Book Review: Beach Read by Emily Henry

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Title: Beach Read

Author: Emily Henry

Sub-genre: Contemporary

Trope(s): enemies to lovers light; forced proximity-ish

Content Warnings: death of a parent, parent with cancer (all off page)

Every once in awhile I find myself reading a book and feeling so divided. On the one hand, I love that book so hard. On the other hand, I hate it because I know I’m never going to write a book that good. Definitely the case with today’s book. The struggle is real.

When January’s father unexpectedly passes away, a family secret is revealed that leaves her reeling, her entire life’s beliefs turned totally on their head. January is a romance novelist and uses her parents for inspiration, but when the truth about her father is revealed, she finds herself unable to conjure any more stories of happily ever after. No books equals no paycheck, so she is forced to move into her father’s secret lake house and try to crank out a book on a three month deadline. If all of that weren’t enough, she soon discovers her next door neighbor is her college creative writing nemesis Augustus, who has also turned professional writer. Gus writes literary fiction and his deep, serious stories couldn’t be more different from January’s sweet tales of love. When they both face writer’s block, they decide to make a bet and switch genres. January has to write a serious work of fiction and Gus has to write a happy love story. As they go through the process of rediscovering their lost voices, they also discover each other.

Guys. This books is fucking perfection. Everything from the prose to the characters to the town. I loved every single second of reading this book (and yes, definitely thought many times throughout I will never write anything this good). Emily’s voice and style is unique and witty, but what really sold this book for me was January and Gus. Watching them struggle with their writing (hello relatable) and how their pasts have impacted both their outlooks on fiction and life was just *chef’s kiss*. I’m honestly looking forward to going back and reading this one again because I’m sure I will love it even more the second time.

Overall Rating: 5 stars