A review by marylinaris
Beach Read by Emily Henry

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

It’s easy to like this book, the writing is beautiful, January is an interesting protagonist, Gus plays his part as the love interest very well and the story stays interesting and emotional throughout! 

What I’m a little ehh about was Gus’ backstory. January’s backstory is quite heavy on it’s own - slightly too heavy for a book I’ve been frequently been told was a fun romp-y vacation romance - but his backstory? Yeah, that one came very much unexpected and I wasn’t really a fan of the pay off that plot gave us. I probably would’ve liked that part more if Augustus had POV chapters and we wouldn’t have gotten the whole thing solely through January’s eyes. Also … the sex scene that resulted out of exploring his backstory?? I was very hyperaware where they were doing it and for that alone it ranks high in the worst sex scenes I’ve ever read. 
What his book did weirdly, for me, was the little amount of time it spend on the vacation/beach part, the title promises and I would’ve expected a lot more discussions about their respective genres or even shallow examination of the genre conventions. 

I overall am - still - unsure about the ending. It felt very realistic and grounded in regards to the way the
father’s cheating plot
and the romance were wrapped up, but idk … maybe I need a little unrealistic magic in my romance? 
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