Beach Read by Emily Henry
I’m definitely in the minority here but this book was not the right book for me. Maybe I expected something different, who knows. But one thing is for sure, I don’t feel the same way about this book as everyone else.
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A 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. Really.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
MY THOUGHTS
It’s going to be hard to put my thoughts on paper for this one. Because in the end, there is really nothing wrong with the book, it’s just me, who for whatever reason, couldn’t get into the story. I still don’t know what exactly it was that prevented me from loving the book.
Because Beach Read had much to offer.
An interesting plot about two writers, who took a bet and switched genres, just to get over writer’s block. And a couple that had history, chemistry and was incredibly comfortable around each other, which I enjoyed.
The book was touching and heartfelt but also emotional and sometimes even sad and heart wrenching. That was particularly the case when it came to January’s feelings about her deceased father and his actions. The story was mostly about January’s journey, from finding out about his betrayal to forgiveness, which didn’t come easy.
In the end, I believe it was a combination of a couple things that prevented me from loving the book. I admit the biggest hurtle was that I expected a different kind of story. And then the writing didn’t pull me in as I hoped it would. In the end, it was an ok read, just not a great one for me.
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I received a copy of this book from Berkley Books for free.
My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
I saw this on Netgalley but wasn’t so keep to read it. I felt more or less the same about The Hating Game which I DNFed.
And I wasn’t that wowed by RE&RB, there is always one hyped book that does NOTHING for me 😳
I read a preview of this the day it came out and even though I was looking forward to it decided to give it a pass because I felt like it wasn’t going to be as light as I initially anticipated. Your review has made me feel justified in my opinion 😝.
I’m sad you didn’t enjoy this one as much I did. I can understand it, though. I think the cover, title, and synopsis all paint this book to be much different than it actually is. I expected a very light and fun read and there was a lot more to it than that. If I wasn’t able to adjust my expectations, I think I would have ended up not enjoying it as much.
You can’t imagine how it feels to be the odd one out with this one. I check every review and they are all 5 stars. It’s sad that somehow this novel is giving everyone who reads it that special feeling, just not me. 🙁
I’ve seen a few reviews that agree with you. I am usually one who disagrees with the hype, so I was kind of surprised I ended up loving this one as much as I did.
I honestly feel like that’s the thing with blurbs/these really cute covers is that you expect one thing and then it turns out to be something totally different. It worked for me with this book, but doesn’t always work for me with other books.
I’ve noticed that too, and have seen people talk about it as well. I’m not sure anymore how much the cover/blurb was to blame, I feel more and more it was just me that didn’t click with the writing. Because I’m not usually so hung up on the cover/blurb. And it shouldn’t have made such a big difference at all.
Wow, I think you’re the first one with a review like this! So far, all the reviews I’ve read are ones that love this book!
Oh, I know I’m one of the VERY FEW that didn’t enjoy the book as much as everyone else. Every review I come across is glowing – I feel like I’m missing something. 😭
I always feel that way if I didn’t like a book that everyone loves 😂
I’m hoping I like it but I’m going to come back to this when I’ve read 🤞🏻
I’m 99% sure you’ll LOVE it!! Because 99% is the average of people who are loving it, I’m in the 1% range. Definitely the odd one out. 😆
This is one of my most anticipated reads this year. Hopefully though, I enjoy it more. 😊 I love stories about authors.
I’m 100% you’ll love it 😀
I’m sorry it wasn’t that great for you, i personally totally loved how grief was introduced here, and how they started getting closer, it was really nice for me
It makes me happy that you got so much out of this book, and I believe most everyone loved it as well.