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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
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Car accident
Minor: Misogyny
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
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
Another enjoyable read from an author who's pretty much an auto-read for me now, but I can't say it quite hit the heights of her previous offerings. I liked Alice and Hayden's chemistry, but did feel it escalated a bit quickly; Emily Henry is so good at the slow burn, but the tension was cut rather quickly, and I didn't quite grasp Hayden's jump from stoic to smitten. The parallel plot of Margaret's family was well done — it gave me Evelyn Hugo vibes — but I found the ending rushed and a little too neat. I read a few other reviews that said the novel didn't feel as polished as Henry's previous ones, and I think I agree. There's a lot of good stuff here, but especially for a novel that clocks in at nearly 450 pages, I think it could have benefited from some more streamlining and sharpening.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Car accident
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Toxic relationship