Reviews with content warning for Grief - Stora vackra liv

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Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Stora vackra liv by Emily Henry

290 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

Content Warnings

amgarrido's review against another edition

3.75

I really enjoyed the mystery/family drama aspect of this book, following Margaret's story almost more than Alice and Hayden's. In a way, the storytelling of 'The Story' chapters reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (although I prefer that novel). I have seen other people saying that the twists and turns in Margaret's family story are not extreme as they expected, but I thought they were just enough to be shocking with being completely unbelievable, and was surprised by some of the secrets Margaret kept. What more do you want this family to go through?

The romance was trite and often predictable, moving far too quickly at the beginning. By the end of the book, I appreciated their connection a bit more but it was by far the least interesting part of this book. I liked the exploration of Alice's relationship with her mother and the weight of family expectations, but felt there was a missed opportunity to delve deeper into this aspect, which would have enriched the Alice's character and the overall narrative.

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

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

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

ilkjen's review against another edition

3.5

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

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

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

Content Warnings

cassandra_b's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Content Warnings

krandelzhofer's review against another edition

3.5

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Most of the storyline in the subject of their biography largely felt like a distraction from the main plot. I still don’t understand why she needed to go onto the family history. It didn’t feel relevant until the end. Reminded me a bit of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Content Warnings