Review of “Beach Read” by Emily Henry

3 Stars, but this review goes into why I think stars are rather meaningless.

This was my first real foray into contemporary adult romance. I'm neither disappointed nor surprised, rather relatively lukewarm towards this book, but I find it difficult to say if it's just my unfamiliarity with the hallmarks of the genre. In general, I found Beach Read to be a bit cringe-y in terms of dialogue and situation, but I was surprised to find that the aspects I liked, which were how it touched on grief and its darker elements, were the main complaints people had towards this book.

I suppose then that this review is less about the book itself and more so concerning how romance is a genre I don't typically gravitate towards. I read this for a book club, mostly in search for something new, so I had certain expectations going in. Should I give this book 5 stars for meeting what I thought it was meant to deliver? Or less because I think it could have been told better as a book overall? How do I fault or praise this book? I think these questions fall into the overall nature of reviewing/rating itself-its so dependent on what you were expecting. In this way, I understand why readers dislike the darker elements and how it doesn't fall into a light "Beach Read" if you will. However, I don't think it explores enough into some relatively interesting questions it raises (ie. why romance is looked down upon in general, why we choose some stories more than others) for it to be elevated above fluffed up Wattpad. Is that the fault of the author? Or just that this book didn't suit my tastes?

If you're someone who likes witty banter, the enemies to lovers trope, and romance for the sake of romance-I think you'll love Beach Read . If you're looking for the lightest romp in the genre (considering its title), or want something with significant depth (considering its interesting premise of using writing as a story mechanism), than this book will disappoint you in those aspects. But how do you tell if that's the author's mistake or marketing's? I can't say, only that I fell into the latter category.

In all, I was surprised by how this book did genuinely make me question my own stigma against the romance genre. I think Emily Henry raises a good point about women's fiction and literature for the sake of comfort or happiness, so I think its rather clever of her to integrate this theme into this romance novel. That being said, it's a bit like preaching to the choir here, since who amongst her fans will disagree? I almost wish she pursued a wholly literary route, in the same style and essence of the genre, only to have this commentary emerge from that discourse. Perhaps desiring this approach speaks of my own prejudices if I feel a "literary approach" is more justifiable or real. I don't know, but I still wish think that the points she brings up could have been explored in a more interesting manner to truly convince readers that romance is just as valid as any other genre.

Delving into the story itself: first off, why are they named January and Augustus? Was it just to be clever that they were both basically named after months?? The romance itself went from having some more legitimate chemistry and banter to the dialogue almost feeling as if it had to be witty for the sake of wittiness. I actually liked the second half of the book more for how it went deeper into January's character arc and touched more on grief and forgiveness...but for what I would have wanted out of a romance book (namely, the feels), it didn't quite deliver. A lot of information is told to you, and there's times where I think the author is about to use it to speak more deeply of their relationship, but it ends up just being convenient details to wrap up loose ends. Things are tied together a bit too neatly for my comfort here. As characters, January felt like any ~quirky~ woman who actually calls themselves quirky, and Gus is a rather flat, uninteresting individual. You would think his artistic soul would change up the "rogue-ish badboy" appearance, but he's just an aged up fanfic character in most regards. They're both kind of just pieces of bland toast that have a couple of "special" details/habits. I think if you're writing romance, which is basically just all character, you need to have them be actual characters.

All in all, I think Beach Read evens out in terms of my genuine delight by some of its insight, how it fulfilled my expectations towards contemporary romance, and my disappointment towards the storytelling. I can't tell if that's the fault of advertising or the limitations of the genre or just a general disinclination towards romance. But I still finished the book, and I walked out of it with a greater appreciation and acknowledgement for the romance market as a whole. And, for all my misgivings, I think that's quite a feat in of itself. What does it mean to give stars to such a lesson, to reading something that fulfilled your low expectations? I don’t know. Only that, I didn’t hate nor love this book, but I think that’s because I didn’t know what I was looking for.

(But really-the title is rather misleading. Pretty sure they're on the beach only twice in the novel.)