After the last audio book, I was in the mood for yet another. But, since I’ve been away from Bookstagram for quite some time, I’m not really aware of the latest books. I had no clue as to what I should listen to. All I knew was that I needed a light read and that means a romcom. Libby is my go-to app for audiobooks. Since romcom is not a genre in Libby, I searched for romance and Beach Read is the first book that came up. The blurb looked good and I didn’t think twice.
January and Augustus are frenemies since college. While January writes romance and sees the world in full colors, Gus is a literary writer who depicts the world as it is through his books. Both are facing writer’s block when January moves into the house next to Gus. As the summer moves on, they find themselves in a writing bet. They challenge each other to swap genres and see who gets published first. Will they be able to pull off the bet? Will their past attractions be rekindled?
I dived into the book expecting a romcom but what I got was romance. At the end of the book, there is a note from the author about how she had a writer’s block and that got her into thinking of writing about characters who had a writer’s block and how it affects their life. The book also talks about childhood trauma and how it affects every decision such children take even in their adult life.
Even though romance is not my genre, I found myself rooting for the characters. January’s character was done extremely well. But I wish we got more glimpses into Gus’s character and childhood. The relationship between January and her father is also written well and some of the incidents tugged at my heart. I also loved the banter between January and Gus and the cute little notes they wrote each other.
This is one book I wish I hadn’t listened to as an audiobook. At times, I was not able to distinguish between January’s thoughts and actual dialogues. To be honest, this might have been because of the narrator who had the same tone for both. Maybe if I was reading it as a physical book, it wouldn’t have been so confusing. There was not a lot of humor too. I felt as if the author was trying to make some of the conversations funny but it didn’t really work out. I laughed out loud only once in the entire book.
The book title is misleading too. I’m still not sure why the book is called “Beach Read”! Maybe because it can be read on a beach?? I hate it when the book title doesn’t make sense to me.
Anyways, overall a great book for those who love the romance genre. Otherwise, good for a quick light read.
My Rating 3.5 ⭐
