Beach Read? More like reread.
- aeloynes
- Jun 1, 2020
- 2 min read
TW: suicide, death of a parent, cancer
Okay, seeing as this is my most favorite book of 2020, it only fits that it be the first review to be posted on this wild idea of mine.
I guess, let's just get started! So, basically this book is about angsty Augustus and hopeless romantic January falling in love and resolving individual conflicts. January and Gus both have their own demon-filled pasts and they manage to find each other in North Bear Shores, Michigan, as neighbors.
Wow, what a coincidence right?
It gets freakier.
They knew each other in college?!
Okay so once you skim past that little unrealistic bit to this, the rest of it really goes smoothly. I think a large part of this is messed up because January has these weird versions of Gus that she creates in her head without actually talking to him about it, but once she does, and he manages to prove her wrong on every front, it ends beautifully.
I think this was so pleasant because it wasn't a light read. I definitely don't read fiction with the expectation that it's going to be realistic, but I do enjoy reading fiction that has elements of realism in it. In this story, the likelihood of two college individuals (who went to a school the size of the University of Michigan) reuniting in a small town as neighbors is quite unlikely. However, the rest of their story is just digestible enough to believe it could happen to anyone. Not only this, but they're actually broken people. Truly broken, not a version of broken created poorly by a talented author, but honestly actually broken. They represent real people doing real things and facing real struggles. I mean, how many people do you know who have lost parents or come from bad backgrounds? What about those who had a parent cheat on the other parent? The topics are so tangible and real that they poke you right in the heart (I couldn't come up with a quirkier word for heart in this moment).
All of this to say, I LOVED this book with an obvious capital L. It was sweet, it was charming, and it was as unrealistic as realistic fiction can get.
Full review stars:
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Writing style: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars
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