This book was delightful. Was it five-stars-you-should-buy-it-and-display-it delightful? No. Was it light, romantic, heartfelt, creative, and just fun-to-read kind of delightful? Yes. It was exactly what I wanted it to be, and for that, I applaud Emily Henry’s Beach Read. *
Readers join January, a romance writer whose entire world just spiraled into a pile of flames, rocking her ability to write the women’s fiction she’s known for. To make her writer’s block worse, she is broke and has a looming manuscript deadline to meet. In an attempt to pull herself together, she moves into a lakefront cottage and tries to get back on track. Turns out, her neighbor is a fellow author and college nemesis. The recipe for disaster, right? Or…romance.
This book falls into all the chick lit tropes – boy and girl meet and hate each other, chemistry grows, love happens, etc., etc. But, what I loved about this book was the refreshing and heartfelt extras Henry includes. I feel like her characters’ dysfunction was actually believable and relatable instead of just unpleasant to read. Their histories and their grievances and their sensitivities — all that creates a backstory and the backbone of the plot — made sense for both our main characters. It gave them a relatable depth. It felt realistic and raw, which generally seems out of place for a chick lit read, but it worked. Kudos to you, Ms. Henry.
Lest you think this is a pithy novel worthy of deep literary thought, let me quickly clarify that despite the character arcs being so thoughtful, this is still definitely a romance novel. There is a lot of touching, kissing, chemistry building, etc. There is some sappy dialogue. All those usual things are still there but well-cushioned in some additional aforementioned material. Readers should know there is more than necessary (in my opinion) foul language. That did taint the book for me.
If you are looking for a light yet sweet read, give Beach Read a try! It’s sweet, cute, funny, and – in my limited chick lit opinion – refreshingly unique.
*Please be aware that there are some intimacy scenes not all readers will be comfortable with.
Meredith
Copyright Emily Henry and Penguin Publishing. Image from Amazon.com.
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