A review by lozziereads
Beach Read, by Emily Henry
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
(Content warnings for this book, taken from https://booktriggerwarnings.com/index... listed at the bottom.)
3.5 Star Rating- Did I read all of this book in just four days? Yes. Does it pass the Bechdel test? not even close. Is this a story that contains fully composed characters of color, who contribute more to the plot than serving the journey of white main characters ? Also, not even close. No book that fails to do these things can ever really be a great book to me, because those are standards for me as a Black reader.
This book also toes the line of almost unbearable white feminism.
All of those things being said, I think this is some of Emily Henry's best writing. I've rated this lower than People We Meet on Vacation, but this book surprisingly subverted the romance genre in many ways for me. I am beginning to note things that are specific to this authors style, which always fascinates me. The narrator for the audiobook, Julia Whelan- who also reads for People We Meet on Vacation- is fantastic. This book is not just a romance but dissects the idea of romance, and I felt I knew both characters well, though the story is told from a Single POV. This book was a love letter to writing, and I felt inspired to write reading it. It was an excellent discussion of grief and whether or not its possible to know someone the way you want to, or think you must. Sometimes having creators as the center of a book is an easy way for the book to go cheesy- but it was an interesting discussion of the writing process and added an extra layer to the reading experience thinking of the author as an author while reading her story. Around 75% through the book, I became bored of the lack of evolvement from the issue at the heart of their relationship - meaning, knowing they had spent the whole book progressively working through an issue, it was disinteresting to have an already resolved and communicated issue come up again verbatim. The characters were going on incredibly personal journeys in their lives apart - and when they would try to make sense of the way they worked together, the problem would be almost cliche: He is ultimately intent on being secretive and self-destructive. She can't stop believing she can have an affect on his unavailability. Or rather a better way to put it is that so many of their resolutions were heavy on the emotional labor of the woman mc. It's not romantic to imagine a future like that. He is normally plain spoken, but the woman mc always has to beg him for crumbs when it comes to his emotions, especially the ones concerning her. I felt like the "enemies-to-lovers" aspect of this book was thoroughly and surprisingly well executed, not so much the "he's obsessed with her" trope, which fit clunkily into the characters past relationship towards the end of the book. I really enjoyed how many other things were going on in the book, it was balanced well with the intense connection and friendship growing between the two mcs - I don't recall more than one time when I was disappointed by the division of time between topics in the novel. I loved that there were lesbians in the book - but they were white lesbians, and though they had a relative depth, I still felt betrayed by the amount of definition they got in comparison to Shadi.
All in all I feel very conflicted about this book. I'm glad I finally took the chance to read it!
3.5 Star Rating- Did I read all of this book in just four days? Yes. Does it pass the Bechdel test? not even close. Is this a story that contains fully composed characters of color, who contribute more to the plot than serving the journey of white main characters ? Also, not even close. No book that fails to do these things can ever really be a great book to me, because those are standards for me as a Black reader.
This book also toes the line of almost unbearable white feminism.
All of those things being said, I think this is some of Emily Henry's best writing. I've rated this lower than People We Meet on Vacation, but this book surprisingly subverted the romance genre in many ways for me. I am beginning to note things that are specific to this authors style, which always fascinates me. The narrator for the audiobook, Julia Whelan- who also reads for People We Meet on Vacation- is fantastic. This book is not just a romance but dissects the idea of romance, and I felt I knew both characters well, though the story is told from a Single POV. This book was a love letter to writing, and I felt inspired to write reading it. It was an excellent discussion of grief and whether or not its possible to know someone the way you want to, or think you must. Sometimes having creators as the center of a book is an easy way for the book to go cheesy- but it was an interesting discussion of the writing process and added an extra layer to the reading experience thinking of the author as an author while reading her story. Around 75% through the book, I became bored of the lack of evolvement from the issue at the heart of their relationship - meaning, knowing they had spent the whole book progressively working through an issue, it was disinteresting to have an already resolved and communicated issue come up again verbatim. The characters were going on incredibly personal journeys in their lives apart - and when they would try to make sense of the way they worked together, the problem would be almost cliche: He is ultimately intent on being secretive and self-destructive. She can't stop believing she can have an affect on his unavailability. Or rather a better way to put it is that so many of their resolutions were heavy on the emotional labor of the woman mc. It's not romantic to imagine a future like that. He is normally plain spoken, but the woman mc always has to beg him for crumbs when it comes to his emotions, especially the ones concerning her. I felt like the "enemies-to-lovers" aspect of this book was thoroughly and surprisingly well executed, not so much the "he's obsessed with her" trope, which fit clunkily into the characters past relationship towards the end of the book. I really enjoyed how many other things were going on in the book, it was balanced well with the intense connection and friendship growing between the two mcs - I don't recall more than one time when I was disappointed by the division of time between topics in the novel. I loved that there were lesbians in the book - but they were white lesbians, and though they had a relative depth, I still felt betrayed by the amount of definition they got in comparison to Shadi.
All in all I feel very conflicted about this book. I'm glad I finally took the chance to read it!
- Alcohol abuse
- Cancer (past, in remission)
- Car accident
- Character death (parents, referenced)
- Cheating (past)
- Child abuse (past)
- Child neglect (past)
- Cult (suicide cult, past)
- Drink-Driving
- Emesis
- Fire (past)
- Grief
- Physical abuse (past)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Physical abuse and Car accident