but it’s actually somewhat complex. I’ll start with the important stuff: yes, I liked it.

January Andrews, a women’s fiction writer, is spending her summer at a beach house which was bestowed upon her at her married father’s funeral by his lover –an unhappy surprise, needless to say. She’s trying to write her fourth book, but her heart isn’t in it, which is a problem because her books are all about hearts in love. One evening, she discovers that her next door neighbor is Augustus – Gus - Everett, a successful literary fiction author she happened to have a thing for in college. They make a deal: trade their genres and literary demographics and the winner is “whoever sells their book first”. I was wildly excited with this premise. If you can’t imagine enjoying this book without it sticking to that idea, don’t bother reading it. If you’re open to a book that basically ignores its own premise and still manages to be good, allow me to make my case.

This is a book about two loves: one is romantic – the love between January and Gus. The other is the love between a writer and the craft of writing. I enjoy books by authors about writing (like Stephen King’s On Writing) and I definitely felt the palpable excitement of the act of creating in this book (which is funny because Henry includes an author’s note of sorts saying “The summer I wrote Beach Read, I was feeling absolutely sapped of energy and inspiration”). Beach Read is intelligent and intentional – you could analyze every creative choice and find a smart reason behind it that comments on writing, romance, etc. The book itself is a hybrid of the genres written by the two main characters. Henry generally follows the romance format, but mixes in the drama and ambiguity of literary fiction and women’s fiction.

I had two issues with this novel. Henry wrote a love story I really liked – the chemistry is phenomenal (January has a dream about Gus and I had a dream about this book after I read it) – but then does a late reveal that our hero isn’t quite as available as he initially appears, which taints everything that came before it and was absolutely unnecessary.  I also felt somewhat conned – I would have loved to see a romance written by a man, but we get none of Gus’s manuscript. We get excerpts from January’s book (it’s essentially a really messed up The Night Circus) but not of Gus’s. And he doesn’t even actually “write a happily ever after”! He writes a book about a cult with an ending that would blow up the comments section of a review here at AAR. Plus, Beach Read is entirely told in first person perspective by January, when a dual perspective would have been a perfect fit for a story that is defined by duality of characters and genres.

Both main characters have had childhoods that stretched the limits of what a child should have to endure. Gus’s background involves abuse from his father, and January grew up with a mother fighting cancer. Gus’s character is depicted as one of those ‘externally a rock, internally a cinnamon roll’ sorts, but I didn’t feel entirely convinced at the late revelation of his motivations and fears, which all work to portray him as more vulnerable. I had to warm up to January – I’ve never been charmed by main characters who first appear before me ill-dressed and ready to get liquored up, as January does. That said, she gets it together enough to be an entirely adequate heroine.

I learned before starting Beach Read that this was Henry’s first book outside of the young adult genre, and according to the internet it looks like she’s contracted for another adult fiction work. I am not a regular reader of YA, but I can say that nothing about the style of the book made me think Henry wasn’t comfortable writing for adults. Beach Read reads like all the other romance and women’s fiction I’ve encountered, and it was on par with the better books in those genres I’ve read recently.

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This book really took me by surprise in the best possible way. I expected Beach Read to simply be a lighthearted romance, perfect for a day of relaxing at the beach or pool. While there is humor a plenty, which I gobbled up, it is actually a very touching story.

January Andrews is a disillusioned bestselling romance author suffering from a severe case of writer’s block. With a publishing deadline looming over her, January retreats to a beach house to revive her passion for writing and work out some personal issues.

January’s new neighbor is Gus Everett, a renowned author of “serious” (in his case, introspective and depressing) fiction who has stalled in the middle of writing his next book. The two authors could not be more different in terms of writing styles and personalities. January has always been open, cheerful, and sentimental. Gus is mysterious, pessimistic, and judgmental. Their quasi adversarial relationship evolves after the two strike a deal to swap genres and complete their books by the end of summer.

I was completely enamored by January. She no longer has the ability to care about what others think of her and that really resonated with me. With her razor sharp wit, she could give a TED Talk on trading barbs. Gus is a favorite target of hers, but he keeps up with his end of their flirty banter. It’s January’s transparent vulnerability that truly moved me. She is struggling with a bit of an identity crisis and both characters are grappling with betrayal and loss in various forms. I was rooting for these two every step of the way. Their weekly outings are sometimes whimsical and sometimes emotional.

I really enjoyed January’s relationship with her ride-or-die best friend. Every person needs a friend like Shadi. The quirky townspeople are also a hoot.

Beach Read is a clever, funny, and poignant love story. What a treat to read.

Despite the light and cheery cover and title, this book contained some serious topics: infidelity, death of a parent and the significant emotions that follow, affecting everything in your life-it did not skip over the hard stuff. This book made me laugh but also made me UGLY CRY. I'm talking BAWLING at 1:30 am. There isn't a ton I can say that hasn't already been put out there, but I will share my favorite things.

The banter between Gus and January, they were so good together. Natural and not forced at all. Gus was a bit of a grump, which is my fave.
The literary/writing references. The book is perfect for book lovers!
The defense of the HEA! I talk all the time about how romance gets a bad rap and this book hits the nail on the head.
Gus' aunts and January's best friend Shadi - what great supporting characters!
The letters......
The romance. Of course, I'm a romance lover and there was romance and well placed steam.

I'm telling you, read this book!!! On a beach, in your bed, wherever. It is a book that I would recommend to every genre reader. It will give you all of the possible feels and that ugly cry you've been needing to get out.

This book offers a slow burn of perfect feel good romance and well written plot elements. The characters are extremely well developed and I thoroughly enjoyed reading their story as it unfolded before my eyes. This is a spectacular book and well worth the hype it has been receiving. I can easily see this landing on many "Best Books of Summer 2020" reading lists and that is a well deserved honor! Do not miss it!

This book wasn't on my radar until I spotted a rave review of it on Instagram, but I still decided to request it for review. I'm so glad I did because it quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year! When I first started it, I was intrigued but not immediately invested. But the more I read, the more I loved it! I loved the the backstories of the hero and heroine, fell for their quippy banter, and thought the premise worked so well. The storyline involving the heroine's father was so moving, and I loved how Henry explored whether we can know our parents fully. Another favorite aspect? The heroine and her best friend. I am so here for books celebrating strong female friendships! It was a lot more emotional than I expected, and I'm So Obsessed With It.

Emily Henry’s new novel, Beach Read, is a book you don’t want to judge by its cover. The cover is adorable of course and I love it, but it definitely gives off a vibe that this is going to be a fun, fluffy read to enjoy while you’re lounging in the sand. Beach Read is so much more than that though – it’s a beautifully written, multi-layered story with realistic and complex characters that will tug at your heartstrings the entire time you’re reading. I love a book that takes me on an emotional journey, and Beach Read made me laugh, it made me cry, and just ultimately had me fully invested in these characters and their lives from start to finish.

One of my favorite parts about Beach Read is that both protagonists are writers. January Andrews is a romance writer and is an ace at writing novels where true love wins and they all live happily ever after. Her belief system when it comes to love and romance is driven by her parents, but when her father dies, she learns something about him that shatters her view of him and of love and romance. Not only is it devastating to her personally, but it has given her a wicked case of writer’s block. With a book deadline looming and an agent hounding her relentlessly, January retreats to her father’s second home, a beach house located in a remote but charming small town. It is here that she runs into our second protagonist, Augustus (Gus) Everett, who is living in the beach house next door and who coincidentally is also a writer whose specialty is literary fiction. And if that’s not enough to entice you, he also just happens to be January’s main rival from her college writing program. January is not a fan of Gus’s at all and can’t imagine anything worse than having to live next door to him all summer while trying desperately to make her deadline.

I was sympathetic to January right away. She’s going through so much because of the losses she has suffered and now she has to deal with the tension with Gus on top of it. But, boy do these two have chemistry! It’s off the charts honestly and I love how much the actual writing process plays a role in how their relationship evolves from rivals/enemies to friends and maybe more. At first they’re just trading witty, sarcastic barbs, often about each other’s preferred fictional genre, but then they kick it up a notch and revisit their old rivalry with the ultimate challenge: January has to write a book that doesn’t end happily ever after, while Gus has to write a romance novel. Bring it!

I don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to spoil anything but the story takes a more emotional turn as Gus and January both get out of their comfort zones and write something so different and challenging. It becomes a way for both of them to work through their pain and struggles, because it’s not just January who is dealing with loss. Gus is as well. It’s these painful and personal journeys that add all of those wonderfully complex layers that took Beach Read well beyond the fluffy fun I was expecting.

Beach Read is, without a doubt, one of the most wonderful and heartwarming books I’ve read so far this year. The writing is gorgeous, the story just so easy to get immersed in, and the characters are unforgettable. This was my first time reading Emily Henry but it definitely won’t be the last!

A romance that covers all of the emotions, it's not quite rom-com not quite dramady, with its witty dialogue, terribly hot romance, and weighty topics of dads, death, and how your past shapes you. The back and forth between January and Gus is electric and the slow burn of their getting together is wrist-tingly! The depths of the characters and their issues elevated this from a standard romance to a meaty one that even non-romance readers will love!

I’M DONE 😩 very much needed this excessively fun bundle of joy this week. If you like banter ✅ if you like slow burn ✅ if you like a good self-reflexive genre ✅ if you like a “I hate everyone except for her” hero ✅ if you like a well-developed family side plot ✅ I’m calling it now, folks, BEACH READ will be THE beach read of the summer (figurative beach, of course)! Check her out on Tuesday when she hits all the places books are sold!

This was the perfect feel good read! A great reminder during quarantine of being happy in the moment and taking things day by day.

This book fascinated me, it's perfect for the summer already approaching.
It has everything, drama, romance and sometimes funny situations. Like the ones January and Gus made.
I loved the theme of writers, Gus seemed to me a cool character, that fiction literature is more important than other stories.
She emphasizes that female res stories are also important as male stories and it is a tale never ending, for the time being.
It is logical that these two characters fall in love and I felt that they complemented each other and that was what I liked most about the story, because this situation is not easy at all.
The situation about the death of her father from January was also a mystery about co or she had to take some events about her reader block, but well I will not say more, I do not want to give spoilers, it was spectacular this book, thank you very much for the ARC e-book.

WORTH THE HYPE! Believe it, love it, push it in the hands of everyone you know. This is exactly the distracting, heartfelt read we all needed

Without a doubt, this has become the book of the year for me. There is nothing light about this: it's beautifully written, complex, and absolutely stunning. The characters are developed in such a way that made me ache for both of them. Will definitely read more from this author and please, can there be a sequel?!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkley, and Emily Henry for the opportunity to read the perfect romance novel - but not your typical romance novel, which would not be my favorite genre. This is a multi-layered romance novel and a great escape read. 4.5 stars rounded up!

January is a romance novelist struck with writer's block after the sudden death of her father and learning a devastating family secret. She heads off to a summer cottage on the beach to try and write another book with a happily ever after ending. Then she learns that her college nemesis, Augustus, who ended up being a best-selling literary fiction writer, is in the cottage right next to her. They are polar opposites - she needs to believe in love and happily ever after; he writes deep, dark books where no one is happy or in love. So they make a bet to each write a book in the other's genre and see who can get published first.

As both come to face realities of their pasts, you will be glued to the pages to see how it all turns out. A perfect book to escape into right now!

This is my first novel by Emily Henry. I've kinda watched her progress through various social media channels from afar and when I had a chance to read one of her novels, I grabbed it.

The short version of this review is that ultimately I enjoyed it.

Longer version?

It took me a while to warm to it. I think my main problem was the cover and blurb made this seem like a really light fun read. There are aspects that are humorous but I'm not sure I'd call this a light romance. It seems more apt to say that this novel is light on comedy and heavy on delving into emotions and backstory and really looking at two writers' process when the words are flowing and there's a deadline. And there's nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't what I expected.

Once I settled into the novel, I enjoyed the back and forth between Gus and January. I enjoyed the intermingling of their writing research and their love story. Admittedly, sometimes I felt it went a little long in certain areas and Gus kinda seemed like the cliched emo guy in a romance, but I still felt satisfied by the end.

I think if I hadn't gone into this novel wanting a light read, I wouldn't have felt so disconnected from it from the start--I'm glad that I stuck with it because I definitely would like to check out more from Emily Henry.

January and Gus are both published authors experiencing writer's block. She writes happily-ever-after romances and he writes serious "literature" with unhappy endings. They agree to write the other's style of book in an effort to prove they can and to break their writer's block. Of course during the course of the book, January and Gus fall for each other. Will they get their happily-ever-after?

I loved this book. It was really hard to put down! The characters and their banter were realistic and very entertaining. I was definitely rooting for them. There is also enough meat to the story to keep it interesting; it is not strictly about getting January and Gus together. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. When I started this read i was unprepared for the emotional ride I was embarking upon. This book is deceptive in that it appears to be a light read but it has so many layers.
Forgiveness and brokenness are strong themes and I found myself feeling everything January felt. Her fear was so real that I found myself fearful. Her optimism was so strong, I was optimistic. Her love was so deep I felt like I was drowning. I loved the friendships, the character development and the opportunity to learn about the writing process
This book is a real winner
Those with adversity towards profanity may find it offensive. The f-word is peppered throughout and often does nothing to help the dialogue.