Seeing this book booming everywhere on social media and Amazon, it was easily the first name that came to mind when I felt like reading a light and fun novel. ’Beach Read’ is exactly what I’d hoped it would be and then some. I’m probably not the first one to say this, nor will I be the last, that this book is waiting to be made in a movie! It has the idyllic setting of a small quaint town with beach houses, small bookstores and cafes. And a perfectly written meet-cute of our protagonists and then began their story.
January Andrews arrives at the beach house, hoping it would reel her out of her writer’s block and she can finally complete her next bestseller. But more than that she wanted to get away from the city to process the year she has had. Her break-up, right after her father passes away. Her finding out about her father’s secret affair at his funeral, and this beach house he had built with the woman who is not her mother.
To her delight, January discovers her next-door neighbour happens to be her nemesis from college, Augustus. Who also happens to be an award-winning writer. Gus has been there for a few years now, he knows his way around town. He knows the bookshop owners, he is the famous writer in town that people recognise. As they start to converse more, January notices not much has changed. They are still poles apart. She believes in romantic love stories and happy endings, whereas Gus may not completely share that feeling. His writing is more hard-hitting and bleak.
“It’s always harder to write when you have to. It’s like … the pressure turns it into a job, like anything else, and you might as well be selling insurance. The story suddenly loses any urgency to be told.”
They give their writer's block a fun little twist and strike a deal. Gus would write a romantic novel and January would dip her toes in some serious literary fiction. They would share their process of writing and at the end of the summer, they both would have something to present to their publishers. With a new excitement, they began writing and occasionally held up notes to their kitchen windows, which was one of the moments I really liked. As their novel progressed further so did their relationship, from annoying neighbourly banter to a friendship, slowly wrapping it all together into something more romantic.
More than the creamy top layer of January and Gus’ relationship, this book goes in a little deeper with their separate lives, and what brought them to this town now. Those added layers made the characters a little more real and a little less ‘fairytale’. ’Beach Read’ gives you enough cheese for you to take a bite and enjoy the flavours.
“Falling’s the part that takes your breath away. It’s the part when you can’t believe the person standing in front of you both exists and happened to wander into your path. It’s supposed to make you feel lucky to be alive, exactly when and where you are.”