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emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Borrowed this from Libby twice before actually trying to finish it. I like most of Emily Henry’s books but I could not get into this one at all. The romance lacked and I don’t think the plot was interesting enough on its own. It really gave off similar vibes to “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and it was just disappointing.
Read For
✓ Slow Burn
✓ Summer Read
✓ Contemporary
✓ Rivals to Lovers
✓ Reporter Interview
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Spice Level: 🌶️
Sad Level: 💧
Plot: 2/10
Pace: 2/10
Ending: 4/10
Characters: 3/10
Enjoyability: 2/10
Writing Style: 2/10
Would I Recommend? No
Favorite Character: n/a
Favorite Quote: ❝Just because something doesn’t make money or win awards doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.❞
POV: Duel, First Person
Pages: 432
Format: Audiobook
Language: English
Release Date: 22, April 2025
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Dementia
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As a longtime Emily Henry fan, I was excited to pick up her latest novel.
“Great Big Beautiful Life” follows Alice Scott, a bright, young woman who is determined to put her name on the map by writing a biography for the elusive Margaret Ives, an heiress who has been in hiding for years. There is only one thing standing between Alice’s once-in-a-lifetime chance: Pulitzer Prize winning Hayden Anderson. Margaret has requested Alice and Hayden both compete to be the author of her biography by interviewing and getting to know her individually for a month. But Alice’s and Hayden’s attraction towards one another might be difficult for them to ignore, and a writing competition is not helping.
I picked this up not fully knowing the synopsis because it was Emily Henry, which is something I do like doing with authors I have historically enjoyed in the past. I do think the premise of this story would have intrigued me on its own if I just stumbled across this novel in the wild.
There was something incredibly off putting to me about Alice. I felt like her character was almost too resilient. Alice’s mother is not supportive of her career and is actually quite critical that Alice does not “do more”. This has lit a fire under Alice to write more and work harder. I think this is great, but I wish I saw more anger or grief from Alice that her family is so unsupportive of a really great life she is creating. Additionally, Alice is the type of character that can hear “no” a hundred times and she will still show up with a smile and a positive attitude thinking and believing today is the day you will finally say “yes”. I think resilience is important, and a really admirable quality, but there was something that felt too much to me.
Alice and Hayden definitely have some chemistry and a common interest, but I did not feel like their relationship was one hundred percent believable. Something about their situation felt too insta-lovey to me.
The story arch with Margaret went in a direction I was not expecting that I actually did enjoy. Margaret has a lifetime of secrets and I was on the edge of my seat learning them all. I feel like this story would have been better for me if it was a contemporary fiction that focused more on the Margaret plot line rather than a romance between Alice and Hayden.
I will still read Emily Henry in the future, and I would recommend this novel to someone with the right expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail
lighthearted
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, Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
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:
No
✍️ Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry ✍️
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Alice and Hayden, two writers are invited to a remote island to compete for the life story of a reclusive heiress. Bound by NDAs and unexpected chemistry, they discover Margaret’s past—and their own future—may be more tangled than either imagined.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but I did really enjoy it! I continue to love Emily Henry’s writing, and this book wasn’t any different. I did wish for more chemistry and romance between Hayden and Alice as I thought some parts were quick or we didn’t get to see the lead up to them. I also didn’t find anything super significant about Margaret’s story, though I did enjoy those parts. It felt very similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and definitely wasn’t my favourite, but wasn’t bad. I did enjoy the narrators of the audiobook as well!
Read this if you like:
- stories within a story
- rivals to lovers
Vibes: ✍️🌊📚🏯👵🏼🧡
Song that matches the vibe: Ankles by Lucy Dacus
Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
emotional
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:
No
I love Emily Henry and this was no exception for me. I love the journalists falling in love and the old curmudgeon famous star that gets them to come to her so they can compete to write a book about her. It’s a sweet love story coupled with learning the older woman’s life story and it was delightful and kept me hooked. It’s not a 5 star because I didn’t like the ending but the rest was fantastic.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Dementia
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
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
oh this book was so lovely. i enjoyed every minute reading this (even the moments when it made me cry!) but i wholeheartedly loved it.
this is only the second emily henry book ive read but it’s immediately become my favourite. i loved the premise, i loved the characters, i loved the storytelling- i just loved it.
alice was immediately likeable. i wanted to be her friend, she felt so real with all of her feelings about the world and her relationships with her parents. how she could see the world with so much joy and didn’t want to focus on the negatives because that wasn’t was life was about. she wanted to focus on the here and now because life is short. i related to that a lot.
hayden was also lovely; im glad it wasn’t a enemies to lovers thing- that wouldn’t have been right. and whilst their relationship did develop quickly, i didn’t mind that. in most ways it felt right. they were both investigating this story and stuck on the same island, why wouldn’t they become friends and then lovers? the pacing felt natural at most points and i felt myself loving them too.
whilst there were a number of characters to follow (most in the present, some in the past) none of them felt undeveloped. i felt like i knew all of them and loved/liked them all individually.
i only had a couple of issues with the book (i didn’t love the final pages, but that’s my issue) and i felt too many words were in italics (again that’s my issue) but not enough of an issue for me to rate it lower. i loved reading this and found myself thinking about it when i wasn’t reading it. i’m not surprised i read it so quickly; it was very readable and un-put-downable.
it does have very similar vibes to seven husbands of evelyn hugo so if you’re a fan of that (which i am!) then this book is for you!
this is only the second emily henry book ive read but it’s immediately become my favourite. i loved the premise, i loved the characters, i loved the storytelling- i just loved it.
alice was immediately likeable. i wanted to be her friend, she felt so real with all of her feelings about the world and her relationships with her parents. how she could see the world with so much joy and didn’t want to focus on the negatives because that wasn’t was life was about. she wanted to focus on the here and now because life is short. i related to that a lot.
hayden was also lovely; im glad it wasn’t a enemies to lovers thing- that wouldn’t have been right. and whilst their relationship did develop quickly, i didn’t mind that. in most ways it felt right. they were both investigating this story and stuck on the same island, why wouldn’t they become friends and then lovers? the pacing felt natural at most points and i felt myself loving them too.
whilst there were a number of characters to follow (most in the present, some in the past) none of them felt undeveloped. i felt like i knew all of them and loved/liked them all individually.
i only had a couple of issues with the book (i didn’t love the final pages, but that’s my issue) and i felt too many words were in italics (again that’s my issue) but not enough of an issue for me to rate it lower. i loved reading this and found myself thinking about it when i wasn’t reading it. i’m not surprised i read it so quickly; it was very readable and un-put-downable.
it does have very similar vibes to seven husbands of evelyn hugo so if you’re a fan of that (which i am!) then this book is for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Car accident
Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Complicated
Emily Henry’s best romance so far. The epilogue is bad and unnecessary and some of the dialogue and logic is clunky, but overall better than almost all other romances. The characters and their motivations seem real and relatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Car accident
Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol