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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Death, Death of parent
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Emily Henry continues to do no wrong. I love the Ives and their story
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death, Dementia, Car accident
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is a different direction for Emily Henry. And of her books I read to date this has been my favourite. Emily has proven she can write a captivating story in addition to the romance. Alice and Hayden have also been my favourite couple of hers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Death of parent
I really enjoyed the mystery/family drama aspect of this book, following Margaret's story almost more than Alice and Hayden's. In a way, the storytelling of 'The Story' chapters reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (although I prefer that novel). I have seen other people saying that the twists and turns in Margaret's family story are not extreme as they expected, but I thought they were just enough to be shocking with being completely unbelievable, and was surprised by some of the secrets Margaret kept. What more do you want this family to go through?
The romance was trite and often predictable, moving far too quickly at the beginning. By the end of the book, I appreciated their connection a bit more but it was by far the least interesting part of this book. I liked the exploration of Alice's relationship with her mother and the weight of family expectations, but felt there was a missed opportunity to delve deeper into this aspect, which would have enriched the Alice's character and the overall narrative.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Death
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were some parts of the story that really shined, but to me the romance subplot felt like a distraction from the biography plot instead of aiding it…..although once you read the end Hayden’s presence makes more sense.
Hayden and Alice did have cute moments, but I wasn’t invested in them as much as other EH couples, maybe because I wanted to constantly get back to Margaret’s story.
I’d heard this book was similar to Evelyn Hugo, and the more I read the more it felt like we were tap dancing up to the line of plagiarism- I won’t say it got crossed but I am uncomfortable with the amount of similarities
Hayden and Alice did have cute moments, but I wasn’t invested in them as much as other EH couples, maybe because I wanted to constantly get back to Margaret’s story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual content
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not my favorite Emily Henry book. “The Story” was incredibly boring to me. I appreciate where it ended up but I just wanted to get back to Alice & Hayden. “The Story” was supposed to be the substance and the romance was supposed to be confetti. But it didn’t grab me that way.
This also reminded me a lot of The Paris Secret, which I hated, so that probably didn’t help.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Grief
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another brilliant book by Emily Henry.
I think this is probably joint favourite with Funny Story.
I loved the way we jumped back into Margaret’s past and the way it was formatted, just the way Alice said she would do it. I liked getting to know her and Hayden throughout the book, and seeing how their relationship developed.
I'll admit, I thought I had guessed the secret a couple of times, but I was far from it! The truth was definitely better than what I guessed it would be!
I think this is probably joint favourite with Funny Story.
I loved the way we jumped back into Margaret’s past and the way it was formatted, just the way Alice said she would do it. I liked getting to know her and Hayden throughout the book, and seeing how their relationship developed.
I'll admit, I thought I had guessed the secret a couple of times, but I was far from it! The truth was definitely better than what I guessed it would be!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book felt like it was trying to be two books at once. It was trying to be a bit of both a literary mystery and a contemporary romance book. The two didn’t weave that well together, however.
I hated all the edging the author did with the MC’s sexual relationship. I think she was trying to keep it from being “too spicy” for her readers, but still spicy enough. However, it just got frustrating. I get the building anticipation of them having intercourse, but it just took too long!
I liked most of the characters, all the townspeople, Cecil and Margaret especially, though others not as much, looking at you, Alice, and especially her mom, and Theo.
Overall, it was a decent book. Mostly, the structure just didn’t work for me. As well as the drawn-out nature of the MCs’ relationship, and their admitting their feelings and desires.
Narrator Rating: 4.75 stars
I wish they’d gotten someone else to narrate the section of the book that was supposed to be part of the biography. Julia Whelan is wonderful and did an amazing job, however, I feel like having dual narration would have been better for the two intertwined sections of the book.
Elements
Heartfelt-💔💔💔
Horror- N/A
Love aka Romance- 💋 💋 💋 💋 & 1/2
Predictability-🔮 🔮 🔮
Spice- 🌶 🌶 🌶
Tear- 😭 & 1/2
Thrill- N/A
Humor- 😜 😜 & 1/2
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Dementia