After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that I want a summer home on the island of Nantucket. One where I can relax, walk on the beach, enjoy simple meals…sounds like a dream, right? Unless, of course, you are planning a wedding–a wedding that seems intent on self-destruction. Beautiful Day is a book about family drama, multiple weddings, and missing a beloved parent. It did a great job of making me fall in love with the idea of a pretty island and spending time with family, but I am fairly sure I will avoid any weddings on Nantucket.

Of course, this is a fictional book, I know that. But it does a fantastic job of capturing the days surrounding a wedding and the planning that goes into one. Some parts are humorous, and others quite dead serious. I think women of all kinds will appreciate this well-written story of family, and what being a family entails. I know I enjoyed being able to live vicariously through the characters, that way I could avoid the stress involved in the wedding planning, but feel almost as if I was on the guest list just the same.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  19 religious exclamations; 41 mild obscenities; 3 religious profanities; 10 derogatory names; 8 anatomical terms; 1 offensive hand gesture; 9 F-word derivatives

Violence/Gore:  A character considers suicide; a character has a severe allergic reaction to food, one brief violent scene.

Sex/Nudity:  Women mention lap dances in conversation; a woman’s body is described in a sexual way; an unmarried couple is mentioned to be sleeping together; a man describes making love to his wife briefly, with some explicit detail; a man is mentioned to be having an affair multiple times; a man is cheating on his wife, this is mentioned multiple times; a woman and man are briefly mentioned to have sex several times, no explicit detail is given; a man briefly describes watching his wife undress; a couple is said to “screw”; a man is mentioned to be addicted to porn; a man recalls having a one-night stand; a group of women talk about a hypothetical affair; rape is mentioned hypothetically; a group of women talk about a man’s sexual attributes; a couple is mentioned to “hook up”; a woman is mentioned to “seduce” a man.

Mature Subject Matter:

Divorce; death of a parent.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults drink; characters mentioned to be drunk; a teen boy is mentioned to grow pot; adults are mentioned to smoke.