The most perfect summer romcom – you’ll fall in love with Beach Read by Emily Henry. Move aside Bridget Jones, Henry is the new queen of romcoms.

The plot:

January is a hopeless romantic who narrates her life like she’s the lead in a blockbuster movie.

Gus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy tale.

But January and Gus have more in common than they think:

• They’re both broke
• They have crippling writer’s block
• And they need to write bestsellers before summer ends.

The result? A bet to swap genres and see who gets published first. The risk? In telling each other’s stories, their worlds might be changed entirely…

The best book I’ve read in this genre

I didn’t know how much I wanted a book like Beach Read until I’d finished it. It’s SO good, with so many different layers of emotion – it’s not your simple ‘boy meets girl and falls in love’ – there’s multiple stories which will make you sad, or overjoyed, excited and basically give your heart to this book.

I’m going to start with the characters, because booooooooy did I love them. The way the two protagonists communicated had me in stiches with the gentle sarcasm/banter. The minor characters still played a big part, and I loved January’s best friend. You don’t hear much from one key character which I was mildly disappointed about in the beginning, but as time went on, appreciated what Henry was doing.

It’s written in first person from January’s point of view, and I really enjoyed how it kept the same tone of voice throughout – no switching between January and Gus. You still got a huge insight into Gus’ thoughts and personality through the conversation, but ultimately, you get attached to January and think she’s your best bud (I’m refusing to believe it’s just me who thought this).

It’s an easy book to read, and near impossible to put down – I devoured a good 200 pages in one-sitting because I just got so wrapped up in the characters and story. The whole premise – two writers who have writer’s block but are working on deadlines, and then switch genres – YES! I could have happily had another 1000 pages (not a typo, I know what I said); it doesn’t feel like anything was missing, but I’m just greedy and want to live in this Beach Read land.

There are moments where you might cringe and chuckle, and other moments when you’re cackling and smiling for pages on end. I loved all the little inside jokes, and references to earlier conversations – there are lots of “The Grinch when he says ‘I’m feeling’” moments.

It also covers the protagonist’s past, which, as the story goes on, is very moving but dealt with delicately, especially when handling the topic of grief.

A faultless book, in my opinion. 5/5 stars. A delightful, modern and uplifting read. The best book I’ve read in this genre.

Beach Read, Emily Henry, RRP £7.99 (paperback); Book Depository 

Pages: 358

Publisher: Penguin

Genre: Romcom