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emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
It’s my second Emily Henry novel. I enjoy her writing style and her character development, but this one felt different. It seemed that Margaret was the most fleshed out character compared to the MFC and MMC. They oddly felt like the smaller part of the novel. The relationship and resolution of the MMC and her mother was a good arc of growth for the character.
Overall, good book but I resonated more with the secondary characters rather than the main ones.
Overall, good book but I resonated more with the secondary characters rather than the main ones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief
Minor: Death, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
The main romance kind of drove me insane but loved the historical story! Guessed the twist like way early too I think it would be more fun if I hadn’t
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness, Sexual harassment
emotional
hopeful
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
Can everyone stop hating on this book? Because it was beautifully written, well-paced, captivating, romantic… everything you want an Emily Henry book to be! Sure, it's not my favorite of hers, but I loved the topics she explored, especially in Alice's life and storyline, and, in my opinion, an impressive evolution of Emily Henry's genre and writing. I absolutely loved reading this while in New York City, and every time I picked it up I was immediately sucked in. Don't listen to the people — this is a good one. Oh, also, THIS MADE ME CRY.
Life is so complicated. And I think it's human nature to try to untangle those complications. We want everything to make sense. And that's okay. It's a worthy pursuit. But back when my sister wasn't well, when every day felt uncertain… I understood what really mattered. I understood my priorities. I understood what, in this life, was nonnegotiable for me. A lot of people don't find that out until it's too late. They wait to say things, and they don't get the chance. So collecting other people's stories, learning from their mistakes, it is a gift too.
Life is so complicated. And I think it's human nature to try to untangle those complications. We want everything to make sense. And that's okay. It's a worthy pursuit. But back when my sister wasn't well, when every day felt uncertain… I understood what really mattered. I understood my priorities. I understood what, in this life, was nonnegotiable for me. A lot of people don't find that out until it's too late. They wait to say things, and they don't get the chance. So collecting other people's stories, learning from their mistakes, it is a gift too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual violence, Abandonment
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
I liked this but I didn't love it. I did really enjoy the setting, but I found the romance too quick and was left wondering if their relationship would even work outside of their island bubble. As always, I liked the bookish aspect to it, but I felt it lacked the usual Emily Henry relationship depth. I typically love a historical(ish) fiction romance with dual timelines (honestly it felt a little like a Kristin Hannah novel which is definitely not a bad thing in my opinion!) but I don't know if the story was totally fleshed out for me in either timeline. I wanted more somehow.
Overall, I enjoyed this, but EH sets a high bar with her other books, and I'm not sure this met the mark.
Overall, I enjoyed this, but EH sets a high bar with her other books, and I'm not sure this met the mark.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Pregnancy
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Car accident
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
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
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
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