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Uma Vida e Tanto
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Readers' Favorite Romance (2025), Nominee for Readers' Favorite Audiobook (2025)Alice Scott é uma otimista incorrigível que ainda sonha em publicar seu grande sucesso. Hayden Anderson é um mal-humorado vencedor do Prêmio Pulitzer. Os dois viajam para a ilha Little Crescent pelo mesmo motivo: disputar a chance de escrever a biografia da mulher que se diz Margaret Ives, figurinha repetida nos tabloides e trágica herdeira de uma das mais comentadas e escandalosas famílias do século XX, agora na casa dos oitenta anos e que vai escolher quem poderá contar sua história.
Apesar do tamanho do desafio, três coisas mantêm Alice confiante: ela é muito carismática e tem um mês inteirinho para conquistar a senhora; está pronta para finalmente impressionar sua família com uma publicação séria; e o premiado Hayden Anderson não para de encará-la com um olhar de dar nos nervos, o que deve significar que está preocupado com a competição.
O problema é que Margaret só conta pequenos trechos de sua história para cada um, e eles não podem trocar informações graças a um acordo de confidencialidade e a uma atração forte e meio inconveniente que rola sempre que se encontram. Pelo jeito, parece que a história dos dois, assim como a de Margaret, pode se tornar um mistério, uma tragédia ou uma história de amor… dependendo de quem a contar.
Apesar do tamanho do desafio, três coisas mantêm Alice confiante: ela é muito carismática e tem um mês inteirinho para conquistar a senhora; está pronta para finalmente impressionar sua família com uma publicação séria; e o premiado Hayden Anderson não para de encará-la com um olhar de dar nos nervos, o que deve significar que está preocupado com a competição.
O problema é que Margaret só conta pequenos trechos de sua história para cada um, e eles não podem trocar informações graças a um acordo de confidencialidade e a uma atração forte e meio inconveniente que rola sempre que se encontram. Pelo jeito, parece que a história dos dois, assim como a de Margaret, pode se tornar um mistério, uma tragédia ou uma história de amor… dependendo de quem a contar.
467 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2025
About the author
Emily Henry
22 books211k followersEmily Henry is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read, as well as the forthcoming Happy Place. She lives and writes in Cincinnati and the part of Kentucky just beneath it.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120,209 reviews
September 6, 2024
4.25!
“It’s yours,” he offers. I laugh. “Oh? I can have the world?” “Mine,” he says, “yeah. You can have mine.”
I love reading Emily Henry's books and I love reviewing her books even more. I loveeee how much I love them and I absolutely love ranting and yapping about them. This book was very different from her usual romcoms and I loved the new direction she took because honestly, I do love authors trying new things and this, not so surprisingly, worked out for Emily. I did not feel like this was misgenred because I went in knowing this was leaning more towards women's fiction than a rom-com, so I did not face that problem either and uff the comfort that Emily's writing brings me is the best feeling ever because I don’t feel like this with many authors. This was also the first Emily book for which I had to wait a whole year and I hated that because previously I had other books of hers to read and they really filled the gap of a year, but the wait was agonizing and the wait was so worth it because it fulfilled the craving that I had for this book. It's scary how well Emily Henry knows me because??? Why was everything so relatable again?!? This is voodoo shit and needs to be checked. It was certainly very new and very different, but it was also proof that trying something new can be worth it.
“Love isn’t something you can cup in your hands, and I have to believe that means it’s something that can’t ever be lost.”
Her prose is just spectacular, so addicting, and honestly I make myself slow down when I read her books because I need to digest everything and like I can only read it once for the first time, so I always savor them but the way they're so delicious—I can’t stop. It makes me feel seen, I just feel better after reading her books. If I'm having a bad day, I'll just pick up her book and it would turn my world around and this book was no different, it was a euphoric form of escapism because I would come back from uni and I would just lie down to read this and would be so lost in it. The way she wrote it was also very impressive, like how she managed Alice and Hayden's story with Margaret's book?! Truly impressive. It definitely had aspects of mystery which felt so refreshing and honestly at first, I was just reading it for Alice and Hayden's story but as the book progressed, I got more invested in Margaret's. I would say that this is not my favorite book by her because it didn't grip me from the start like her other books, I had to work my way through chapters to be invested and it is understandable to see disappointed reactions but hah, glad I'm not among them.
“When I let myself dream,” he murmurs against my ear, “or it all comes crashing down—it’s Alice, Alice on my mind. Alice all the time.”
The characters took me by surprise:
Alice, was such a refreshing character, like as usual she was very relatable but I loved her determination, how much good she saw in other things, I absolutely loved her optimism and one thing I love is when characters have flawed or complex family dynamics which shape their character arc and the same happened here with Alice, with her mom neglecting her work and putting her down (which I hated so muchhhh) and her trying to prove herself—it was soo sad. The way she just wanted her profession to be valued. I loved reading her perspective and the way she viewed the world. I also really enjoyed her interactions with Margaret and how she dealt with that process was also very intriguing to see. Hayden on the other hand was a bit harder to understand and I think this was the inability of this book to obtain a second perspective—his perspective. I have only one complaint when it comes to some of Emily's books: that they don’t have the male character's perspective and I feel like having that would've elevated this book more. But as for Hayden, he was charming, the perfect amount of broody, and I loved his subtle gestures. I liked his development as the book progressed—it was truly such a wonderful experience to see him open up and deal with everything, his character also felt very realistic. That's the thing that I love in her books, she manages to capture every character of hers in this unique sense which differentiates them from her other characters but still makes them so relatable that you have to fall in love with them. I love that about her books!
“I think you live in a world that’s more interesting than the one most people live in,” he says, and just as my heart starts to sink with disappointment, with a kind of loneliness, he adds, “and I wish I could live in it too.” I feel myself beaming. “I’ll take you sometime.” “I’d like that,” he says.”
Margaret, her story was not doing it for me at the beginning but as we moved forward I got so invested in it!! Like it was so interesting and the plot twists were very well written!! I liked how it started with 'their story' and then it would say 'her story' but I loved how dysfunctional these family dynamics were and at times the family tree got a little bit too confusing but it was still very interesting to say the least. Emily knows how to write a sibling relationship like we saw it in Book Lovers and while Margaret's relationship with her sister was so well written, it was also very complex and it was written in such depth that it's very hard not to love. It was so deep, raw, and emotional. Then we got introduced to Cosmo and omg how much I loved her with Cosmo, they were everything and I fear I will never get over them!! I won’t say anything more because I want everyone to experience it themselves, it was truly brilliant writing.
“There’s an old saying about stories, and how there are always three versions of them: yours, mine, and the truth.”
The romance—besides Margaret and Cosmo—there were our main characters in this book Alice and Hayden and I loveeeed the chemistry between them, it was so intense and raw, like it was so well developed and all of it felt so natural, like the romance was not the main focus but still everything just fit right in. I was scared when I saw the early reviews talking about the romance but for me, it totally hit!! The tension between them was sizzling, how they went from rivals to lovers was so good and I liked how their interactions changed each time and how they opened up to each other. The spice was also well written and lmao I loved how horny it was and can we talk about how intense that hug was like GOD DAMN! That hug was the horniest, most intense, sexiest hug I have ever seen. I loved the romance a lot and although I wish it focused on it more, I still think it was appropriate and sufficient.
“I feel like you’re mine. Like you’re mine in a way no one else ever has been.”
The plot was very interesting, specifically because of the way it was told. Two writers fighting for one position and it was also focusing on the story that they were meant to tell and how it was overlapping with Hayden and Alice's characters. I loved how it progressed and how it concluded, I feel like it was the strength of this book and what I really liked were the plot twists—like the first one I kind of predicted but the second one shocked the fuck out of me, like I was kinda mad I didn’t figure it out before because it was right under my nose but yeah, I really loved it!
Overall, I would recommend!
My ratings for her books;
Beach read: 5 stars!
Happy place: 5 stars!
Funny story: 4.75!
People we meet on vacation: 4.50!
Great big beautiful life: 4.25!
Book lovers: 4.00!
I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn't really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.”
______
SERVED, ATE AND DEVOURED
_____
Finally free from my exams so it's time to start this banger of a book 🤭
____
Secured the arc 🙂↕️ I still can't believe it 😭
___
That time of the year where I check my house to see where Emily Henry has installed cameras because SHE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH WRITING RELATABLE CHARACTERS-
GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE 🙂↕️ I think im getting used to the title
It's gonna be linked to the last great American dynasty 😔 (Buket I won't forgive you for this one)
“It’s yours,” he offers. I laugh. “Oh? I can have the world?” “Mine,” he says, “yeah. You can have mine.”
I love reading Emily Henry's books and I love reviewing her books even more. I loveeee how much I love them and I absolutely love ranting and yapping about them. This book was very different from her usual romcoms and I loved the new direction she took because honestly, I do love authors trying new things and this, not so surprisingly, worked out for Emily. I did not feel like this was misgenred because I went in knowing this was leaning more towards women's fiction than a rom-com, so I did not face that problem either and uff the comfort that Emily's writing brings me is the best feeling ever because I don’t feel like this with many authors. This was also the first Emily book for which I had to wait a whole year and I hated that because previously I had other books of hers to read and they really filled the gap of a year, but the wait was agonizing and the wait was so worth it because it fulfilled the craving that I had for this book. It's scary how well Emily Henry knows me because??? Why was everything so relatable again?!? This is voodoo shit and needs to be checked. It was certainly very new and very different, but it was also proof that trying something new can be worth it.
“Love isn’t something you can cup in your hands, and I have to believe that means it’s something that can’t ever be lost.”
Her prose is just spectacular, so addicting, and honestly I make myself slow down when I read her books because I need to digest everything and like I can only read it once for the first time, so I always savor them but the way they're so delicious—I can’t stop. It makes me feel seen, I just feel better after reading her books. If I'm having a bad day, I'll just pick up her book and it would turn my world around and this book was no different, it was a euphoric form of escapism because I would come back from uni and I would just lie down to read this and would be so lost in it. The way she wrote it was also very impressive, like how she managed Alice and Hayden's story with Margaret's book?! Truly impressive. It definitely had aspects of mystery which felt so refreshing and honestly at first, I was just reading it for Alice and Hayden's story but as the book progressed, I got more invested in Margaret's. I would say that this is not my favorite book by her because it didn't grip me from the start like her other books, I had to work my way through chapters to be invested and it is understandable to see disappointed reactions but hah, glad I'm not among them.
“When I let myself dream,” he murmurs against my ear, “or it all comes crashing down—it’s Alice, Alice on my mind. Alice all the time.”
The characters took me by surprise:
Alice, was such a refreshing character, like as usual she was very relatable but I loved her determination, how much good she saw in other things, I absolutely loved her optimism and one thing I love is when characters have flawed or complex family dynamics which shape their character arc and the same happened here with Alice, with her mom neglecting her work and putting her down (which I hated so muchhhh) and her trying to prove herself—it was soo sad. The way she just wanted her profession to be valued. I loved reading her perspective and the way she viewed the world. I also really enjoyed her interactions with Margaret and how she dealt with that process was also very intriguing to see. Hayden on the other hand was a bit harder to understand and I think this was the inability of this book to obtain a second perspective—his perspective. I have only one complaint when it comes to some of Emily's books: that they don’t have the male character's perspective and I feel like having that would've elevated this book more. But as for Hayden, he was charming, the perfect amount of broody, and I loved his subtle gestures. I liked his development as the book progressed—it was truly such a wonderful experience to see him open up and deal with everything, his character also felt very realistic. That's the thing that I love in her books, she manages to capture every character of hers in this unique sense which differentiates them from her other characters but still makes them so relatable that you have to fall in love with them. I love that about her books!
“I think you live in a world that’s more interesting than the one most people live in,” he says, and just as my heart starts to sink with disappointment, with a kind of loneliness, he adds, “and I wish I could live in it too.” I feel myself beaming. “I’ll take you sometime.” “I’d like that,” he says.”
Margaret, her story was not doing it for me at the beginning but as we moved forward I got so invested in it!! Like it was so interesting and the plot twists were very well written!! I liked how it started with 'their story' and then it would say 'her story' but I loved how dysfunctional these family dynamics were and at times the family tree got a little bit too confusing but it was still very interesting to say the least. Emily knows how to write a sibling relationship like we saw it in Book Lovers and while Margaret's relationship with her sister was so well written, it was also very complex and it was written in such depth that it's very hard not to love. It was so deep, raw, and emotional. Then we got introduced to Cosmo and omg how much I loved her with Cosmo, they were everything and I fear I will never get over them!! I won’t say anything more because I want everyone to experience it themselves, it was truly brilliant writing.
“There’s an old saying about stories, and how there are always three versions of them: yours, mine, and the truth.”
The romance—besides Margaret and Cosmo—there were our main characters in this book Alice and Hayden and I loveeeed the chemistry between them, it was so intense and raw, like it was so well developed and all of it felt so natural, like the romance was not the main focus but still everything just fit right in. I was scared when I saw the early reviews talking about the romance but for me, it totally hit!! The tension between them was sizzling, how they went from rivals to lovers was so good and I liked how their interactions changed each time and how they opened up to each other. The spice was also well written and lmao I loved how horny it was and can we talk about how intense that hug was like GOD DAMN! That hug was the horniest, most intense, sexiest hug I have ever seen. I loved the romance a lot and although I wish it focused on it more, I still think it was appropriate and sufficient.
“I feel like you’re mine. Like you’re mine in a way no one else ever has been.”
The plot was very interesting, specifically because of the way it was told. Two writers fighting for one position and it was also focusing on the story that they were meant to tell and how it was overlapping with Hayden and Alice's characters. I loved how it progressed and how it concluded, I feel like it was the strength of this book and what I really liked were the plot twists—like the first one I kind of predicted but the second one shocked the fuck out of me, like I was kinda mad I didn’t figure it out before because it was right under my nose but yeah, I really loved it!
Overall, I would recommend!
My ratings for her books;
Beach read: 5 stars!
Happy place: 5 stars!
Funny story: 4.75!
People we meet on vacation: 4.50!
Great big beautiful life: 4.25!
Book lovers: 4.00!
I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn't really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.”
______
SERVED, ATE AND DEVOURED
_____
Finally free from my exams so it's time to start this banger of a book 🤭
____
Secured the arc 🙂↕️ I still can't believe it 😭
___
That time of the year where I check my house to see where Emily Henry has installed cameras because SHE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH WRITING RELATABLE CHARACTERS-
GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE 🙂↕️ I think im getting used to the title
It's gonna be linked to the last great American dynasty 😔 (Buket I won't forgive you for this one)
April 21, 2025
Oh Emily… what are we doing here?? Got my hands on a pre-release (!!!), was fully prepped to be obsessed, and instead I was sitting there like—hello?? romance? anyone home??
First of all: STOP. MISGENRING. BOOKS.
I don’t care how beautiful the prose is (and yes, the writing was gorgeous)—this book is being sold as a romance. It is not a romance. This was women’s fiction with mystery sprinkles and a dry slow-burn subplot that didn’t even simmer. And I say this as someone who eats up slow burns like it’s my full-time job.
THE PREMISE?
10/10. Two writers competing to write a juicy biography about a missing heiress with an NDA and some forced proximity? HELLO, SIGN ME UP.
THE EXECUTION?
3/10. It got so bogged down in Margaret Ives and her family’s drama that the entire romance thread between Alice and Hayden became background noise. Beige. Blurry. Basically invisible.
Alice was the classic “sunshine with big dreams” type, but with all the sparkle of a soggy saltine. Hayden, the grumpy Pulitzer-winning grump, had the emotional depth of a half-written poem. Did I want to love them? YES. Did I ever really see them fall in love? NOPE. Not even a little.
One minute it’s “Who even is this man?” and the next it’s “I love him.”
Girl, where? WHEN? Did I blink and miss the entire emotional arc???
Margaret’s story… whew.
Boring. Predictable. At one point I swear the book forgot who the main characters were supposed to be. We spent 80% of the book digging through Margaret’s lineage like it was an ancestry.com deep dive and somehow forgot to make her interesting?? I needed glamour, secrets, drama. All I got was a slow drip of exposition and one ridiculous twist that made me want to fling the book across the beach.
The romance.
Forced proximity with zero actual chemistry? Check.
Sexual tension that felt like two magnets trying to repel each other? Check.
Cringe spice scenes I literally skipped because I couldn’t handle secondhand embarrassment? Unfortunately, check.
Hayden went from stone cold silence to trauma dumping in monologues that felt like rejected Oscar speeches. And Alice just stood there being quirky and mildly confused. Girl SAME.
And the ending? OH THE ENDING.
It tried to become a full-on mystery novel with plot twists flying in from left field like it was auditioning for a new genre entirely. I was so confused I had to reread pages just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Spoiler: I hadn’t. It was just That. Random.
BUT LISTEN.
I didn’t hate it. I flew through the book. Emily’s writing is undeniably magnetic. Some lines had me gasping, others had me giggling, and there were a few moments of pure ✨magic✨. The small-town beach setting? A vibe. Hayden’s grumpiness? Initially attractive. The potential? THROUGH THE ROOF.
But ultimately?
This wasn’t a romance.
This wasn’t emotionally satisfying.
This wasn’t the Emily Henry book I waited all year for.
If this had been marketed as a women’s fiction novel with literary ambitions and a dash of romance, I’d be like “cool cool, let’s unpack.” But calling this a romance is misleading, and for me, that disconnect colored the entire experience.
I wanted swoony Emily Henry banter and high-stakes tension. I got family trees and trauma.
Give me Hayden and Alice as enemies-to-lovers, cooped up in a cottage, battling for biographer glory with banter and kisses and “oh no there’s only one bed”—THAT’S the book I thought I was reading.
Instead, I got chapters on generational guilt, a dead romance, and a biographer battle that had no real stakes.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
3 stars.
A gorgeous mess with a broken heart and a beautiful typewriter.
Loved the vibe. Hated the bait and switch. Still a fan. Just… sad.
EmHen, you’re still my girl. I just miss the kissing, yearning, and banter that made me scream into my pillow—in the best way.
First of all: STOP. MISGENRING. BOOKS.
I don’t care how beautiful the prose is (and yes, the writing was gorgeous)—this book is being sold as a romance. It is not a romance. This was women’s fiction with mystery sprinkles and a dry slow-burn subplot that didn’t even simmer. And I say this as someone who eats up slow burns like it’s my full-time job.
THE PREMISE?
10/10. Two writers competing to write a juicy biography about a missing heiress with an NDA and some forced proximity? HELLO, SIGN ME UP.
THE EXECUTION?
3/10. It got so bogged down in Margaret Ives and her family’s drama that the entire romance thread between Alice and Hayden became background noise. Beige. Blurry. Basically invisible.
Alice was the classic “sunshine with big dreams” type, but with all the sparkle of a soggy saltine. Hayden, the grumpy Pulitzer-winning grump, had the emotional depth of a half-written poem. Did I want to love them? YES. Did I ever really see them fall in love? NOPE. Not even a little.
One minute it’s “Who even is this man?” and the next it’s “I love him.”
Girl, where? WHEN? Did I blink and miss the entire emotional arc???
Margaret’s story… whew.
Boring. Predictable. At one point I swear the book forgot who the main characters were supposed to be. We spent 80% of the book digging through Margaret’s lineage like it was an ancestry.com deep dive and somehow forgot to make her interesting?? I needed glamour, secrets, drama. All I got was a slow drip of exposition and one ridiculous twist that made me want to fling the book across the beach.
The romance.
Forced proximity with zero actual chemistry? Check.
Sexual tension that felt like two magnets trying to repel each other? Check.
Cringe spice scenes I literally skipped because I couldn’t handle secondhand embarrassment? Unfortunately, check.
Hayden went from stone cold silence to trauma dumping in monologues that felt like rejected Oscar speeches. And Alice just stood there being quirky and mildly confused. Girl SAME.
And the ending? OH THE ENDING.
It tried to become a full-on mystery novel with plot twists flying in from left field like it was auditioning for a new genre entirely. I was so confused I had to reread pages just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Spoiler: I hadn’t. It was just That. Random.
BUT LISTEN.
I didn’t hate it. I flew through the book. Emily’s writing is undeniably magnetic. Some lines had me gasping, others had me giggling, and there were a few moments of pure ✨magic✨. The small-town beach setting? A vibe. Hayden’s grumpiness? Initially attractive. The potential? THROUGH THE ROOF.
But ultimately?
This wasn’t a romance.
This wasn’t emotionally satisfying.
This wasn’t the Emily Henry book I waited all year for.
If this had been marketed as a women’s fiction novel with literary ambitions and a dash of romance, I’d be like “cool cool, let’s unpack.” But calling this a romance is misleading, and for me, that disconnect colored the entire experience.
I wanted swoony Emily Henry banter and high-stakes tension. I got family trees and trauma.
Give me Hayden and Alice as enemies-to-lovers, cooped up in a cottage, battling for biographer glory with banter and kisses and “oh no there’s only one bed”—THAT’S the book I thought I was reading.
Instead, I got chapters on generational guilt, a dead romance, and a biographer battle that had no real stakes.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
3 stars.
A gorgeous mess with a broken heart and a beautiful typewriter.
Loved the vibe. Hated the bait and switch. Still a fan. Just… sad.
EmHen, you’re still my girl. I just miss the kissing, yearning, and banter that made me scream into my pillow—in the best way.
April 30, 2025
first and foremost, i respect Emily Henry for doing something new (for her). this was less rom-com than one would typically expect from her, which will be great for some and a big disappointment for others.
to be honest, i went into this with relatively low expectations. as someone who didn’t love either of EH’s last two releases (funny story + happy place) and rated them more generously than i actually felt, i didn’t expect much. overall, this was fine.
let’s break it down, shall we?
╔════what to expect════╗
➺ grumpy x sunshine
➺ two competing writers
➺ 70/30 split of fiction to romance
➺ very plot-driven, less fluff (once again… not as rom-com as one may expect)
➺ lots of focus on a third character, Margaret — someone the FMC & MMC are both writing about/for
➺ Georgia setting
➺ familial problems, generational drama, celebrity POV – very reminiscent of Evelyn Hugo in some ways
➺ meshing of multiple genres… romance, fiction, mystery?
➺ decent banter, per usual
╔════what i loved════╗
➺ i love Em Hen’s writing even if i don’t always love her stories
➺ the name Hayden is top tier
➺ Margaret’s plot line (until about the last 10%)
➺ a tall FMC (i’m a 5’9 girlie myself, though i’ve never had trouble sitting across from anyone)
➺ i always love occupational or academic rivalries… makes for good banter and a healthy amount of competition
➺ little acts of service like leaving croissants or coffee/tea for each other
➺ the sunshine’s personality wasn’t over the top annoying like it can easily be in so many romances (i’m grumpy, ok?)
╔════a side note about feeling oddly neutral════╗
➺ um… somehow i felt neutral towards this book THE ENTIRE TIME? i read 400-ish pages of this and never formed a solid opinion about anything (the romance, the plot, the characters, Margaret, the twists + reveals) until writing this review. if anyone saw my reading updates for this, you'd understand.
╔════what didn’t work for me════╗
➺ SO MANY EYEBROW MOVEMENTS – arching, raising, pinching, curving, flinching, furrowing, leaping, tilting, creasing, and flicking (at least they don’t have Botox, i guess)
➺ the ‘chortles’ are back, albeit not as many as previous books (i mentioned this in my review for funny story)
➺ an abundant and obsessive use of italics on nearly every page in seemingly unnecessary spots
➺ no FMC description besides having bangs that always stick to her forehead and short-ish hair. i personally need a visual while reading and i wasn’t able to picture our FMC.
➺ i wasn’t shocked by or very invested in any of the reveals. the last 10% of this book was a bit anticlimactic & disappointing for me ☹️
➺ didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the two main characters. Hayden has a great name, but isn’t really book boyfriend worthy
as always, 3 stars is not a bad rating, but merely an okay one.
to be honest, i went into this with relatively low expectations. as someone who didn’t love either of EH’s last two releases (funny story + happy place) and rated them more generously than i actually felt, i didn’t expect much. overall, this was fine.
let’s break it down, shall we?
╔════what to expect════╗
➺ grumpy x sunshine
➺ two competing writers
➺ 70/30 split of fiction to romance
➺ very plot-driven, less fluff (once again… not as rom-com as one may expect)
➺ lots of focus on a third character, Margaret — someone the FMC & MMC are both writing about/for
➺ Georgia setting
➺ familial problems, generational drama, celebrity POV – very reminiscent of Evelyn Hugo in some ways
➺ meshing of multiple genres… romance, fiction, mystery?
➺ decent banter, per usual
╔════what i loved════╗
➺ i love Em Hen’s writing even if i don’t always love her stories
➺ the name Hayden is top tier
➺ Margaret’s plot line (until about the last 10%)
➺ a tall FMC (i’m a 5’9 girlie myself, though i’ve never had trouble sitting across from anyone)
➺ i always love occupational or academic rivalries… makes for good banter and a healthy amount of competition
➺ little acts of service like leaving croissants or coffee/tea for each other
➺ the sunshine’s personality wasn’t over the top annoying like it can easily be in so many romances (i’m grumpy, ok?)
╔════a side note about feeling oddly neutral════╗
➺ um… somehow i felt neutral towards this book THE ENTIRE TIME? i read 400-ish pages of this and never formed a solid opinion about anything (the romance, the plot, the characters, Margaret, the twists + reveals) until writing this review. if anyone saw my reading updates for this, you'd understand.
╔════what didn’t work for me════╗
➺ SO MANY EYEBROW MOVEMENTS – arching, raising, pinching, curving, flinching, furrowing, leaping, tilting, creasing, and flicking (at least they don’t have Botox, i guess)
➺ the ‘chortles’ are back, albeit not as many as previous books (i mentioned this in my review for funny story)
➺ an abundant and obsessive use of italics on nearly every page in seemingly unnecessary spots
➺ no FMC description besides having bangs that always stick to her forehead and short-ish hair. i personally need a visual while reading and i wasn’t able to picture our FMC.
➺ i wasn’t shocked by or very invested in any of the reveals. the last 10% of this book was a bit anticlimactic & disappointing for me ☹️
➺ didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the two main characters. Hayden has a great name, but isn’t really book boyfriend worthy
as always, 3 stars is not a bad rating, but merely an okay one.
April 25, 2025
I say this as an Emily Henry enthusiast: Emily.... slow down!!!! We don't need a book every single year if that means sacrificing the quality!!!!! This feels like a first draft that needed another look, because the structure honestly doesn't work. Premise? Fantastic. Execution? A great big mess!
Great BBL blends three genres: literary fiction, romance, and a little bit of mystery. Howeverrrr, I'm not sure it will fully satisfy fans of any of those genres, because it doesn't succeed particularly well in any of them.
The mystery aspect is flimsy at best. It's not well-paced and, frankly, a bit gimmicky. It's tacked on at the end and doesn't really add much texture
The romance doesn't really make sense, because the FMC falls in love almost overnight and yet -- aside from being tall? -- the MMC doesn't really have any defining character traits. It's classic grumpy x sunshine but all of a sudden he stops "glowering" and she's in love with him. I'm not really sure what their attraction is based on, aside from being the only young people within a 10-mile radius.
The literary fiction comes in the form of Margaret: a socialite who disappeared from the public eye but wants to tell her story. If that sounds like Evelyn Hugo............ that's because it kind of is. EmHen tried to re-heat Taylor Jenkins Reid's nachos and they were... a little stale. It's been done! And it's been done better. The first half of Margaret's interviews are really really boring, and seem to just interrupt the original story in pointless ways. We should've skipped most of Margaret's lineage and backstory, and I feel like a good editor would've got rid of that immediately. Why the fuck were we learning about her grandparents!!!! Entire chapters could've easily been reduced to a few sentences.
To me, this reads like a screenplay. It would probably work on screen, but as a novel it's just a bit underwhelming.
I can't help but feel that Great BBL was rushed, and that the mammoth edits required would've set back the release so much that she just pushed through. I fear her publishers are so committed to rinsing Emily Henry dry that they're sacrificing the quality writing we have come to love (and expect) from her. In this press run for this book, she's ALREADY teasing a new (snowy) novel that she's writing. I'm not saying she shouldn't be writing something new yet, but I think her team should be advising her to let people focus on one book at a time. I'd rather wait longer for something consistently good.
The premise of Great BBL was brilliant, but this is clumsy handling of a delicate thing. A bit more time to work on it, and it could've been salvaged. I'm frustrated because I know this author can do so much better. This iteration is disappointing.
2.75 rounded up ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Great BBL blends three genres: literary fiction, romance, and a little bit of mystery. Howeverrrr, I'm not sure it will fully satisfy fans of any of those genres, because it doesn't succeed particularly well in any of them.
The mystery aspect is flimsy at best. It's not well-paced and, frankly, a bit gimmicky. It's tacked on at the end and doesn't really add much texture
The romance doesn't really make sense, because the FMC falls in love almost overnight and yet -- aside from being tall? -- the MMC doesn't really have any defining character traits. It's classic grumpy x sunshine but all of a sudden he stops "glowering" and she's in love with him. I'm not really sure what their attraction is based on, aside from being the only young people within a 10-mile radius.
The literary fiction comes in the form of Margaret: a socialite who disappeared from the public eye but wants to tell her story. If that sounds like Evelyn Hugo............ that's because it kind of is. EmHen tried to re-heat Taylor Jenkins Reid's nachos and they were... a little stale. It's been done! And it's been done better. The first half of Margaret's interviews are really really boring, and seem to just interrupt the original story in pointless ways. We should've skipped most of Margaret's lineage and backstory, and I feel like a good editor would've got rid of that immediately. Why the fuck were we learning about her grandparents!!!! Entire chapters could've easily been reduced to a few sentences.
To me, this reads like a screenplay. It would probably work on screen, but as a novel it's just a bit underwhelming.
I can't help but feel that Great BBL was rushed, and that the mammoth edits required would've set back the release so much that she just pushed through. I fear her publishers are so committed to rinsing Emily Henry dry that they're sacrificing the quality writing we have come to love (and expect) from her. In this press run for this book, she's ALREADY teasing a new (snowy) novel that she's writing. I'm not saying she shouldn't be writing something new yet, but I think her team should be advising her to let people focus on one book at a time. I'd rather wait longer for something consistently good.
The premise of Great BBL was brilliant, but this is clumsy handling of a delicate thing. A bit more time to work on it, and it could've been salvaged. I'm frustrated because I know this author can do so much better. This iteration is disappointing.
2.75 rounded up ⭐️⭐️⭐️
September 10, 2024
life is just the great big beautiful wait between emily henry releases.
and this one is like if emily henry wrote the seven husbands of evelyn hugo! it's half grumpy/sunshine romance, half fictional celebrity-riddled made-up story of a famous american family.
both halves, i'm pleased to tell you, are very fun.
it's rare that a book can have two such different stories and both are good. i never dreaded moving from one to the other. and i have struggled with both emily henry's and taylor jenkins reid's recent releases, so this was a complete treat.
it wasn't a perfect book: it's VERY grumpy/sunshine, first of all, to the point that sometimes our two love interests feel like emojis in their depth. i don't love the romance, maybe because while i love our cheery protagonist i got irritated on occasion by her grimacing hero. i am not convinced emily henry has a very deep understanding of NDAs.
but i loved the way the non-romance story went, and i thought the ending was unbearably sweet, and i'm pleased to tell everyone...
bottom line: this book was worth the always-interminable-feeling wait.
(3.5 / thank you to libro.fm for the alc!!!)
and this one is like if emily henry wrote the seven husbands of evelyn hugo! it's half grumpy/sunshine romance, half fictional celebrity-riddled made-up story of a famous american family.
both halves, i'm pleased to tell you, are very fun.
it's rare that a book can have two such different stories and both are good. i never dreaded moving from one to the other. and i have struggled with both emily henry's and taylor jenkins reid's recent releases, so this was a complete treat.
it wasn't a perfect book: it's VERY grumpy/sunshine, first of all, to the point that sometimes our two love interests feel like emojis in their depth. i don't love the romance, maybe because while i love our cheery protagonist i got irritated on occasion by her grimacing hero. i am not convinced emily henry has a very deep understanding of NDAs.
but i loved the way the non-romance story went, and i thought the ending was unbearably sweet, and i'm pleased to tell everyone...
bottom line: this book was worth the always-interminable-feeling wait.
(3.5 / thank you to libro.fm for the alc!!!)
May 14, 2025
The concept of a story within a story & having an em hen book that’s not solely focused on our two main characters, but rather having a 3rd pretty prevalent one seemed so new and fun and refreshing to me!
Seeing how Hayden & Alice met/started hanging out/their dynamic at first I was really into! On the other hand, Margaret’s story actually bored me to bed. & then the romance pacing went from 0-100 I was so confused!!! Where’s the yearning???? The emily Henry banter???? The witty MMC???? (The two stories just didn’t feel cohesive to me)
Anyway, I put my trust into her to deliver an interesting story with Margaret’s life, but I feel like we just got a family tree with no DRAMA or SCANDAL. I was waiting and waiting …. and it was not as dramatic as I’d hoped
This isn’t my favorite emily Henry (could actually be my least favorite) & that’s okay. I still enjoyed my reading experience, there were some beautiful quotes & moments, the setting was really cute, but overall it just felt a bit meh most of the time
Seeing how Hayden & Alice met/started hanging out/their dynamic at first I was really into! On the other hand, Margaret’s story actually bored me to bed. & then the romance pacing went from 0-100 I was so confused!!! Where’s the yearning???? The emily Henry banter???? The witty MMC???? (The two stories just didn’t feel cohesive to me)
Anyway, I put my trust into her to deliver an interesting story with Margaret’s life, but I feel like we just got a family tree with no DRAMA or SCANDAL. I was waiting and waiting …. and it was not as dramatic as I’d hoped
This isn’t my favorite emily Henry (could actually be my least favorite) & that’s okay. I still enjoyed my reading experience, there were some beautiful quotes & moments, the setting was really cute, but overall it just felt a bit meh most of the time
April 12, 2025
If anyone saw a girl crying in her car as she passed exit 428 on the 5 freeway today, that was me listening to Julia Whelan read the last sentence of this book. Thank god for Emily Henry’s great big beautiful words.
I will be back at some point to talk about the way EmHen absolutely bodied the craft of weaving together, like, six different character arcs into that spectacular conclusion but for now I’m going to lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling and think about my life.
(And yes this is now my favorite Emily Henry book, Hayden + Alice I love you so much)
I will be back at some point to talk about the way EmHen absolutely bodied the craft of weaving together, like, six different character arcs into that spectacular conclusion but for now I’m going to lay on the floor and stare at the ceiling and think about my life.
(And yes this is now my favorite Emily Henry book, Hayden + Alice I love you so much)
May 24, 2025
I’d heard SUCH mixed reviews on this book before starting it so I’m SO pleasantly surprised that I LOVEDDDDD IT!! I always love Emily Henry’s romances but I especially loved Margaret’s story (which I know a lot of people found to move slow). This book truly felt like an Emily Henry rom com 🤝 meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
AND THE ENDING! Never ever saw it coming. I teared up twice 😭 soooo good.
And of course I loved the romance 💗🤭 a new top 3 Emily Henry book
AND THE ENDING! Never ever saw it coming. I teared up twice 😭 soooo good.
And of course I loved the romance 💗🤭 a new top 3 Emily Henry book
February 10, 2025
There was a point when I was reading this where I had to put the book down and physically pace but I was on an airplane, so I walked up and down the aisle like a caged animal. HAYDEN!!!! ALICE!!!!! I love them.
March 22, 2025
(official rtc)but I am spiralling after reading this. The setting and descriptions are sooo classic EmHen but this was so different to her other books (80% plot, 20% romance) and I low key ate it up. Personally loved it. Potentially one of my favourites???
April 7, 2025
jesus this was not my cup of tea. not romantic AT ALL and the story within a story was so so boring. it had TJR vibes but again, the interview bits were dull 🥲
also if this wins the choice award this year, i will never forgive yall
also if this wins the choice award this year, i will never forgive yall
April 8, 2025
reheating evelyn hugo's nachos
June 18, 2025
i thought this was so sweet 💜 i would love to have a glass of wine with margaret
December 6, 2025
The 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘰 from temu.
September 24, 2024
DNF @55%
I have such a hard time believing reviews that say this book is monumental and riveting when in the same breath i hear it’s a knockoff EVELYN HUGO.
Time to find out! Hope I’m surprised! 🤸🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️
Alright, I'll read it - but I'm forcing Bruna my bestie to read it with me 😅 This should be fun.
I have such a hard time believing reviews that say this book is monumental and riveting when in the same breath i hear it’s a knockoff EVELYN HUGO.
Time to find out! Hope I’m surprised! 🤸🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️
Alright, I'll read it - but I'm forcing Bruna my bestie to read it with me 😅 This should be fun.
April 29, 2025
Oh nooo… not this day!
I truly never thought this moment would come — the bloody day I’d give an Emily Henry book less than five stars. Not even four... but a gut-wrenching, soul-sinking 2.5 stars! 😩
Now, before you throw your bookmarks at me, let me clarify — I’m not heartless enough to slap a cold two-star rating on anything written by my favorite romance queen. (Seriously, I’d proudly strut around in a T-shirt plastered with her book covers!) So, out of sheer loyalty, I’m begrudgingly rounding up to three stars, because... well, it’s Emily Henry.
I know I’m not alone here — many readers have voiced their concerns, and even though we try not to let our biases creep in, especially as loyal fans of both Emily and Taylor Jenkins Reid, the plot parallels with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo are hard to ignore. And let’s be honest: Margaret Ives just didn’t cut it as a compelling, layered character. I never fully connected with her, and her backstory simply didn’t grab me. Every time the narrative veered into Margaret’s storyline, I swear I started yawning, snoozing like a nine-month-old after a bottle — complete with puffing baby sounds. 🙄
I found myself constantly taking “breaks” — to rewatch You (which, let’s be real, wasn’t even that exciting), to have long brunches that turned into existential lunch crises, followed by therapeutic five o’clock teas. Was the book stressing me out? Possibly. I even wondered if I was swelling from the narrative drag. But somehow, I kept crawling back just to savor the slightly better parts between Alice and Hayden. If not for their subplot, I would’ve confidently dropped this to a flat two stars — no regrets.
I so desperately wish their story had been told through a more classic trope — maybe rivals-to-lovers or forced proximity — something with heat and tension! But alas, Margaret was part of the package deal, and she couldn’t just be erased like Pedro Pascal’s name in The Last of Us Episode 3 credits (don’t get me started on that emotional damage…).
Maybe I’m just in a weird reading slump. Maybe I’m not emotionally available for a book like this right now. Maybe it’s the strawberry matcha almond milk latte I regret ordering instead of my usual cold brew. Whatever the reason, this story just wasn’t for me — at least not today.
So, I’m going to take a deep breath, go for a walk, maybe binge something uplifting on Apple TV (Studio or Pitt on Max, anyone?), and give this one another shot in a few weeks with a fresh mindset. Emily Henry is still my favorite, and she deserves a second chance… but for now?
Three reluctant stars. And a hug to my reader heart. 💔📚
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I truly never thought this moment would come — the bloody day I’d give an Emily Henry book less than five stars. Not even four... but a gut-wrenching, soul-sinking 2.5 stars! 😩
Now, before you throw your bookmarks at me, let me clarify — I’m not heartless enough to slap a cold two-star rating on anything written by my favorite romance queen. (Seriously, I’d proudly strut around in a T-shirt plastered with her book covers!) So, out of sheer loyalty, I’m begrudgingly rounding up to three stars, because... well, it’s Emily Henry.
I know I’m not alone here — many readers have voiced their concerns, and even though we try not to let our biases creep in, especially as loyal fans of both Emily and Taylor Jenkins Reid, the plot parallels with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo are hard to ignore. And let’s be honest: Margaret Ives just didn’t cut it as a compelling, layered character. I never fully connected with her, and her backstory simply didn’t grab me. Every time the narrative veered into Margaret’s storyline, I swear I started yawning, snoozing like a nine-month-old after a bottle — complete with puffing baby sounds. 🙄
I found myself constantly taking “breaks” — to rewatch You (which, let’s be real, wasn’t even that exciting), to have long brunches that turned into existential lunch crises, followed by therapeutic five o’clock teas. Was the book stressing me out? Possibly. I even wondered if I was swelling from the narrative drag. But somehow, I kept crawling back just to savor the slightly better parts between Alice and Hayden. If not for their subplot, I would’ve confidently dropped this to a flat two stars — no regrets.
I so desperately wish their story had been told through a more classic trope — maybe rivals-to-lovers or forced proximity — something with heat and tension! But alas, Margaret was part of the package deal, and she couldn’t just be erased like Pedro Pascal’s name in The Last of Us Episode 3 credits (don’t get me started on that emotional damage…).
Maybe I’m just in a weird reading slump. Maybe I’m not emotionally available for a book like this right now. Maybe it’s the strawberry matcha almond milk latte I regret ordering instead of my usual cold brew. Whatever the reason, this story just wasn’t for me — at least not today.
So, I’m going to take a deep breath, go for a walk, maybe binge something uplifting on Apple TV (Studio or Pitt on Max, anyone?), and give this one another shot in a few weeks with a fresh mindset. Emily Henry is still my favorite, and she deserves a second chance… but for now?
Three reluctant stars. And a hug to my reader heart. 💔📚
medium blog
July 28, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ not my favorite emily henry release—probably one of my least favorite, actually—but possibly not for the reasons you might expect. i liked hayden and alice together and apart as a couple, and i didn’t find this as boring as some of the detractors i have seen did. alice’s b-plot (her relationship to her family) was also a standout for me. but unfortunately, that was the only part of the story i felt had a truly satisfying ending. so much of the rest happens off-screen in a way that betrays the seeds that are sown by the rest of the story and i was left with something that i felt was unfinished, and not in a good way.
oh well. i still liked reading this! emily’s style really works for me, and this was no exception. i just wish everything had been given a little bit more time to come together
also i’m finally catching up on goodreads reviews 🤩 don’t mind the spam todayyy
oh well. i still liked reading this! emily’s style really works for me, and this was no exception. i just wish everything had been given a little bit more time to come together
also i’m finally catching up on goodreads reviews 🤩 don’t mind the spam todayyy
October 8, 2026
this is one of those plots that’s great in hindsight but not on paper. like i wanna see this as a movie, limited series, but reading it felt like a drag. which is why i switched to the audiobook half way through. it made it 10X better i can’t lie.
love emily henry but this felt like all the right ingredients but the wrong execution. the romance was cute for the most part but not that believable. the “story” was ehh?? every time we would jump back into the past of Margret’s story it was a snooze fest until the last few chapters when things started adding up.
i will say the mystery aspect of this was my favorite, surprisingly. jaw dropped may i add. i just wanted to see how it all came together in the end, and i enjoyed the turn of events. but as a romance girly, the romance was a sub sub plot. i would like a little more push and pull with these characters. it seems like they got together on a whim. and i’m here thinking “yall barely know each other” but whatever
the ending felt rushed. i think i needed 1 chapter of just them. would i recommend? maybe but it’s nothing to write home about 🫣
love emily henry but this felt like all the right ingredients but the wrong execution. the romance was cute for the most part but not that believable. the “story” was ehh?? every time we would jump back into the past of Margret’s story it was a snooze fest until the last few chapters when things started adding up.
i will say the mystery aspect of this was my favorite, surprisingly. jaw dropped may i add. i just wanted to see how it all came together in the end, and i enjoyed the turn of events. but as a romance girly, the romance was a sub sub plot. i would like a little more push and pull with these characters. it seems like they got together on a whim. and i’m here thinking “yall barely know each other” but whatever
the ending felt rushed. i think i needed 1 chapter of just them. would i recommend? maybe but it’s nothing to write home about 🫣
March 4, 2025
★★★★★
“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝘁.”
I just finished reading this masterpiece, and I am not the same girl at all. I have such mixed feelings, a weird emotion I've never felt before when writing a book review. Emily Henry somehow pulled me inside the story, making it feel like a puzzle. Sometimes it was blurry, other times crystal clear, but when you finish, you take a long inhale because the puzzle you followed is a masterpiece. It’s not just one story, but two. The first is a huge, sprawling narrative about Margaret Ives' family and her love life. It was a heavy story, and I felt everything—boredom, excitement, shock, and a sadness that shattered my heart into pieces. The second is a beautiful love story between the protagonists, Hayden Anderson and Alice Scott, a story that made my heart flutter with butterflies. These two stories aren’t separate; they’re like the sky and the sea, mirroring each other perfectly.
“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.”
This adage perfectly encapsulates the interwoven narratives of Hayden and Alice, two journalists tasked with writing a book about the legendary Margaret Ives, a project that is also a critical job opportunity. Her life, a sweeping saga from her influential father to her marriage to the enigmatic Cosmos Sinclair, is a story within a story, laced with a mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. The author skillfully builds suspense, leading to two shocking revelations at the end, while simultaneously crafting a palpable chemistry between Hayden and Alice.
Hayden, a skeptical journalist and freelancer, initially views the Margaret Ives project as a means to secure his next job. However, his protective streak and keen observational skills soon draw him into the story, and into Alice’s orbit. He's a refreshing departure from typical romantic heroes, and I particularly loved the dynamic between him and Alice; both tall, intelligent, and completely complementing each other, a welcome change from the "tiny woman, big man" trope so prevalent in romance. The electric tension between them was undeniable, especially in moments like their table encounter.
Alice, an optimistic and empathetic soul, is equally invested in the project, seeing it as a chance to prove herself. Her genuine curiosity about Hayden and her quiet victories whenever he spoke her name, or revealed his emotions, were beautifully rendered. Their connection is punctuated by poignant moments, like when Hayden reveals his feelings with a simple, “Tell me something no one knows about you,” followed by, “I’m in love with you.” Or, the vulnerable moment when he admits, “I think I don’t like people looking at me,” only to clarify, with his eyes fixed on her, “Not you.” These moments are raw and real, highlighting the depth of their connection, and are made more impactful by the stakes of their job opportunity.
“𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿.”
This sentiment echoes throughout "Great Big Beautiful Life," a novel where love, sacrifice, and the search for truth intertwine. Emily Henry masterfully develops the tension between Hayden and Alice, a slow burn that captivated my heart, even if it required a touch of patience at the beginning. This deliberate pacing, while initially testing my attention, ultimately proved rewarding, allowing the characters' connection to deepen organically.
The narrative unfolds as a dual story, each with its own distinct emotional weight. Margaret Ives emerges as a hero in her own right, her life a testament to sacrifice and resilience. The saga of her wealthy family, steeped in intrigue, and her legendary love story with the famous singer, Cosmos Sinclair, is a tale worthy of being passed down through generations. This narrative, rich in historical depth and emotional complexity, serves as a compelling backdrop for Hayden and Alice's present-day investigation.
Emily's skillful navigation between these two timelines is a testament to her storytelling prowess. The mystery surrounding Margaret Ives' life, slowly unraveled by Hayden and Alice, creates a constant sense of suspense, driving the plot forward. The revelations at the end, while shocking, are meticulously foreshadowed, making them feel both surprising and inevitable. The slow, deliberate development of Hayden and Alice's relationship, contrasted with the sweeping drama of Margaret's life, creates a dynamic tension that keeps the reader engaged. The initial moments of boredom were replaced with a deep investment in both narratives.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁?
The power of truth, the enduring nature of love, and the fragile beauty of trust are the cornerstones of "Great Big Beautiful Life." Emily Henry weaves these themes into the very fabric of her narrative, exploring their complexities through the lives of her characters. For Hayden and Alice, the search for the truth about Margaret Ives becomes a journey of self-discovery, where trust is both hard-won and essential.
The theme of loss, particularly the loss of a father, is handled with delicate sensitivity. As someone who lost their own father at a young age, I felt a deep connection to Alice's relationship with her late father. The quiet understanding and unspoken bond they shared, as you described, echoed my own experience, bringing tears to my eyes. This portrayal of grief is not melodramatic, but rather a poignant exploration of the enduring impact of loss and the quiet strength it can foster.
𝗣.𝗦. The writing style in is undeniably engaging, drawing the reader into the story with a seamless blend of wit, emotional depth, and vivid description. The fresh, vibrant atmosphere of the small island setting provided the perfect backdrop for a love story intertwined with a compelling detective narrative. Emily's ability to create a palpable sense of place allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story, feeling the island's gentle breezes and experiencing the characters' emotional journeys as if they were my own.
Pre_read:
*I'm taking a leap of faith with this one,my hopes are hanging by a thread.(And I'm not a fan of these kind of covers! Where have the cover designers been lately?)
“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝘁.”
I just finished reading this masterpiece, and I am not the same girl at all. I have such mixed feelings, a weird emotion I've never felt before when writing a book review. Emily Henry somehow pulled me inside the story, making it feel like a puzzle. Sometimes it was blurry, other times crystal clear, but when you finish, you take a long inhale because the puzzle you followed is a masterpiece. It’s not just one story, but two. The first is a huge, sprawling narrative about Margaret Ives' family and her love life. It was a heavy story, and I felt everything—boredom, excitement, shock, and a sadness that shattered my heart into pieces. The second is a beautiful love story between the protagonists, Hayden Anderson and Alice Scott, a story that made my heart flutter with butterflies. These two stories aren’t separate; they’re like the sky and the sea, mirroring each other perfectly.
“𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵.”
This adage perfectly encapsulates the interwoven narratives of Hayden and Alice, two journalists tasked with writing a book about the legendary Margaret Ives, a project that is also a critical job opportunity. Her life, a sweeping saga from her influential father to her marriage to the enigmatic Cosmos Sinclair, is a story within a story, laced with a mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. The author skillfully builds suspense, leading to two shocking revelations at the end, while simultaneously crafting a palpable chemistry between Hayden and Alice.
Hayden, a skeptical journalist and freelancer, initially views the Margaret Ives project as a means to secure his next job. However, his protective streak and keen observational skills soon draw him into the story, and into Alice’s orbit. He's a refreshing departure from typical romantic heroes, and I particularly loved the dynamic between him and Alice; both tall, intelligent, and completely complementing each other, a welcome change from the "tiny woman, big man" trope so prevalent in romance. The electric tension between them was undeniable, especially in moments like their table encounter.
Alice, an optimistic and empathetic soul, is equally invested in the project, seeing it as a chance to prove herself. Her genuine curiosity about Hayden and her quiet victories whenever he spoke her name, or revealed his emotions, were beautifully rendered. Their connection is punctuated by poignant moments, like when Hayden reveals his feelings with a simple, “Tell me something no one knows about you,” followed by, “I’m in love with you.” Or, the vulnerable moment when he admits, “I think I don’t like people looking at me,” only to clarify, with his eyes fixed on her, “Not you.” These moments are raw and real, highlighting the depth of their connection, and are made more impactful by the stakes of their job opportunity.
“𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿.”
This sentiment echoes throughout "Great Big Beautiful Life," a novel where love, sacrifice, and the search for truth intertwine. Emily Henry masterfully develops the tension between Hayden and Alice, a slow burn that captivated my heart, even if it required a touch of patience at the beginning. This deliberate pacing, while initially testing my attention, ultimately proved rewarding, allowing the characters' connection to deepen organically.
The narrative unfolds as a dual story, each with its own distinct emotional weight. Margaret Ives emerges as a hero in her own right, her life a testament to sacrifice and resilience. The saga of her wealthy family, steeped in intrigue, and her legendary love story with the famous singer, Cosmos Sinclair, is a tale worthy of being passed down through generations. This narrative, rich in historical depth and emotional complexity, serves as a compelling backdrop for Hayden and Alice's present-day investigation.
Emily's skillful navigation between these two timelines is a testament to her storytelling prowess. The mystery surrounding Margaret Ives' life, slowly unraveled by Hayden and Alice, creates a constant sense of suspense, driving the plot forward. The revelations at the end, while shocking, are meticulously foreshadowed, making them feel both surprising and inevitable. The slow, deliberate development of Hayden and Alice's relationship, contrasted with the sweeping drama of Margaret's life, creates a dynamic tension that keeps the reader engaged. The initial moments of boredom were replaced with a deep investment in both narratives.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱, 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁?
The power of truth, the enduring nature of love, and the fragile beauty of trust are the cornerstones of "Great Big Beautiful Life." Emily Henry weaves these themes into the very fabric of her narrative, exploring their complexities through the lives of her characters. For Hayden and Alice, the search for the truth about Margaret Ives becomes a journey of self-discovery, where trust is both hard-won and essential.
The theme of loss, particularly the loss of a father, is handled with delicate sensitivity. As someone who lost their own father at a young age, I felt a deep connection to Alice's relationship with her late father. The quiet understanding and unspoken bond they shared, as you described, echoed my own experience, bringing tears to my eyes. This portrayal of grief is not melodramatic, but rather a poignant exploration of the enduring impact of loss and the quiet strength it can foster.
𝗣.𝗦. The writing style in is undeniably engaging, drawing the reader into the story with a seamless blend of wit, emotional depth, and vivid description. The fresh, vibrant atmosphere of the small island setting provided the perfect backdrop for a love story intertwined with a compelling detective narrative. Emily's ability to create a palpable sense of place allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story, feeling the island's gentle breezes and experiencing the characters' emotional journeys as if they were my own.
Pre_read:
*I'm taking a leap of faith with this one,my hopes are hanging by a thread.(And I'm not a fan of these kind of covers! Where have the cover designers been lately?)
May 1, 2025
I personally think…the haters are tripping! This was a beautiful mix of a sweeping, unexpected romance and a tale of generational trauma; how we rely too much on time to do the hard work for us.
It was brief and it was beautiful indeed! 4.25 stars!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was brief and it was beautiful indeed! 4.25 stars!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2025
★ 4.25 stars
i went into this book with absolute zero expectations as Emily Henry is usually a hit or miss author for me. well... more hit than miss, actually; i’ve read her ‘big five’ — Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place & Funny Story — and honestly? out of all those, i can only say i liked Beach Read. i mean, i also enjoyed Happy Place back when i read it (2023) but to be fair it’s not really a book that aged well in my mind since my taste has changed, so nowadays i don’t think of it fondly. anyways, my not-so-great experience with this author made me give her an ultimatum: if this was another miss, i would not read her books anymore. i already felt like i wasn’t her target audience, and this was going to be my last effort to try to see if i was wrong.
as much as i tried, though, my past experiences couldn’t let myself feel hopeful, so i already started this book with the belief that it would really be the last book i ever read by Emily Henry. i fully thought it would be a boring or mediocre read at the best. and you know what? the first few chapters (the first 20%-30% i’d say) were exactly a mix of both of those things, so in some way i wasn’t wrong. but then, against against all odds... it improved in ways i didn’t imagine it would.
Great Big Beautiful Life is a blend of romance, literary fiction, historical fiction, and even mystery at some point. it was very different from other works i’ve read by this author, mainly because the romance itself felt like a sub-plot and she decided to focus more on the other elements of the book.
the romance wasn’t my favorite here. it’s not a surprise since i don’t really vibe with the way Emily writes romance (unpopular opinion, i know). i always find reasons to get annoyed and there’s always something missing for me, so i usually don’t care much or at all. this one was no different — from the get go, i was already not interested in it and i had a feeling that it would annoy me. and it did. for the majority of the first half, i genuinely did not care about it in the slightest and i was rolling my eyes every time that i had to read Alice and Hayden’s romantic interactions. in my opinion, their relationship just... didn’t seem believable and that’s what bothered me. it felt incredibly forced and it happened way too quickly, i blinked and then boom! they were kissing and falling for each other. on top of that, i struggled to see any chemistry there and because of that i couldn’t truly understand why the hell they were so drawn to each other. it made zero sense to me, sorry.
i saw some reviews here and there and i’ve seen that people got upset over the fact that Alice and Hayden’s love story was not the main plot here, and i do understand their reasons; but i can’t relate to that at all. i absolutely loved that the romance felt like a sub-plot (it’s not so hard to guess why after all). i think that i would’ve not liked this book as much as i did if it had primarily revolved around the romance.
that said, though, i will admit that the romance does get better at some point. it becomes slightly better around the second half, thankfully. i can even say that i stopped feeling the urge to skip the romantic interactions between Alice and Hayden and that i even found some of them cute-ish. but even so, that didn’t change my initial thoughts completely; as a whole, i still thought the romance was flawed. Alice and Hayden were nice characters individually and i ended up liking them both, but their relationship itself sadly wasn’t very well-developed. at the end, it wasn’t something that stood out to me.
the good [and shocking!] news, however, is that the rest of the book did stand out to me. the romance might not have been the best thing, but the other things certainly were, i’ll tell you that much.
Margaret Ives’ storyline is the reason why i adored this book so much in the first place. i mean, i’ll admit that the beginning was a little slow and uninteresting because it went all the way back; we had to learn the details about the lives of her past relatives — starting with her great-grandfather — before actually diving into the details of Margaret’s actual story and that was not *very* gripping because i didn’t really want to learn all about Margaret’s lineage nor did i understand why we had to do that, i just wanted to read about the events of her life and her life only because that seemed more compelling. but i started to get invested in the Iveses’ story as the story progressed, and by the end, it made sense why we had to get all that context. albeit i still think it didn’t have to be so detailed and long, some things were necessary, while others weren’t in the grand scheme of things. not everything felt essential in the bigger picture if we’re being honest.
nonetheless, i was invested in this whole family thing like i said. but when we finally get to Margaret’s personal story... that’s when i got a lot more invested. it was hard no to when you have the story of a former old Hollywood socialite who at some point mysteriously disappeared from the public eye after having a life surrounded by wealth, drama, glamour, and tragedy. it gave me major The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes — which is a book that i adored, so of course it’s not a shock i thoroughly enjoyed reading Margaret’s story.
it was so... compelling, absorbing, mysterious, touching and beautifully layered. i can tell you without a doubt that i enjoyed knowing every single detail about the story of her life. i was so drawn to it that i stayed up until four in the morning to find out all the things that happened in Margaret’s journey because i literally couldn’t sleep without doing that, my curiosity and my interest were off the charts. and you know what? ruining my sleep was totally worth it because wow... it was not only interesting but also jaw-dropping. it ended in a way that i literally could never see coming. i haven’t read something so good that made me feel so many emotions in awhile, so it was just a nice and refreshing feeling. i loved it.
there are also other stuff that i loved here such as: the vulnerability and the complexity of not only the characters but the general story, the way the author explored the familial relationships (mostly Margaret & her sister and Alice & her mother) and how she showed us how life can be ugly but also can be beautiful.
never in a million years i thought i would be saying this, but Emily Henry deserves a standing ovation for writing something so crafted, intricate and profound in its on way.
some things could’ve been better here (which is why i’m not giving it a five-star rating) and i wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt and that we had gotten more of certain things — but all in all, Great Big Beautiful Life still turned to be an amazing read and i’m grateful i gave it a go. i truly hope the author can write more books like this one in the future. if she does, i will be reading, that’s for sure. i don’t think i can give up on her just yet.
𝅄 𓂃 𖥻 “I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn't really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.” 𑇛 ˚
i went into this book with absolute zero expectations as Emily Henry is usually a hit or miss author for me. well... more hit than miss, actually; i’ve read her ‘big five’ — Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place & Funny Story — and honestly? out of all those, i can only say i liked Beach Read. i mean, i also enjoyed Happy Place back when i read it (2023) but to be fair it’s not really a book that aged well in my mind since my taste has changed, so nowadays i don’t think of it fondly. anyways, my not-so-great experience with this author made me give her an ultimatum: if this was another miss, i would not read her books anymore. i already felt like i wasn’t her target audience, and this was going to be my last effort to try to see if i was wrong.
as much as i tried, though, my past experiences couldn’t let myself feel hopeful, so i already started this book with the belief that it would really be the last book i ever read by Emily Henry. i fully thought it would be a boring or mediocre read at the best. and you know what? the first few chapters (the first 20%-30% i’d say) were exactly a mix of both of those things, so in some way i wasn’t wrong. but then, against against all odds... it improved in ways i didn’t imagine it would.
Great Big Beautiful Life is a blend of romance, literary fiction, historical fiction, and even mystery at some point. it was very different from other works i’ve read by this author, mainly because the romance itself felt like a sub-plot and she decided to focus more on the other elements of the book.
the romance wasn’t my favorite here. it’s not a surprise since i don’t really vibe with the way Emily writes romance (unpopular opinion, i know). i always find reasons to get annoyed and there’s always something missing for me, so i usually don’t care much or at all. this one was no different — from the get go, i was already not interested in it and i had a feeling that it would annoy me. and it did. for the majority of the first half, i genuinely did not care about it in the slightest and i was rolling my eyes every time that i had to read Alice and Hayden’s romantic interactions. in my opinion, their relationship just... didn’t seem believable and that’s what bothered me. it felt incredibly forced and it happened way too quickly, i blinked and then boom! they were kissing and falling for each other. on top of that, i struggled to see any chemistry there and because of that i couldn’t truly understand why the hell they were so drawn to each other. it made zero sense to me, sorry.
i saw some reviews here and there and i’ve seen that people got upset over the fact that Alice and Hayden’s love story was not the main plot here, and i do understand their reasons; but i can’t relate to that at all. i absolutely loved that the romance felt like a sub-plot (it’s not so hard to guess why after all). i think that i would’ve not liked this book as much as i did if it had primarily revolved around the romance.
that said, though, i will admit that the romance does get better at some point. it becomes slightly better around the second half, thankfully. i can even say that i stopped feeling the urge to skip the romantic interactions between Alice and Hayden and that i even found some of them cute-ish. but even so, that didn’t change my initial thoughts completely; as a whole, i still thought the romance was flawed. Alice and Hayden were nice characters individually and i ended up liking them both, but their relationship itself sadly wasn’t very well-developed. at the end, it wasn’t something that stood out to me.
the good [and shocking!] news, however, is that the rest of the book did stand out to me. the romance might not have been the best thing, but the other things certainly were, i’ll tell you that much.
Margaret Ives’ storyline is the reason why i adored this book so much in the first place. i mean, i’ll admit that the beginning was a little slow and uninteresting because it went all the way back; we had to learn the details about the lives of her past relatives — starting with her great-grandfather — before actually diving into the details of Margaret’s actual story and that was not *very* gripping because i didn’t really want to learn all about Margaret’s lineage nor did i understand why we had to do that, i just wanted to read about the events of her life and her life only because that seemed more compelling. but i started to get invested in the Iveses’ story as the story progressed, and by the end, it made sense why we had to get all that context. albeit i still think it didn’t have to be so detailed and long, some things were necessary, while others weren’t in the grand scheme of things. not everything felt essential in the bigger picture if we’re being honest.
nonetheless, i was invested in this whole family thing like i said. but when we finally get to Margaret’s personal story... that’s when i got a lot more invested. it was hard no to when you have the story of a former old Hollywood socialite who at some point mysteriously disappeared from the public eye after having a life surrounded by wealth, drama, glamour, and tragedy. it gave me major The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes — which is a book that i adored, so of course it’s not a shock i thoroughly enjoyed reading Margaret’s story.
it was so... compelling, absorbing, mysterious, touching and beautifully layered. i can tell you without a doubt that i enjoyed knowing every single detail about the story of her life. i was so drawn to it that i stayed up until four in the morning to find out all the things that happened in Margaret’s journey because i literally couldn’t sleep without doing that, my curiosity and my interest were off the charts. and you know what? ruining my sleep was totally worth it because wow... it was not only interesting but also jaw-dropping. it ended in a way that i literally could never see coming. i haven’t read something so good that made me feel so many emotions in awhile, so it was just a nice and refreshing feeling. i loved it.
there are also other stuff that i loved here such as: the vulnerability and the complexity of not only the characters but the general story, the way the author explored the familial relationships (mostly Margaret & her sister and Alice & her mother) and how she showed us how life can be ugly but also can be beautiful.
never in a million years i thought i would be saying this, but Emily Henry deserves a standing ovation for writing something so crafted, intricate and profound in its on way.
some things could’ve been better here (which is why i’m not giving it a five-star rating) and i wish the ending wasn’t so abrupt and that we had gotten more of certain things — but all in all, Great Big Beautiful Life still turned to be an amazing read and i’m grateful i gave it a go. i truly hope the author can write more books like this one in the future. if she does, i will be reading, that’s for sure. i don’t think i can give up on her just yet.
March 8, 2026
im really quite taken with this. while i wouldnt recommend it as EHs best romance novel, i would say its her best story with a great big beautiful heart.
which is why im so surprised. “happy place” is my least favorite EH book specifically because the romance takes a back seat to other life themes and dynamics - its more chick lit than romance. which is also how i would describe this book, but this particular storyline does it so much better. there is such a wonderful balance between personal life topics and the growing affection between two people.
i really enjoyed the natural pacing of both the bond forming between alice and hayden and also of their own personal growth. the writing structure and plot are perfect vehicles for showcasing the best of, not just two characters, but of two humans. i was fully invested in them, their goals, and just wanted the best for them.
so while i would say “beach read” or “book lovers” are still EHs best romance stories, this is probably her best life story.
↠ 4.5 stars
which is why im so surprised. “happy place” is my least favorite EH book specifically because the romance takes a back seat to other life themes and dynamics - its more chick lit than romance. which is also how i would describe this book, but this particular storyline does it so much better. there is such a wonderful balance between personal life topics and the growing affection between two people.
i really enjoyed the natural pacing of both the bond forming between alice and hayden and also of their own personal growth. the writing structure and plot are perfect vehicles for showcasing the best of, not just two characters, but of two humans. i was fully invested in them, their goals, and just wanted the best for them.
so while i would say “beach read” or “book lovers” are still EHs best romance stories, this is probably her best life story.
↠ 4.5 stars
April 27, 2025
No, just no
May 9, 2025
hey ya so … 6 stars. i will re read this easily 100 times, this is my death bed book.
September 14, 2024
BOTCHED BBL.
February 11, 2025
I am an Emily Henry stan, I really am. Not a single one of her books has been less than a 4.5 star read for me (yes, even People We Meet on Vacation, which I have never understood the vitriol for). So, this being a 1.5 star read for me? Absolutely heartbreaking and reading slump inducing.
Temper your expectations with this one because this is barely even a romance book. EmHen's books always have a literary element to them, some important aspect of the story that isn't fully focused on the romance which is something I usually love. However, the romance took more than a backseat to the other plot line in this. The romance was practically shoved in the boot of the car, hands zip tied together and mouth duct taped shut.
Towards the end, the long laborious chapters about Evelyn Hugo 2.0's life were so increasingly dull I started to skip them. This tries to do a biography-esque style (the mc's are competing to write the biography of an old lady who disappeared from the media after being born in one of the worlds most famous families) that is not necessarily done badly but could never compete with Taylor Jenkins Reid who has recently popularised the format. I quite literally felt like I was reading a less interesting version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Back to the romance - boring, shallow, underdeveloped, weirdly paced. The characters themselves were interesting enough but their relationship was unbelievable. I put this particular issue to the way in which the biography chapters take up so much space in the 400 page count. But as this is a romance book, I find that completely unacceptable.
In terms of prose, a real step down. The only truly interesting sentences are the ones on the covers. This tries really hard to say something deep but ultimately fails, coming off kiddy pool shallow.
There will be people who say that at least EmHen took a risk. Fair. Despite it being a swing and a miss, this will still be a best seller and EmHen has tried something new. But, I hated it. Plain and simple. A colossial disappointment.
Temper your expectations with this one because this is barely even a romance book. EmHen's books always have a literary element to them, some important aspect of the story that isn't fully focused on the romance which is something I usually love. However, the romance took more than a backseat to the other plot line in this. The romance was practically shoved in the boot of the car, hands zip tied together and mouth duct taped shut.
Towards the end, the long laborious chapters about Evelyn Hugo 2.0's life were so increasingly dull I started to skip them. This tries to do a biography-esque style (the mc's are competing to write the biography of an old lady who disappeared from the media after being born in one of the worlds most famous families) that is not necessarily done badly but could never compete with Taylor Jenkins Reid who has recently popularised the format. I quite literally felt like I was reading a less interesting version of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Back to the romance - boring, shallow, underdeveloped, weirdly paced. The characters themselves were interesting enough but their relationship was unbelievable. I put this particular issue to the way in which the biography chapters take up so much space in the 400 page count. But as this is a romance book, I find that completely unacceptable.
In terms of prose, a real step down. The only truly interesting sentences are the ones on the covers. This tries really hard to say something deep but ultimately fails, coming off kiddy pool shallow.
There will be people who say that at least EmHen took a risk. Fair. Despite it being a swing and a miss, this will still be a best seller and EmHen has tried something new. But, I hated it. Plain and simple. A colossial disappointment.
July 25, 2025
4.25 ⭐️
April 25, 2025
2.5⭐️
oh no
oh no
September 7, 2024
4.5 stars ⭐️
I knew she wouldn’t fail me 😍 I’m so glad I mostly avoided gr and got to enjoy this in peace 🙌🏼
the mystery, the romance — the yearning, the tension, the small moments & the writing!! AHH I’m convinced Emily knows me better than I know myself at this point…
RTC I’ve got so many thoughts & need to update my EH rankings🫡
——
6 is my lucky number so I guess this will change my life? It’s folklore coded too (my fave album) 🤝😭
I knew she wouldn’t fail me 😍 I’m so glad I mostly avoided gr and got to enjoy this in peace 🙌🏼
the mystery, the romance — the yearning, the tension, the small moments & the writing!! AHH I’m convinced Emily knows me better than I know myself at this point…
RTC I’ve got so many thoughts & need to update my EH rankings🫡
——
6 is my lucky number so I guess this will change my life? It’s folklore coded too (my fave album) 🤝😭
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