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emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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: Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Misogyny, Dementia, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Although this was a bit of a genre change for Emily (not just completely contemporary romance, but also historical fiction), I really enjoyed this book. I liked Alice and her optimistic view of the world, and I liked Hayden's quiet and pensive vibes. However, I think I liked following the story of Margaret Ives and her family's history a bit more than Alice and Hayden's plot line. I found myself gasping out loud when finally hearing the "truth" from Margaret, and I appreciated how detailed Emily got with the Ives family. It was clearly well thought out and I liked how it was told to us over the course of the book, and had parallels with Alice. I did still enjoy Alice and Hayden's interactions, but I didn't like it as much as some of the other romances in the other Emily Henry books lol they were kissing by page 20 but not going fully all the way til page 357, and then seriously everything wrapped up in the last 10 pages. Talk about some pacing differences! Also, it still felt a little fast for them to fall in love; even though it was a month, it felt fast. I kind of wish that we'd had a dual POV with Alice and Hayden both, as I would have enjoyed seeing things thru his perspective. Regardless, I really enjoyed the story of both Alice and Margaret. I also really enjoyed reading this book as a buddy read with my bestie, which I think made it that much more special!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief
Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse
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
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
I’m hit or miss on Emily Henry’s books. I loved the first couple, then a couple misses, then loved Funny Story and I’m smack dab in the middle with Great Big Beautiful Life.
Alice and Hayden are both vying for the chance to write a biography about Margaret Ives and the Ives family.
Margaret says she will let each of them interview her separately for a month and then she will decide who gets to write her story.
Alice and Hayden sign NDAs. They can’t talk to each other about their interviews.
Margaret has been a recluse for two decades and she has a lot of family history to discuss.
*A lot*
I think this went back to great-great-grandparents. I think this is where the book got slow for me. This book is over 400 pages long and I found myself thinking, this is an awful lot of family history, can we get to the exciting part?
Back to Hayden and Alice.
They start spending time together and fall for each other very quickly. But they keep saying they can’t be in a relationship because only one of them will get chosen to write the book. So that means the other one might be angry with them, or jealous, and it definitely means that they won’t be in the same town for long.
They plan to reassess their relationship when Margaret chooses who will write the book. But they can’t stay away from each other.
I enjoyed the love stories and some parts of the family history. I enjoyed the last 50 pages of the book a lot too. I think that’s when the pace picked up again.
Will I read the next Emily Henry? Of course, I’ll probably pre-order that one too. Bit I hope it’ll be more fast paced.
Alice and Hayden are both vying for the chance to write a biography about Margaret Ives and the Ives family.
Margaret says she will let each of them interview her separately for a month and then she will decide who gets to write her story.
Alice and Hayden sign NDAs. They can’t talk to each other about their interviews.
Margaret has been a recluse for two decades and she has a lot of family history to discuss.
*A lot*
I think this went back to great-great-grandparents. I think this is where the book got slow for me. This book is over 400 pages long and I found myself thinking, this is an awful lot of family history, can we get to the exciting part?
Back to Hayden and Alice.
They start spending time together and fall for each other very quickly. But they keep saying they can’t be in a relationship because only one of them will get chosen to write the book. So that means the other one might be angry with them, or jealous, and it definitely means that they won’t be in the same town for long.
They plan to reassess their relationship when Margaret chooses who will write the book. But they can’t stay away from each other.
I enjoyed the love stories and some parts of the family history. I enjoyed the last 50 pages of the book a lot too. I think that’s when the pace picked up again.
Will I read the next Emily Henry? Of course, I’ll probably pre-order that one too. Bit I hope it’ll be more fast paced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
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
hopeful
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
Emily Henry meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
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
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
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