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emotional
funny
mysterious
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:
No
This book has everything: beach setting, career driven woman, hot grumpy man, mommy issues, career driven woman NOT giving up her life for a man AND a plot twist that actually surprised me.
Slow start but becomes a fantastic whirlwind in the second half.
Minus .25 because personally I hatea pregnancy epilogue.
Slow start but becomes a fantastic whirlwind in the second half.
Minus .25 because personally I hate
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Dementia, Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death
Animal death is extremely minor
emotional
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Car accident, Abandonment
Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A sweeping Old Hollywood love story that would dazzle fans of Evelyn Hugo, nestled within a frame narrative about what it's like to fall in love and give only half of yourself, Great Big Beautiful Life is a sprawling look at all the types of family dysfunction you could possibly have, and all the different kinds of love that come out of it. You think you've guessed right and you haven't. GBBL is also a damning portrayal of celebrity culture and the way obsession can cost lives. But it's still a love story, I promise.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Car accident, Alcohol
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
“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.“
This book was a delight! I’d argue that Great Big Beautiful Life is best categorized as literary fiction with elements of mystery and romance. (Which is everything I want in a good story!). This book follows Alice and Hayden- both journalists who are competing for a chance to write a new elusive biography about a famous socialite who hasn’t been seen in years.
I fell in love with the characters in here. Alice is bubbly and fun and wins the heart of everyone she runs into. Hayden is a bit tough to crack in the beginning, but he’s super endearing once you get to know him. Margaret is whimsical and quirky and you can’t help but fall in love with her too. I was really invested in all the mysterious elements in this. It feels like you’re uncovering the story and the truth alongside these characters which is really fun. And then of course we get the signature Emily Henry romance, which feels just like the icing on the cake. Despite Alice and Hayden’s story taking the back-burner to Margaret’s, I still felt it had great development and made perfect sense to me. The tension and the will they/won’t they is scrumptious. There’s actually several love stories being told throughout this story and they’re all beautiful in their own ways.
Some of the parts telling Margaret’s story felt a little slow and dragged out, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this! My second favorite EH, as the current ranking stands.
"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."
This book was a delight! I’d argue that Great Big Beautiful Life is best categorized as literary fiction with elements of mystery and romance. (Which is everything I want in a good story!). This book follows Alice and Hayden- both journalists who are competing for a chance to write a new elusive biography about a famous socialite who hasn’t been seen in years.
I fell in love with the characters in here. Alice is bubbly and fun and wins the heart of everyone she runs into. Hayden is a bit tough to crack in the beginning, but he’s super endearing once you get to know him. Margaret is whimsical and quirky and you can’t help but fall in love with her too. I was really invested in all the mysterious elements in this. It feels like you’re uncovering the story and the truth alongside these characters which is really fun. And then of course we get the signature Emily Henry romance, which feels just like the icing on the cake. Despite Alice and Hayden’s story taking the back-burner to Margaret’s, I still felt it had great development and made perfect sense to me. The tension and the will they/won’t they is scrumptious. There’s actually several love stories being told throughout this story and they’re all beautiful in their own ways.
Some of the parts telling Margaret’s story felt a little slow and dragged out, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this! My second favorite EH, as the current ranking stands.
"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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness, Dementia
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Came for a Romcom, Stayed for what is essentially a love letter to journalism.
Above and Beyond all, this is a story about love -in all it's forms- from familial, platonic, romantic to all the complexities and nuances that comes with loving.
Grief is a central theme, handled with the thoughtfulness that is associated with Emily Henry's writing; someone who has always captured at it's most raw tender form.
The Cast is delightful, you can't help but empathize and care for and with all the flawed humanity of the characters, no one is perfect and this book serves as a remind that it's ok not to be, not when the people who love you will do in spite of everything.
Don't get it twisted though, the romance is off the charts, Alice and Hayden may have invented a new level to being down bad for each other, the chemistry and tension is truly off the charts.
Alice Scott might be my new favorite emhen FMC, a juxtaposition of hopeful whimsiness that isn't born out of naivety but rather having seen the worst and still choosing love not despite bur rather because of it.
The main question that haunts this book is that about agency and heritage, how much of our identity and what we go through is defined or impacted by those who came before us; pondering the validity of the concept of free will.
If nothing else, trust that this is a book that will heal you, leaving you with teary eyed with a fluttery heart.
The Cast is delightful, you can't help but empathize and care for and with all the flawed humanity of the characters, no one is perfect and this book serves as a remind that it's ok not to be, not when the people who love you will do in spite of everything.
Don't get it twisted though, the romance is off the charts, Alice and Hayden may have invented a new level to being down bad for each other, the chemistry and tension is truly off the charts.
Alice Scott might be my new favorite emhen FMC, a juxtaposition of hopeful whimsiness that isn't born out of naivety but rather having seen the worst and still choosing love not despite bur rather because of it.
The main question that haunts this book is that about agency and heritage, how much of our identity and what we go through is defined or impacted by those who came before us; pondering the validity of the concept of free will.
If nothing else, trust that this is a book that will heal you, leaving you with teary eyed with a fluttery heart.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Abandonment
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is definitely something new for the Emily Henry book verse (based on the books of hers I have read) and I can’t say I hated it. Was the interview/story portion of this book a little boring at times, yes. Was this lacking a little in the romance and lovey dovey part of romance books, yes. However the end of the book was really great and I enjoyed the final chapter a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Car accident
Moderate: Sexual content