̷H̷a̷p̷p̷i̷l̷y̷ ̷E̷v̷e̷r̷ ̷A̷f̷t̷e̷r̷s̷ Happy-for-nows Only

"Every single person on the planet had to take turns in hurting. Sometimes all you could do was hold on to each other tight until the dark spat you back out."

A Secret Service by Joy Jenkins Cover — Beach Read (c/o Goodreads)

Beach Read

Emily Henry

Available on Amazon, Kindle, and leading bookstores

Published by Berkley

19 May 2020

361 Pages

Synopsis:

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Content Disclaimer: sexual content

Ria: Beach Read has been on my “to-read” list for so many months and is the book that Jhanya has been forever bugging me to read. And now, I’ve finally finished reading it and it was absolutely worth the read! I actually still can’t get over Gus and January and their complex stories.

Jhanya: Based on its synopsis, Beach Read seems like every other light read-RomCom novel out there. And it is. But it’s also so much more than that. I started this book expecting to read another one-sitter romance book to pass the time, and boy was I so wrong. This book made me laugh, aww, and cry in the ~7hrs of reading it and it was all worth it. I had so much fun from this book that it’s making me question why I never read Emily Henry’s books before. I mean, I’ve always wanted to read EH books, but I never got into the magical phase after middle school, so maybe that’s why. Thankfully, she came out with her first RomCom, Beach Read, and it was definitely worth all the hype.

Ria: Going into Beach Read, I was a bit skeptical because the synopsis didn’t super catch my attention (it only did enough to be in my to-read list, but not that I’d immediately read it). Beach Read isn’t the happy-light read I expected it to be. It tackled many serious and conflicting issues throughout the story and incorporated the love story of Gus and January. I didn’t cry in this book like Jhanya but it did really pull my heartstrings.

Jhanya: I absolutely love Emily Henry’s writing style. Something about it was just the perfect balance of witty, funny, emotional, and realistic that will have you pulled in from the get-go. I’m not even joking, a lot of lines in the first chapters had me giggling because of its snarkiness. Heck, one of my favorites chapters was Chapter 4 mainly because of how creative their conversation was and January’s thoughts were. Other than this, the settings and other plot factors were kept simple, and straight to the point in order to highlight the characters, their personalities, and struggles. Keeping it simple also helped make the story more realistic. Like when they were doing research for their books.

Ria: Emily Henry’s writing style is not usual from what I’ve read before. It has a great balance of being realistic, emotional, heartwarming, and comedic. January’s thoughts are what we read throughout but through her, we can see the personality of the other characters. We also saw what she was going through and the challenges she had to face both with Gus and alone.

Another thing I loved about Beach Read is its plot. It is unique and different and definitely not clique. Henry’s incorporation of the cults (from Gus), the lovey-dovey cliche scenes (from January), and the different takes on marriage throughout the book make a new combination of scenes and conflicts for the story.

Jhanya: The book really followed January’s thoughts only. We saw everything through her eyes, which felt like we were going through this journey of grief and new beginnings with her. We found out about Gus and her family with her. I’m not completely sure why, but I found the story more emotional/personal with this style of POV (many romance books now also include the POV of the guy too). This also helped with the way the book talked about grief, pain, and love, as I believe that it made different lines more impactful to the reader. This book dealt with different kinds of pain and delivered it in the most beautiful lines. I’m not kidding. It’s the first time that we had to pick between 8+ quotes to feature because this book had such good writing.

Even though this story was more on the “Rom” side rather than the “Com”, there were parts where I legit laughed out loud because of Gus and January’s bantering. Beach Read knows the difference between romantic and cheesy, and I absolutely love it for that. It definitely didn’t shy away from the usual romantic tropes, but it defined a line where anything overboard or “romantically extravagant” is often something that both characters will poke fun at.

Ria: Additionally, Henry’s written characters were so realistically done.

Jhanya: Another good thing about Beach Read is how the characters were very well-built. Nothing felt off and the chemistry was just there. All their interactions felt natural and are something that would actually happen in real life. Gus and January were two confused adults who simply wanted a bit of escape from reality and to finish writing their next books. But when both of them find themselves stuck, they decide to try writing something different with the help of each other. Through this process, they find comfort in one another and form a special bond.

Ria: I super agree with Jhanya on this one. Each character had their flaws (which I think is what really catapulted this book) and each character was facing challenges that are challenges that we do face in real life.

Jhanya: January is your typical protagonist who got her world turned upside down after her father’s death. Growing up, she believed that she had the perfect family that got through and survived all their hardships together. Only to find out that her father had an affair with another woman before her mother was diagnosed with cancer for the first time. Like any other normal human being, she grieved and moped after her father’s death. But, of course, she had an a**hole of a boyfriend who broke up with her because she “changed” after her father’s death. Now she’s broke, alone, and has to live in her father’s “affair villa” because that’s all she can afford.

I just have to add. January was very relatable. From her story to how she reacted to different things, it all made sense for her character. After putting up walls and a happy front all these years, I’m not surprised that the death of her father and what she found out after, broke her. On the bright side though, what happened showed her who was really her friend (Shadi) and who didn’t deserve her time (Jacques). Her growth throughout the novel was evident. She learned to accept her flaws, stepped out of her comfort zone, and overcame her grief and grudges.

Ria: January is so lovable and relatable. Her mumbling thoughts are honestly probably very similar to mine. And similarly, I love my happy ever afters. I love reading about couples growing old together, maybe having a family, and ultimately being happy together forever. So it’s super understandable that when January’s life blows up on her face everything is basically not a happily ever after. Like Jhanya, January’s character growth is super evident. With the help of the new people + Shadi, she is able to accept her flaws and step out of her comfort zone. Through Gus, she is able to see the world in a different light. She sees the sufferings that Gus is encountering along with hers and together they try to solve the skeletons that they have.

Jhanya: Now, as for Augustus “Gus” Everett (I call him August :P). He’s a tsundere. That is all I can say LMAO. Seriously though, HE IS. And not just during the novel, but even before the story took place xD. From the beginning of the book, you see a lot of signs of what his intentions were, but even though you notice it, what you find out about him throughout the story is more than you thought it is. In the eyes of January, and the reader, August is the mystery/puzzle to be solved and one won’t be disappointed with the results. He is also just a confused sad boi who wants to understand the people around him and why they decide to do the things that they do.

Ria: Gus!! The tsundere!!! I love love love Gus. He’s honestly a three-year-old child who has a crush on a girl whom he admires and doesn't know how to ask out. Gus’s character is also super realistic and I love him so much. His character arc is also very conflicted like January and we get to see that as January learns about it. Gus is also a huge turning point in January’s life. With the agreement that they have, both are able to help each other see the world in a different light and they learn that the world is a black and white kind but has even the grayest shade there is.

Gus and January’s relationship is something I really loved about the book as well. Their dynamic is both super funny and super matching. Especially with them writing notes at each other is legit giving me such Taylor Swift “You Belong With Me” music video vibes. And when they fight they take the time to actually ask why the other is mad and address the problem instead of assuming and jumping to conclusions. Their relationship is one of the most mature ones that I’ve seen.

Final Thoughts

Ria: Overall, I also super loved this book. This was super worth it to read. I loved the characters, their interactions, and their growth. The plot and the writing are also so realistic and relatable and the problems that Henry placed into the book (i.e. suicide cults, marriage problems, cheating) are also very eye-opening. Maybe one thing I was a bit disappointed with was the resolution between January and her mom. I would’ve loved to see more of their relationship. I also don’t know if I’ll be rereading the book so soon, I probably will when I’d want to see more of January and Gus. Anyway, the book’s morals and lessons also played a huge role in why I love this book also. It teaches a great lesson which is why I recommend this book, not just to romance lovers but to anyone really.

Jhanya: I loved this book. This was my favorite of 2020, and I’m happy that I reread it again for the 2nd time for this review. In my honest opinion, it is one of the most beautifully written RomCom novels I’ve ever read. Beach Read made me realize that most, if not all Romance books are all just a bunch of “Happy-for-nows”, not Happily Ever Afters. I mean, their lives aren’t over, aren’t they? And as for books with not-so-happy endings, January’s father said it himself, “If you think the story has a sad ending, it’s because it’s not over yet.”. And something about these two “lines” is just beautiful. It made me reflect and realize how everything that’s happening is just a part of one big story called life.