Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Beach Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I'm so glad I finally read an Emily Henry book. She's such a popular author and I've heard such incredible things that I can't believe its taken me this long to pick up one of her novels. I liked this one a lot. I loved both January and Gus, and watching them come together and work through a lot of their issues was amazing to see. I'm excited to read more Emily Henry books in the future!

Content Warnings

emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I mean, it's a rom-com set in a lakeside town about an author with written block, getting it on with another author/guy she fancied in college. It has it's flaws but ultimately it's a great, feel good rom-com.

Some things of note:
-Bless her for

not reading the letter from her Dad immediately.

I'm glad she

found she had so many more of them to hold onto.

-The sarcastic banter. Top notch.
-You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.
-The part where

her father's affair partner forces her to listen to what she has to say when she's clearly already crying and not ready to/interested in listening was brutal. Just because you feel like you need to say something doesn't mean she has to listen!

The cult stuff

felt a bit odd to include in a rom-com of this vibe. I'm assuming that this is the cater to

the true crime obsessed?

-Them finally

breaking the sexual tension with sex... In the tent by the burnt out graveyard of the cult? After they'd both been so affected by seeing it? But somehow immediately forgot about that?

Like what?
-The 'this can't get any worse, then the Labrador farted' bit 😂
- Further to this,

if they had just set the tent up for keeping their laptops dry if it rained, surely they wouldn't have brought sleeping mats and sleeping bags? So how did they spend the night? Surely it was the most uncomfortable place to have sex then sleep?

- Is it just me that found the ending really

stupid? How is 'oh yeah, I ignored you after my wife turned up because I wanted to go back with her when she asked but actually after 24 hours I guess I like you a lot more' good? That's so hurtful!

- Mix that with

the 'marriage is the worst and if I think about it, you're the only person where the idea of it doesn't fill me with utter dread' and it's comes off even stranger.

Flash to the epilogue where

they're getting engaged a year after the start of the book/meeting (again). I get that he was saying marrying her didn't feel like an awful idea but with it being in what was basically a speech about marriage filling him with dread it felt odd.

When I started the book, I hated it. It was the 'I'm a romance author and just luuuvv talking about my life in third person, oh what am I like!' but at the start that almost did me in but this was thankfully dropped almost immediately.

I almost stopped reading pretty quickly but I'm glad I kept on with it and ultimately, it was a really fun rom-com and exactly what I was in the mood for.

Content Warnings

geoalice23's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

impalalibrary's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I really really liked this book, the characters are just so good and I loved their ongoing bet for our main plot while exploring their relationship together and with everyone around them.
Also loved the casual lesbian relationship of aunt Pete and her wife! I love when it’s just there and it’s not made to be a big deal or part of the plot.

I didn’t find myself emerged in it though, it took me quite a while to finish because I kept getting distracted..

Definitely like Emily Henry’s writing style though, so I’ll check out more of her work soon!

Content Warnings

catherine10134u38's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

2.0

Can't believe this is a popular book.

This is for people who want something sad and loves complicated characters that are "messed up." If you're also okay with characters rationalizing cheating on someone while they have cancer then this is for you. This is complicated and deep I guess but all these characters were just so frustrating to me. The ending was so rushed and I can't comprehend for the life of me why January would want to be with Gus fr. I wouldn't be surprised if Gus cheated on her 10 years later and was like "I told you I was messed up, I'm so sorry you don't have to forgive me." The grief in this story was good but what got me was the rationalizing the cheating for me. The writing DRAGGED ON AND ON.

It was slow with so many LONG and boring beats. Maybe I'm too young (17 almost 18) to be reading about these people's cheating and still being married while fucking someone else. Maybe I could come back to this when I'm 30 and understand what their talking about. IDK. Lowkey feel like I should have DNFd this but it taught me that people are complicated and carry baggage and can still be loved. Doesn't make the writing any less boring, the side characters any less plain/boring or the entire plot any less boring either. Boring boring boring. The whole thing about their individual stories is so ??? LAME. It barely even made a difference as far as I can tell.

For me...it put me in a reading slump. I was bored. Rushed ending. Glad to be done with this. Sorry.

Content Warnings

unmistakablyphoenix's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Well written, great chemistry, satisfying story with more depth than expected. Some parts, I was just waiting to get to the next interesting scene, but I was gripped by the story and finished this book in less than 5 days.

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