Beach Read: A Review
This novel, written by Emily Henry, is the embodiment of the word rom-com. It surrounds January Adams, a somewhat-famous romance writer that moves to a lake house to jumpstart her creativity as she scrambles to meet a publishing deadline. She has recently come to the realization that the happy go lucky family life she remembers as a child was not all it seemed, and her father had been seeing another woman while her mom struggled with cancer. At the lake house, she meets her grumpy neighbor Augustus “Gus”, whom one could describe as January’s old college acquaintance/ crush/ almost enemy/ fellow author. Both characters are dealing with their own inner turmoil and they’re not necessarily the people they remember from college. Amidst their teasing and banter, the two make a bet: Augustus will attempt to write a happy ending for once and January will attempt to write a serious work. They agree to coach each other through the process that they would take to write in their respective genres. Gus takes her on a series of interviews on the cult New Eden and January takes Gus out on potential meet-cute scenarios including a beach day, carnival, and a romance movie marathon. And of course, tensions rise between the two throughout.
Is this book going to ever appear on the AP list of literary works? Absolutely not. But was it a great little light summer read? Absolutely. I thought the premise was cutesy and I enjoyed reading it. The back and forth dialogue between them is engaging and well written, and January’s meet-cute escapades with Augustus are light-hearted and fun. Amongst all the happier moments though, some of Augustus’s past is discussed and things get a bit heavy. I think these moments were balanced well save for one… slightly distasteful/off-putting moment when Augustus takes her to the site of a cult that was ultimately burned to the ground to continue research for a future book he’s been gathering information on for a year. Instead of getting what they came for and leaving, they set up camp and work out issues in their relationship.
It embodies the title. It is indeed a ‘beach read’. But overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light hearted rom-com with a few more serious and sad points. Henry combines January’s romance and Gus’s dramatic literary fiction into the fabric of the actual novel, which I very much appreciated. The characters felt real and flawed and I loved the way they ultimately found respect for each other's points of view on life and love. The topics of grief and family dynamics were handled very well and with poinance. The dialogue was witty and extremely entertaining. And I could definitely relate to January’s desperation to find a happy ending in life.
There’s a lot to love about this book so it earns a rating of 3.9 stars. It loses .1 for the weird cult site.