Beach Read by Emily Henry
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION! Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling. Sally Thorne, author of The Hating GameA 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.
- Author - Emily Henry
- Publisher - Penguin Publishing Group
- Publication Date - 05-19-2020
- Page Count - 384
- Hardcover
- Adult
- Romance
- Product Dimensions - 5.5 H x 8.2 W x 1.3 D
- ISBN-13 - 9781984806734
Web ID: 13786981
Utter perfection
REVIEW cw: mentions of cancer, adultery, death, grief, religious cults and violence, child abuse and DV Former college rivals, now authors Augustus Everett and January Andrews' novels couldn't be any different. One writes literary fiction, the other romance. The only thing they have in common? Both have severe writer's block. When they inadvertently reunite at neighbouring lakeside houses, they strike a deal to force themselves out of their creative ruts: Augustus (Gus) will write a draft of January's romance novel and January will write an Augustus-style bleak literary fiction novel. This was not the book I thought it was going to be. At all. I mean that in the best possible way. I genuinely thought I was about to read a light-hearted, frothy romance, especially given the blurb (I hasten to add, I also LOVE reading these types of stories), but instead, I was treated to a nuanced examination of overcoming grief, betrayal, childhood trauma, and mistrust. I loved January. My heart broke for her as she had to slowly make sense of her past, alongside the reality of the lies that had been woven by her father. I found these parts so well-written, especially considering this was a debut novel. Cheating is a bit of a trigger for me, so I never expected to feel so much compassion for Sonya, and definitely not for January's father. While neither she nor Walt's actions were acceptable, the author allowed us to see their regrets, and I loved how January was able to realise her own fortitude after the revelations. As for the letters? I was sobbing, utterly wrecked reading them alongside January. I also appreciated how she reassessed her previous relationships, particularly this line: He fit so perfectly into the love story I’d imagined for myself that I mistook him for the love of my life. I don't think I've ever identified with a character more! I completely empathised with her mistrust and self-doubt about relationships from the depths of my heart, but I LOVED how she was slowly able to open up to Gus, and the development of their relationship was so moving. I loved Gus immediately. He was such a complicated cinnamon roll with so many layers. My heart broke for him when he revealed some of his past and the way he'd processed his trauma. It's no secret I ADORE pining, and it was done SO well here. They were so cute together, and their chemistry felt authentic. C.23 was utter perfection, and, even though I'd seen it coming, I was fist-pumping the air when he was finally able to open up to January. And the banter! It was SUBLIME. I loved the shorthand of their conversations as the story progressed as well as all of their notes to each other. I also loved their people-watching stories, as well as their conversations with hypothetical storylines. I would definitely read the Ferris wheel operator story, Gus's cult romance, as well as 'Family Secrets', not to mention their entire back catalogue of published books. While this was a gorgeous slow-burn, (kinda) second-chance, enemies-to-lovers romance, aside from the romance and family drama, there was some excellent commentary on creative writing. January was so relatable, and I identified with her writer's block. Those scenes made me itch with understanding, and even though I've never published anything, the anxiety over deadlines was so relatable and engaging. I also loved the research 'dates' they went on, and though it was heartbreaking, the interviews with the cult member's relatives were fascinating. January's friend, Shadi was hilarious but also wise, and I adored Pete, Gus's aunt, and her wife Maggie. They were hilarious but also so tender towards both Gus and January. The ending tied everything up perfectly, and I LOVED that they expressly spoke of HFN. And while I ADORED Gus reciting January's dedication from her first novel, his dedication at the end was truly swoon-worthy. Utter perfection. Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Heat Rating: 🔥🔥
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Perfect Coastal Romance!
I throughly loved this book. The emotional rollercoaster of both characters and the intensity of their sexual tension kept me wanting more. January and Gus were very relatable in terms of building a love story between two complicated humans. Books like this make you believe in love.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The Perfect Beach Read (Shameless Pun Intended)
As a romance reader I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As writer with writers block….I enjoyed it even more. This creative spin on a writer's retreat romance was just what I needed. In Beach Read, we get to watch the adorable competition between Gus (Grumpy) and January (Sunshine) as they work to outshine each other in their own respective genres: Depressive Dystopian & Romance. Their once old college flame of passion re-ignites as they challenge each other to break out of the comfort zones of their writing & their life. The banter was perfect! The T-Swiftie-sk note sharing was adorable! The tension & passion was steamy!!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Very Catchy
Definitely a story line you will not forget! I read it two years ago and still remember the lake scene!
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
My fave Em Hen
My forever fave Emily Henry. This book is such a lovely mix of love and pain. We meet January when she is at the lowest point in her life and follow her as she struggles to find herself and rediscover her sense of self. I adores all of the side characters, especially the red, white Russian, and blue book club. I found myself so strongly identifying with January's struggle to find herself and feeling like she's still slipping away from the version of herself she wants to hold on to. The love story is fun and sweet and compliments January's growth with distracting from it or being an easy magical fix. Literally a perfect Beach Read.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Romantic, quotable, relatable
"It's s*** like this that makes it impossible for me to believe in happy endings. You never get the paper umbrellas [in your drink] you were promised in this world." .... "You must be the paper umbrellas you wish to see in this world." The most clever, relatable, and romantic homage to writer's block, with doses of spicy buildup (and then, of course, the spice), grounded characters, and sprinkles of wonderfully-quotable life wisdom. One layer of this book's story is about two authors of vastly different genres decide to challenge each other to trade genres for a summer. Another layer of this story, is an extended dive into the depths of writer's block, and the bit by bits from which the author climbs out of it. (personal) PROS: - Characters whose looks are not stereotypical nor over-glorified (ie. Gus is not the stereotypical "scruffy, chiseled, sharply dressed" romantic subject as depicted in many romance novels. Instead, like us readers, he too wakes up with messy hair, and doesn't always care about ironing his shirts.) -Emotional depth of the lead character (We get to explore real and relatable feelings of loss, grief, heartbreak, and love, as well as intricacies of parental relationships, relationship with the self and the past, and of course, romantic ones.) -A beautifully developed, full-circle love story -A peek of a cult side story (personal) CONS: -While relatable and a glimpse into character's lives, I personally don't love reading phone text conversations. -The above con is me being truly nit picky. I don't have any major cons of this book. It was enjoyable, easy to read, and even inspired a tear or two.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Love it!
This book was the first one I picked up when wanting to get back into reading, and I was instantly hooked! I finished it in about three days, I couldn't put it down without reading multiple chapters. It's such a great story whether you want to read it at different times or all in one sitting. Would definitely recommend!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wish it was better
This book was my first one to get me back into reading. Though the first 20 pages got me hooked right away I was excited, It took me forever to finish this book. I could see where the author was trying to go with this story line but it got really boring for me. I made myself read it through there were some really great parts others not so much.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com