Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Stora vackra liv by Emily Henry

135 reviews

mmadill227's review against another edition

5.0

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Car accident

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Gaslighting

pfranklin48's review against another edition

3.5

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent

midnightbelles's review against another edition

3.0

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

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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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Car accident

Moderate: Sexual content

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

3.25

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

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               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

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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

erinmassey23's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma

cdoubet's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism

Minor: Pregnancy

hannahpower's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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: Yes

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This was one of my favourite reads this year! 
The last couple of chapters felt rushed but overall a really cute story that had layers to it and a surprising amount of substance. This book broached some important topics that I don't often see addressed in romance books, and while some parts weren't resolved, they were handled well and leave room for the reader to contemplate. I might be an Emily Henry fan now 😍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Classism

mkrach22's review against another edition

3.25

emotional reflective slow-paced

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This book felt misgenred, it is not a rom com but more of a generational women's fiction with a romantic side plot. Those two genres felt like they were competing most of the time,  even though they all came together in the end. I also had trouble keeping up with the Ives family tree and history.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident

Minor: Pregnancy

amylbergstrom's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful 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

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What I love about Emily Henry is that she writes characters that feel very real. Their dialogue feels authentic, they react to situations in ways that feel genuine, and their backstories logically explain how they came to be the people they are. In Great Big Beautiful Life, our main character is a writer, and she realizes that everything she writes comes down to love, that that is all she's ever wanted to write. It felt like that was Henry peaking through in her character, that her stories are always about love. Not just romance, but love of various kinds -- sisters, parent-child, friends, etc. Alice and Hayden are definitely among my favorite of Henry's couples, and the story-within-the-story was interesting as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent

april_reads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful relaxing 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

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Emily Henry is pretty hit or miss for me—honestly, I usually don’t love her books. And I’m not really a romance girlie to begin with, so take this with a grain of salt… but I actually liked this one!

Great Big Beautiful Life had more depth than I expected, and while a lot of people are comparing it to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison. Yes, there’s a similar setup, but this is its own thing entirely.

What I appreciated most was that the story didn’t rely solely on the romance—it had plot, character development, and some real emotional weight. It’s not a five-star read for me, but it’s definitely one I’d recommend if you like books with a romance element that also give you something more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident