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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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Dementia
emotional
funny
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, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping
emotional
inspiring
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
I absolutely loved this book! I was weeping by the ending, and it broke the curse of my DNFing every other Emily Henry book!
I had heard mixed reviews of this one, but perhaps it's just because I'm nosy and love dramatic celebrity stories and cult documentaries, but the story part of the book did not bother me at all, I was invested in most of it in fact.
I had heard mixed reviews of this one, but perhaps it's just because I'm nosy and love dramatic celebrity stories and cult documentaries, but the story part of the book did not bother me at all, I was invested in most of it in fact.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy
emotional
lighthearted
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
Going into this book, I’d read and heard a lot of mixed reviews saying that this book deviates from Emily Henry’s typical style. I wasn’t too concerned about this because the style of this book actually aligns more with my typical reading preferences, so I feel I was lucky in this regard.
Alice and Hayden are both given a month to vie for the chance to write the life story of an aged former celebrity, Margaret Ives, now living in seclusion. The competition isn’t exactly bitter as Alice and Hayden connect. Unfortunately, thanks to NDAs, neither of them can discuss their interviews with Margaret. This becomes increasingly difficult for Alice in particular as the month goes on.
While certainly different than what I’m used to from Emily Henry, I did enjoy this. That said, this isn’t necessarily the kind of book I’m looking for when picking up her work. I think I would have preferred to listen to the audiobook. I also found it too similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s less of a romcom and closer to general fiction. Which, again, is not an issue for me, but might be for people expecting another Beach Read.
I enjoyed the scenes with Alice and her mother the most. I liked how that situation played out, and I liked watching Alice’s growth through these situations. Honestly, I could have read an entire book about them and leave or take Hayden. I liked him, but I feel like we missed out not hearing his POV.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Dementia
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Even having heard spoiler free reviews of this book, I was still surprised by what all made up this book.
If you're like me and first feel in love with Emily Henry for her fun lighthearted romances, this might not be what you want, but it is such a great book. Do know though this is like 60% the unraveling of the celebrity's story the other 40% the romance.
Few things I liked
1. I love how the Male love interest is given good reasons for how he is acting in the situation they're in. I never had to go for chapters on en's asking what's his deal or just assuming he does it solely for tension.
2. I like the secondary plot being something completely different that interacted with the present plot. The main issue I had with Happy Place was the flashbacks, but with this book, they're done so well.
3. For what a lot of people will call a "silly little romance" this book actually looks at and confronts the issue of generational trauma really well.
If you're like me and first feel in love with Emily Henry for her fun lighthearted romances, this might not be what you want, but it is such a great book. Do know though this is like 60% the unraveling of the celebrity's story the other 40% the romance.
Few things I liked
1. I love how the Male love interest is given good reasons for how he is acting in the situation they're in. I never had to go for chapters on en's asking what's his deal or just assuming he does it solely for tension.
2. I like the secondary plot being something completely different that interacted with the present plot. The main issue I had with Happy Place was the flashbacks, but with this book, they're done so well.
3. For what a lot of people will call a "silly little romance" this book actually looks at and confronts the issue of generational trauma really well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Classism
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Car accident
Minor: Death of parent
emotional
funny
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
This book, in my opinion, is Emily Henry’s greatest work yet. Despite some criticism I’ve seen where people say this isn’t a romance or isn’t good because of the MMC, I absolutely adored this book. It’s celebrates love in all its forms: family, friends, and blossoming romance. There are more characters in GBBL than in previous stories she’s written, but they’re all so complex and I couldn’t help but cheering for all of them. I was so invested in Margaret’s story as it unfolded with all its twists and half-truths, and I loved Alice and Hayden as they both explored their feelings and boundaries. The way that loss and grief are shown in this book really could not have come at a better time for me, and Alice’s loving but still strained relationship with her mother was also one I related to. I cried, I laughed, I yelled “what!!” at this book, and sighed so much my husband asked me what was wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Sexual content