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emotional
funny
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: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really forced myself through this book. I loved the plot and story of the MC but I just didn't care about the subject of her interviews. I had to fight through the Margret chapters to get to the Alice chapters and the switching back and forth really wrecked my motivation. The end was good, but not good enough to justify the rest of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
I enjoyed this even if it felt a little different than other books I have read by Emily Henry.
Alice and Hayden were cute but they fell just a little too fast for me personally.I guess it kind of mirrored Cosmo and Margaret though. I liked their dynamic a lot though.
I did find myself being ripped between the romance and the storytelling and that was jarring at certain points. Honestly I cared more for the storytelling for most of the book and got frustrated when I had to read through the romance bits to get back to it. That said all of it tied together very nicely in the end. I think I would enjoy it more if I read it again.
I see the comparisons to other popular books and while I slightly agree I think this story is different enough to be its own thing.
Alice and Hayden were cute but they fell just a little too fast for me personally.
I did find myself being ripped between the romance and the storytelling and that was jarring at certain points. Honestly I cared more for the storytelling for most of the book and got frustrated when I had to read through the romance bits to get back to it. That said all of it tied together very nicely in the end. I think I would enjoy it more if I read it again.
I see the comparisons to other popular books and while I slightly agree I think this story is different enough to be its own thing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Car accident
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
Yes
5 ⭐️, no notes. I loved this one and the Evelyn Hugo feel. Emily Henry managed to beautifully intertwine family stories of love and tragedy, pain and forgiveness into a sweet love story that surprisingly wasn’t the main focus. I laughed and I cried and I loved all of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Cultural appropriation
Minor: Death
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my third book by this author & it didn’t live up to my expectations after Funny Story. I did like the chemistry between Alice & Hayden along with the surprise twist towards the end . There were a few spicy 🌶️ scenes but nothing too crazy. I just felt that the story focused so much on Margaret that it took away from the couple’s story. Note: I listened to the audiobook & the voice actors did well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief
Minor: Child death, Death, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
my first emily henry book and i loved it!! the concept of two writers battling for the same opportunity to write a famous person’s never-told biography is sooooo delicious and it was so well done!!! i also feel that alice and hayden had such good chemistry and their relationship was well-written. the last 15% of the book was my favorite though; i couldn’t have predicted it if i tried and i feel like it was such a satisfying conclusion to the story!! i’ll def be reading more from emily henry!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy
hopeful
inspiring
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
What makes a life? All the big moments, and all the little ones. All the beautiful things, and all the ugly things, too.
And that’s just what GBBL is, aptly named. Although not your typical EmHen romcom, I really loved this new foray into more of a solid contemporary fiction with romance elements. I don’t think it should really be considered a mystery, as some marketing suggested. Of course I would’ve been okay with more of said romance (I adored Alice and Hayden) but at the same time, I don’t think the story-within-the-story really took away from that, either. Margaret’s life story (and her family secrets) was really interesting to me and essentially, it did link everything in the book together. You couldn’t have Alice and Hayden’s romance without what brought them together on that little Georgia island. And come on—an EmHen book where one or both of the protagonists are writers? I’m sold before I’ve even finished reading the synopsis.
This book did remind me a lot of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, which others have pointed out. I love both, independent of each other, though they do share some similarities. But at the end of the day, this still reads like an EmHen book, and, dare I say… that’s one of my favorite things to witness in this great big beautiful life.
And that’s just what GBBL is, aptly named. Although not your typical EmHen romcom, I really loved this new foray into more of a solid contemporary fiction with romance elements. I don’t think it should really be considered a mystery, as some marketing suggested. Of course I would’ve been okay with more of said romance (I adored Alice and Hayden) but at the same time, I don’t think the story-within-the-story really took away from that, either. Margaret’s life story (and her family secrets) was really interesting to me and essentially, it did link everything in the book together. You couldn’t have Alice and Hayden’s romance without what brought them together on that little Georgia island. And come on—an EmHen book where one or both of the protagonists are writers? I’m sold before I’ve even finished reading the synopsis.
This book did remind me a lot of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, which others have pointed out. I love both, independent of each other, though they do share some similarities. But at the end of the day, this still reads like an EmHen book, and, dare I say… that’s one of my favorite things to witness in this great big beautiful life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Abortion, Gaslighting
lighthearted
mysterious
This book is definitely a deviation from Henry's other books. At first I liked the dual stories, but as the book went on there was too much hopping around and it felt like two half-written stories instead of one fully fleshed out story. It kind of seemed like EmHen wanted to try something new, but didn't want to aliente her established reader base so instead we got a fiction memoir with a romance subplot.
I wouldn't say I disliked it, but it felt like it lacked that banter and relationship building Henry does well in her other books because there were so much of the book was dedicated to Margaret's story.
I wouldn't say I disliked it, but it felt like it lacked that banter and relationship building Henry does well in her other books because there were so much of the book was dedicated to Margaret's story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked Margarets' stories better than the romance between Alice and Hayden
and the ending was underwhelming.
and the ending was underwhelming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, Abandonment