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emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol
Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Death of parent
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Car accident
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think the end made this book better for me. I really enjoyed Margaret’s storyline, but the romance didn’t do it for me. They were making out barely a quarter of the way in!! So nah, I didn’t feel like rooting for them too much. And there wasn’t much banter! I went in hoping for a rom-com, and didn’t super enjoy the romance and there wasn’t much comedy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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: Sexism, Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Car accident
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Stalking, Gaslighting
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I LOVE Emily Henry’s writing - DO NOT GET ME WRONG… but this one was not my fav.
In other Emily Henry’s books, the central plot IS the love story, and the subplots are about work or friendships, or family. In this story, the actual romance felt more like a subplot to me. It wasn’t Hayden and Alice’s story. It was Margaret’s (the lying old lady). The two storylines felt like they were competing for page time and the flip flopping pace wasn’t great. It felt like two separate books mashed together.
I did love the storytelling of Margaret’s life when it got to the interesting parts, but I wasn’t a fan of her “telling her story” but not being fully truthful and wasting these journalists time. Not cool, Peggy. Not cool.
I actually didn’t like Margaret in the end. She sucks. The manipulative old wench. She was quite selfish in her endeavours and I don’t know how they forgave her and wrote her story for her anyways. Kind of wish they touched on that redemption arc a little more rather than just stating it happened.
Happy that Alice and Hayden got a happy ending though! Probs wouldn’t name my baby after an aunt I never knew that was an ex-cult member, but whatevs, it’s their baby! Good for them!
No matter what, I’ll always love and treasure the beauty that is Emily Henry’s writing. She could write a refrigerator manual and I’d read it.
In other Emily Henry’s books, the central plot IS the love story, and the subplots are about work or friendships, or family. In this story, the actual romance felt more like a subplot to me. It wasn’t Hayden and Alice’s story. It was Margaret’s (the lying old lady). The two storylines felt like they were competing for page time and the flip flopping pace wasn’t great. It felt like two separate books mashed together.
I did love the storytelling of Margaret’s life when it got to the interesting parts, but I wasn’t a fan of her “telling her story” but not being fully truthful and wasting these journalists time. Not cool, Peggy. Not cool.
I actually didn’t like Margaret in the end. She sucks. The manipulative old wench. She was quite selfish in her endeavours and I don’t know how they forgave her and wrote her story for her anyways. Kind of wish they touched on that redemption arc a little more rather than just stating it happened.
Happy that Alice and Hayden got a happy ending though! Probs wouldn’t name my baby after an aunt I never knew that was an ex-cult member, but whatevs, it’s their baby! Good for them!
No matter what, I’ll always love and treasure the beauty that is Emily Henry’s writing. She could write a refrigerator manual and I’d read it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
emotional
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Not quite what I was expecting from an Emily Henry book since this one felt heavier (physically and emotionally) than her other books. But I enjoyed all the twists. I wish there had been a family tree at the beginning of the book to reference the Ives family because it got confusing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident
Minor: Emotional abuse, Dementia, Pregnancy
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
Another real, emotional- yet uplifting and hopeful- romance from Emily Henry. She’s a must read author for me, so I was expecting it to be great. Something about this one just blew me away, though. It’s slightly reminiscent of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but still distinctly its own story and flavor to the idea of telling the untold story of someone the world thinks they know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Car accident
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very long.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content