Beach Read
The feel-good, grumpy sunshine rom com from the Sunday Times bestselling romance author
-
-
4.2 • 765 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
Two writers. One holiday. A romcom waiting to happen...
-------
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, It Ends With Us
'A great love story' Jodi Picoult, Wish You Were Here
'The perfect escapist romp' Laura Jane Williams, One Night With You
January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she's the lead in a blockbuster movie.
Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.
But January and Gus have more in common than you'd think:
They're both broke.
They've got crippling writer's block.
And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.
The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first.
The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...
Set over one sizzling summer, Beach Read is a witty love story that will make you laugh a lot, cry a little and fall head over heels. For fans of The Flat Share and If I Never Met You.
-------
'My heart ached for January, and Gus is to die for - a steamy, smart and perceptive romance' Josie Silver, One Night on the Island
'Full of banter, heat, and sexual tension, I felt the thrill of falling in love right alongside January and Gus. A gorgeous page-turner of a novel' Laura Jane Williams, One Night With You
'Funny, and seriously sizzling' Best
'If whipcrack banter and sexual tension is your catnip, you'll adore this book' Sally Thorne, The Hating Game
'Touching and heartfelt . . . I closed this book with a satisfied sigh' Jasmine Guillory, While We Were Dating
'Clever and funny, this is a tender love story' Woman & Home
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A romance novel about a romance novelist? It may sound gimmicky, but Emily Henry pulls off the premise with high style, delivering a bubbly and satisfying story that puts a fresh spin on the enemies-to-lovers and forced-proximity conventions. When January Andrews finds out that she’s spending the summer next door to her graduate-school creative-writing rival Augustus Everett, she decides to settle, once and for all, their debate about whether romance constitutes a legitimate literary art form. She proposes that the classmates switch genres, with January taking a stab at writing tragic literary fiction while Gus tries to write a hot love story. Despite her book’s sunny cover and fun premise, Henry tackles poignant themes like grief and infidelity as she explores the experiences that have shaped her protagonists’ feelings about art and love. Beach Read lives up to its title and then some—it’s a gobble-it-up read with unexpected depth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Henry (Hello Girls) hits all the right notes with this clever, compassionate contemporary romance. January Andrews, a 29-year-old romance author, has always believed in happily-ever-after. Then her father dies and she inherits his secret lake house in North Bear Shores, Mich., and discovers his long-standing extramarital affair. Broke and suffering from writer's block, January's moves into the "lakeside cottage brimming with charm and proof your father was an asshole and your life has been a lie." Her new next-door neighbor is Augustus Everett, the tortured darling of the literary fiction world. Their contentious front-porch chats lead them to construct a challenge: they'll each spend the summer writing a novel in the other's genre, giving one another tutorials in their respective approaches and going on research trips together. Whoever finishes and sells their book first, wins. January's struggle to reconcile her inherent optimism with the recent upheaval in her life is thoroughly convincing and handled with empathy. Her and Augustus's path from writing partners to friends to lovers is a constant delight and the inevitable third act communication issues are deeply rooted in the characters' psychology, making them believable and fresh. Readers are sure to fall hard for this meta, heartfelt take on the romance genre.
Customer Reviews
LOVED IT
so cute loved it so much and finished it in a day
Unbelievable, in a bad way.
I really loved the whole idea of two writers swapping genres. I think it's so interesting seeing the characters develop throughout the book, and see their writing skills increase. It's really cool seeing how the characters use the idea of learning about a new style of writing and this whole new perspective of the world to overcome each of their struggles as they learn and experiment with writing in the other genre.
The first third was gripping, interesting, and I was invested in the characters and the plot. But, it was such a burden dragging myself through the second third of the book. Genuinely boring. It was so repetitive, and the only arguments they had were resolved after 2 pages. I don't understand why Henry chose not to advance with some problems brought throughout the book.
The last 60 or so pages were wrapping things up, but there was LITERALLY NOTHING TO WRAP UP BECAUSE NOTHING HAPPENED IN THE BOOK. It felt like the ending was rushed, and l know it was meant to be romantic but it was cliche, and felt like Henry just had to write an ending quickly. I wish she had focused more on how the characters wrote each of their books.
Slightly unrelated to the book instead, but props to Emily Henry for her marketing GENIUS.
Release a book called Beach Read right before summer, when everybody is looking for a good summer rec, of course this book will pop up.
However I have a bone to pick. Why have a book called BEACH READ WHEN THERE'S ONLY 2 BEACH SCENES.
One of the other major plots in the book was about how the two characters are WRITERS, WRITING books. Like hello where were the books? We hear a little bit about January's novel here and there but what about Gus's? Like hello go girl give us nothing.
Also why are you taking her on a DATE to interview massacre victims in the place where their friends and family were killed hello?
In conclusion, if you only read tiktok books and think you have superior taste, then you'll love this. If you read things other than booktok books, skip this one.
Read it y’all
I laughed, I sobbed, I recommend 🫶🏻