Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Beach Read by Emily Henry

1. What traditional romance tropes do you see used in Beach Read? In what ways does the book deviate from or subvert romance tropes?
2. Whether you're a writer or not, how do you see the concept of writer's block in your own life? If you could give January a piece of advice for dealing with these phases of life, what would it be?
3. If you could visit one setting from the book, with one of its characters, whom and where would you choose?
4. January has a chip on her shoulder from negative reactions to her genre of choice. Have you ever felt "book-shamed" for liking a particular genre? Career-shamed?
5. Is your worldview more like Gus's or January's? Do you tend to be optimistic or pessimistic? Has that changed with time and experience?
6. Many of the issues between January and Gus begin with assumptions. How do you see January's past experiences informing the assumptions she makes? Do you see this happen in real life?
7. Did January's father deserve her forgiveness? Has she truly forgiven him?
8. Do you believe in the idea of Happily Ever After? What would your HEA look like in real life?
9. Do you prefer to read books with a certain kind of ending? Prefer to know what kind of ending to expect?
10. What is your perfect beach read?
11. If January and Gus got a sequel, what would it be about? What do you think comes next for them? What do you hope?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Berkley Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.