Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Stora vackra liv by Emily Henry

360 reviews

atamano's review against another edition

3.75

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Car accident, Abandonment

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail

vic_and_twisted's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A sweeping Old Hollywood love story that would dazzle fans of Evelyn Hugo, nestled within a frame narrative about what it's like to fall in love and give only half of yourself, Great Big Beautiful Life is a sprawling look at all the types of family dysfunction you could possibly have, and all the different kinds of love that come out of it. You think you've guessed right and you haven't. GBBL is also a damning portrayal of celebrity culture and the way obsession can cost lives. But it's still a love story, I promise.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity

shiradfrankel's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

emrosenq's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief

Moderate: Death of parent

kaelaceleste's review against another edition

3.75

emotional lighthearted 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

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What to say about this! I went into this book with low expectations despite loving Emily Henry as an author, because I'd heard some mixed reviews from other folks. I did like it, but I definitley liked it less than her others. It feels unfair to compare newer books to her holy trinity (Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation and Book Lovers) but this felt like there were too many different pieces going on at once, which made all of it feel pretty rushed.

This felt like it was trying to be three stories in one... a drama about traumatic family relationships, a mystery about the life of an older celebrity woman who is surrounded by secrets, and an Emily Henry romance with cute banter and fun characters. And it had pieces of all of those, but I wish we had committed to one or even two of those plotlines. Alice's mom sucked and maybe it's because of my own mommy issues but I just have trouble believing that every problem she had with her mom was solved after one emotional confession. I did like the two main characters, but I felt like they were underdeveloped. It was pretty instalovey and overall just felt very rushed. I wish we had spent more time getting to know them. Again it feels unfair to compare it to Emily Henry's past books but sue me, I'm doing that. And the whole Margaret story just felt so much like Evelyn Hugo, PLUS with Julia Whelan narrating? Girl I was waiting for Mick Riva to show up. 

It's still a 3.5ish. And I'll continue to read every book she writes so really no harm done 🙂‍↕️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Car accident

Minor: Mental illness, Dementia, Pregnancy

leeshahhh's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent

mcspillsted's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment

karly_ackley's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Car accident, Alcohol

sytaylor's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy

tommygrrl's review against another edition

3.0

emotional lighthearted slow-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

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3 - 3.5 stars. I didn't dislike this book, but I had a hard time getting into some parts of the story (specifically, the biography portions of the story...especially in the beginning). I realized the twist very early on in the story, but it wasn't enough to get me to stop reading. To me, this book has more family type drama than it does romance. So if you are into a biography/family drama/family dynamics with a bit of romance sprinkled in, you'll love this book. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. 😕 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy