Beach Read by Emily Henry
A cool breeze to set your heart at ease
Genre: Romance
Page Count: 361
Date of Publication: 19th May, ‘20
Rating: 4/5
Keynote: It was the runner-up of Goodreads Choice Awards 2020
Synopsis
January Andrews is a 3-time published chick-lit author and a cheerful person by heart who believes that the world turns around, spinning stories that have a happy ending. Augustus Everett writes America’s Best Literary Novel, with plots discovering the darkness of the world around. Contrasting characters clashing under the spell of fate and circumstances to provide you one of the most satisfying reads of all time. No matter your philosophy of life, no matter your attitude, you’ll always be posed by challenges that will force you to re-evaluate everything in your life. Something similar happens to both of them, and here they are now, university rivals (rivals in literary taste too!) face to face, seeking inspiration and a newer outlook on life. But, will this journey amount only to good write-ups, or will we explore more secrets and desires of the characters? Spun as simply as a thread of silk, ‘Beach Read’ flows into your mind and lights your heart with its obvious but effective, humor.
Some Insights
- Writing: The writing of the book is pretty accessible and easy to read. Since they have gone from being rivals at university to neighbors in the perspiring heat, the heat between them is only natural to ignite and heighten. The snarky but healthy comments January and Gus make at each other and the dialogues between all of the characters feel alive. Most of the times, the descriptions of Gus felt over the top, but it gets easier to ignore if you don’t care what kind of smile did he flash at a moment. By the end, some dialogues do become cheesy but they leave a placid smile on your face.
- Narration: The novel follows the first-person narrative, following the thoughts and journey of January. It’s rather preferable to keep the side of the love interest hidden just so it keeps the readers anticipating for the best. The reserved and contained self of Gus keeps the readers guessing whether or not they have a chance together and if so, how.
- Story: The story of the novel might seem old and predictable: 2 writers who are university rivals, write about different things, see the world differently, and are somehow, stuck together in a predicament. That’s what the synopsis told me and I went into it thinking that it’d be some light-hearted love story of enemies turning into lovers, and oh! how wrong I was.
In the first chapter itself, the novel makes it pretty clear that it’d be much more than a mere love story of two opposites and also diving into their lives a little deeper. The family one grew up in shapes a lot of his future and perspective, Henry doesn’t leave this simple but undeniable fact behind and lets her characters be influenced and affected by their past.
A sneak peek at the amount of time and efforts it takes for a writer to weave a story and finish the draft, to finalizing the illustrations and colours for the cover, and the anticipation of the arrival of the first manuscript on the doorstep. This is an added luster for the readers to enjoy the life and struggles of two contradictory writers. - Characters: January is a girl who grew up devouring romance novels as much as she could, and she felt obliged to write something that brings hope and love into the lives of her readers. Gus grew up as a worldly and reserved guy who has seen pain more than the words can describe, and he feels compelled to write stories of people and their agonies that weren’t heard of.
Their stories and lives are anchored down by the people who care too deeply about them to let go. The locals feel like a breather to the chaotic mind of January, as if Henry had just pressed a pause button on the ongoing hurricane of a mind. Shadi, the best friend of January is a friend we all have ever craved for. Only a ring away from being the shoulder where you can cry on, someone you have no secrets with. - End: The end of the novel was pretty satisfying, especially the tearing-up second last chapter of the book. When all of the cards were unfolded and kept on the table for January to decide what did she actually want out of her life, her future with Gus, and what she would carry with herself as the truth about her issues and past. A lesson January learned might be the revolutionary lesson Henry wanted romance readers to carry forward.
‘Life is pretty much a series of good and bad moments right up until the moment you die which is arguably a bad one.’
Recommendations
If you’re someone like me who prefers something deeper and darker depths to the story and characters, Beach Read is a novel for you with just the right amount of fiction and the unvarnished reality sauced up with romance.
For romance readers, Gus is absolutely swoon-worthy and desirable; January is a likable but troubled protagonist to follow. The chemistry between them is fresh and over the moon, not the instant love that is praised but, more with a history that slowly unfurls. This is a book for anyone in search of fiction with likable main characters and side plots that you can thoroughly enjoy.
Beach Read reminded me of another novel I’d read some years ago, The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. If you enjoyed that, you might want to give this a try; and if you haven’t read it yet, there are two books for you to enjoy this upcoming summer.
Final Thoughts
‘I know feeling small gets to some people’, he had once told me, ‘but I kind of like it. Takes the pressure off when you’re just one life of six billion at any given moment. And when you’re going through something hard, it’s nice to know you’re not even close to the only one.’
While I’m not much of a romance enthusiast, I do enjoy a well-crafted and real love story now and then. Though I went into the book expecting to be a light-hearted read, it struck me with surprise I wasn’t ready for but enjoyed, nonetheless. This is a story worth the page time; I might intend to explore certain aspects more but not including them didn’t disappoint me either. By the end, it included one of my favourite elements that I could find in a book. I’d not say that it made me ugly cry, but surely touched my heart. Henry also didn’t spend a lot of pages exploring their bed scenes together and I’m certainly grateful for that because I don’t particularly enjoy reading those.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience reading. Hope my review helps in helping you find your next read.
Happy Reading!
