Review: Book Lovers (by Emily Henry)

My Rating:  4 stars

Recently, aside from reading a lot of non-fiction books (mostly related to my writing project), many of my fiction reads have been on the "serious" and "heavy" side.  Don't get me wrong though — I'm not complaining, not in the least, especially since all of those reads have been good ones.  Coincidentally though, I've also got a lot going on right now, both at work and in my personal life, resulting in fatigue and exhaustion from my stress levels being at a consistently high point.  Because of this, I felt like I needed a little bit of a break from heavier reads at the moment — I wanted something light and warm-hearted, with "feel-good" vibes that I could count on as a guarantee to lift my spirits. In going through my shelves, I came across the latest Emily Henry rom-com Book Lovers, which I had bought when it came out back in May, but hadn't gotten the chance to read yet, so I decided to go for it.  It turns out this book was the perfect choice, as it provided the exact "pick-me-up" that I was looking for, but also had emotional depth and well-drawn characters (two elements that are always important to me).

While it's true that I'm not usually a fan of romances because most are too trope-heavy for my tastes (plus I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to this love and romance stuff), there are times when I come across a romantic tale that meets the moment for me timing-wise and this was definitely one of them.  I had actually read both of Emily Henry's previous rom-coms (Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation) and while both were enjoyable overall, I didn't take to either of those books the way I did to this one.  Perhaps it's because the main protagonist in this one, Nora Stephens, is a character I could actually relate to: a career woman who works hard to build a financially secure life for herself in order to ensure her family is always well-taken care of, but at the expense of her own hopes, dreams, and desires.  In addition to constantly "fixing" everyone else's problems while neglecting her own, Nora also sacrifices her dream job as an editor in favor of one as a literary agent that pays well, but is cutthroat and requires her to work constantly.  She also doesn't allow herself to have a love life because that would require too much emotional investment — something she doesn't have time for anyway but also because letting her guard down and allowing her vulnerabilities to show are absolutely not options for her (as she mentions herself at one point, she hasn't cried in over a decade because it's not something she can afford to do).  I actually saw a lot of myself in Nora, which is probably why I was able to resonate with her character so deeply.  Of course, it also made me root for her and Charlie even more, despite the fact that I already knew they would definitely have a happy ending no matter what (this IS a rom-com after all).

One of the things that has become a "trademark" of sorts with Henry's books is the witty banter between the main couple in the story and in this one, there was plenty of it, which I loved.  The banter between Nora and Charlie was funny, smart, and oh so satisfying to read — I can't remember the last time I had so much fun following two characters' back-and-forth dialogue. 

Another dynamic that made this book more endearing to me than Henry's previous rom-coms was the relationship between Nora and her sister Libby.  I love the way Henry wrote their relationship — each scene where the two of them were together, there was a genuineness and ease to their relationship that jumped off the page for me (not to mention that it made me wish I had a sister).  

In addition, I also enjoyed the "bookish" thread that ran through the entire story.  Aside from having both main characters work in the world of book publishing, there were also many book references, quotes, and puns that book nerds like me are sure to appreciate. 

This was definitely my favorite of Emily Henry's rom-coms and while it didn't change my sentiment toward rom-coms and romances in general (I'm still not much of a fan), it was absolutely a welcome departure from my usual reads.  I also just found out that Henry has a new book scheduled to release in April of next year — that one doesn't have a bookish vibe like this one, but I still look forward to reading it.

People We Meet in Vacation (by Emily Henry)

My Rating:  3.5 stars

 

This was a light, fun, escapist read – exactly the type of book I needed at the moment after a slew of heavy reads.  With that said though, I'm not a huge fan of rom-coms and while I liked both of the main characters Alex and Poppy well enough, there were times when the dynamics of their relationship frustrated me.  I don't take well to "angsty" love stories where the main characters (both single and unattached) clearly and obviously love each other, but intentionally suppress their feelings and choose not to communicate it, then proceed to "torture" themselves by pining for each other for majority of the story.  Nothing wrong with this type of setup of course, it's just that, for me personally, I don't have the patience it.  The structure of the story also didn't really help things, as the jumping back and forth between Alex and Poppy's past summer trips and the current one was confusing and while I understand this was meant to show the evolution of their relationship, it actually made it harder for me to stay invested, as I felt it got too repetitive after awhile. 

 

Overall, I would say that I did enjoy this one while I read it, but there wasn't anything special about it that would make me remember it later on or want to re-read it.  The travel aspect was a nice touch though, especially during this time period with most of us having been cooped up at home for the better part of a year – I had fun traveling around the world and seeing which exotic locaiton Alex and Poppy would end up in next!   The humor in the story I also felt was spot on – in fact, the best part of the book in my opinion was the witty banter between Poppy and Alex, which I definitely had a lot of fun reading.

 

I had read this author's previous book Beach Read last year (in May / June, so around the same time as now), also with the intention of taking a break from heavier reads  (as well as everything else that was going on in the world at that time) and in looking back at my review of that book, I found that my sentiments toward it were very similar to how I felt toward this one (which I guess isn't too surprising since the stories themselves are kind of similar): both were well-written, smart, funny, and altogether enjoyable reads, albeit this one had a slower moving plot than I would've liked and also took me longer to read.  Readers who enjoy rom-coms will probably love this one, so if that's you, I'd definitely recommend picking this up! 

 

 

Review: Beach Read (by Emily Henry)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I’m not much of a romance reader and I tend to get really picky when it comes to love stories, so under normal circumstances, I probably would not have chosen to read a book that is billed as a “romantic comedy” (which is where Emily Henry’s latest work Beach Read falls into), especially when I have a boatload of other books I need to read.  But with everything that has been going on the past few days – both here in the U.S. as well as around the world (plus the pandemic situation) – I wanted a departure from all the “heavy” books I’ve read lately and instead, read something uplifting, positive, and that wouldn’t require me to think too hard.  Coincidentally, my library hold came through a few days ago and since I already had this book on my list of “to reads” from the Summer Reading Guide for one of the book clubs I belong to, I decided to set everything else aside and read this one first.  It turns out that this book was just what I needed during this time – a fun, light-hearted read with characters who were realistically flawed (and also living “messed up” lives) but were still likable and relatable.  January and Gus were characters written in a way that made me automatically want to root for them, even though I already knew full well that no matter what obstacles they may face, they will likely still end up together as most couples in romantic comedies do.  But actually, this was not the typical “rom-com”, nor was it a “fluffy beach read” as most people may expect after seeing the title (pretty sure the irony behind the title was deliberate on the part of the author) – rather, the story had substance in that it dealt with ome difficult subjects in ways that didn’t make light of them, but also weren’t heavy-handed.  There was a good balance of biting humor versus serious reflection that permeated January and Gus’s story consistently from beginning to end, which for me, made them as characters more accessible and the story itself heartfelt as well as emotionally resonant.

With all that said, one complaint I had about the story is that I wish there had been a little more focus on the “bookish” part of the story line.  The premise of having 2 authors switch genres is an interesting one and while we do get glimpses of the book that January tries to write as part of the “bet,” we don’t hear much about Gus’s book outside of a brief mention near the end.  But then again, perhaps that’s asking for too much, since the point of the story wasn’t really the 2 books, but rather the romance that blossomed as a result of it.

Overall, this is a well-written romance that is also clever, smart, and funny, yet at the same time, had a raw, down-to-earth element to it that made the story and characters easy to connect with (at least for me).  I definitely enjoyed this one and even though it didn’t change much for me in terms of reading romances (I’m still not much of a reader of this genre and remain picky on which ones to read), it did make me want to explore this author’s backlist and try a few of her other books when I have time.  If you’re thinking about picking this one up, I heartily recommend it, though a word of caution that there are some racy scenes in here that might be uncomfortable to read for some (especially those who don’t read contemporary romance too often) – though fortunately, those scenes are brief enough to skim without affecting the rest of the story much.