Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Stora vackra liv by Emily Henry

29 reviews

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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: No

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

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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!!

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hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The only thing that really keep me in interest was the story of the Ives' story, and the twist, while not entirely surprising, is emotional.

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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: Yes

Everyone out here giving this book 1-2 stars is kwazyyyy! Even if this isn't your favorite of Emily's books, or it wasn't as romance-focused as her past books, or it wasn't what you were expecting - IT IS STILL OBJECTIVELY A WELL WRITTEN BOOK! I actually cannot with people giving it such low ratings just because she deviated a bit from what she's written in the past.

I personally was eating up the main plot of the story, the interviews etc - I was fascinated by Margaret's family and her life, and that's what kept me reading. At it's core it is still very much an Emily Henry book - and I personally would love for Emily to write more literary/general fiction books! Her ability to tell a deep and complex story is clearly showcased in GBBL!!

Is insta-love/attraction my personal favorite trope? no. Did I wish there was a bit more development of the romance? Yes. The present day romance (cause let's be honest Margaret has a romance story being told here too!) between Alice and Hayden could've been more developed, and honestly I would've even read a longer book to allow for this. But the core of this book is the mystery of Margaret's life being unraveled as it's told to Alice. I was near-tears at the ending with Alice's own family development. Lots of parallels to be drawn to Taylor Swift songs (which we all know Emily is a stan) here.

Margaret did make me mad at the ending when she wrote off Hayden saying 'he doesn't like her' but I mostly forgave her for righting it in the end.

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense 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

Okay, listen I didn’t hate it. I did enjoy the book but!
I guessed Hayden being related to Margaret pretty early o ok but I still enjoyed it. I wish we got a little more development in Hayden and Alice’s relationship, especially emotionally from Hayden’s side,  and that we got a more fleshed out happy ending for them. It all felt a bit rushed in the end.

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

So different from Emily Henry’s other works but she’s still writing about love— but it’s generational love and the way it makes us who we are, and we live for/because of the people who get us that far. The pathways were very carefully woven between Margaret’s story and Alice’s and Hayden’s, and I really liked the parallels. I only wish Emily’s publishers gave her more time so it could have even more. Anyway, I’m going to be thinking about unicursal, labyrinthian life pathways for a long time. Loved that ending. Overall it felt like a big hug, which was really nice and needed. Speaking of, I want a Hayden hug fr bc wow

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Enjoyable but not my favourite of hers. I don’t feel like it flowed as well as it could have, and the balance between Alice’s story and Margaret’s/the interviews was a bit off for me.



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