this book.... this book is insane. this is the romance i will be recommending to everyone from here on out, especially for ppl trying to get into the genre bc Beach Read is literally what it's all about. this book absolutely nails why i love romance. this book is therapy for the soul.

i am so in love with both gus and january. both characters are extremely well-developed and nuanced, and i loved uncovering more about each of them bit by bit. they were so realistic and complex, and no reveal ever felt like the extent of their emotional depths. this story felt like getting a sneak peak into a slice of time in their lives, a takeaway which i think is so important. overall i'm a big fan of the book's emphasis on the contradictions of life; you can resent someone and love them, you can make bad decisions and be a good person, and you can want love so badly but still be afraid of it. i love that we started with the romantic/cynic trope and ended up somewhere in the muddled middle, together.

something about grief in romance novels always hits me the hardest. i think maybe the extreme emotion of loss highlights the importance of accepting the love we already have in life, and it makes everything feel so much more potent, raw. i'm glad that january's grief was able to add to the story in a way which informs her character, and that her romance with gus was in no way a grief-rebound relationship. january's grief was more obviously handled since we're in her head for the duration of the book, but gus's own grief was also so skillfully done; i thought his characterisations of childhood trauma and depression/unspecified mental illness was revealed just enough for the reader/january to understand and love him without feeling the need to dig through his wounds for exhibitionist purposes. it made him feel like such a real and well-rounded person, all of his fears and defense mechanisms and difficulties with communication; Absurdly Specific Details, as he would say.


yeah idk man what else to say about this book, i feel like i could talk about it forever. i've definitely written longer reviews for books i've liked less, but i'm just more so overwhelmed with this huge sense of catharsis, like being reminded to breathe after a long time. this one now lives on one of the book shelves in my heart so i can keep it close. i sobbed like a baby reading her dad's letters, i related so much to january and i fell in love with gus too, as well as the idyllic small town setting. what is pitched as a writer vs writer romance novel is actually more of a quiet story about two uncertain broken people trying to figure out how to live life and learning to be happy amidst all life's uncertainty together. it is so lovely, and so warm.