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emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book. It definitely was the kind of book I would have flown through if I didn’t have such a busy week, but I almost love that I dragged it out a little longer than I normally would just because of how it ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment
Minor: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy
emotional
funny
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
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this book would have been better without the romance. Hayden never felt like more than a cardboard cutout of a character, so I never cared about the romance and whether one of them getting this writing job over the other would affect their relationship.
Now the story of Alice and Margaret learning to trust each other, and Margaret's mostly-true stories, were a major highlight. I enjoyed Alice as a main character, even if I couldn't relate to her overly-sunny disposition. If more of the story could have been these two interacting (maybe with more Jodi too?) I would have liked this more.
I also didn't care for the choice to make Hayden the secret grandchild here. Because I didn't connect to him at all throughout this book, and how we got a single conversation about his mom, it felt like a let down for that relationship (or lack thereof) to be the catalyst of the book. Either make it connected to Alice or flesh out both Hayden and his mother more.
Now the story of Alice and Margaret learning to trust each other, and Margaret's mostly-true stories, were a major highlight. I enjoyed Alice as a main character, even if I couldn't relate to her overly-sunny disposition. If more of the story could have been these two interacting (maybe with more Jodi too?) I would have liked this more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Medical trauma
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
I love a dual timeline and I was really enjoying this until it turned into a bit of TJR copy cat (message me if you want to know which one). Also my third book of the month with a dead parent (CW if you have a tricky relationship with your remaining living parent you may find the ending particularly…irksome.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
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
I hesitate to call this one a romance but it was lovely and memorable. I almost feel like I would’ve preferred this from another author, but Henry meanders to her point and it’s a wonderful story about familial connection.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Dementia
emotional
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
This is not a romance. It's a love story, yes, multiple even. But not a romance. It is absolutely stunning though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Dementia, Car accident
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Borrowed this from Libby twice before actually trying to finish it. I like most of Emily Henry’s books but I could not get into this one at all. The romance lacked and I don’t think the plot was interesting enough on its own. It really gave off similar vibes to “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and it was just disappointing.
Read For
✓ Slow Burn
✓ Summer Read
✓ Contemporary
✓ Rivals to Lovers
✓ Reporter Interview
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Spice Level: 🌶️
Sad Level: 💧
Plot: 2/10
Pace: 2/10
Ending: 4/10
Characters: 3/10
Enjoyability: 2/10
Writing Style: 2/10
Would I Recommend? No
Favorite Character: n/a
Favorite Quote: ❝Just because something doesn’t make money or win awards doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.❞
POV: Duel, First Person
Pages: 432
Format: Audiobook
Language: English
Release Date: 22, April 2025
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Pregnancy
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Dementia
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Apparently there's three versions to every story: yours, mine, and the truth. Here's the truth: this book is not that great to have the word in the title.
Content Warnings
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
At the broken (and healing) heart of this story are family dynamics and, more specifically, the hidden, tremulous, and deep-seated feeling that you don’t belong — that your family may love you but that they don’t really like you. It’s an awful anxiety, too tender to poke at, and maybe one that we’ve all felt. I know I have. I know my husband has. I know we’ve talked about it and fought about it.
In the words of the poet Philip Larkin, ”They fuck you up, your mum and dad. / They may not mean to, but they do. / They fill you with the faults they had / And add some extra, just for you.” The parents in this short poem are looked at with tenderness as much as blame. And, in the final stanza, he writes that “[misery] deepens like a coastal shelf.”
In the words of the poet Philip Larkin, ”They fuck you up, your mum and dad. / They may not mean to, but they do. / They fill you with the faults they had / And add some extra, just for you.” The parents in this short poem are looked at with tenderness as much as blame. And, in the final stanza, he writes that “[misery] deepens like a coastal shelf.”
It’s almost like Henry used the poem as a template for her novel, given its island setting, and then came to an altogether different conclusion than the droll warning proffered by the poet. Maybe it’s the difference in an American perspective versus a British one. We can’t help our naive optimism despite the *preponderance* of evidence to the contrary. Fortunately, this is the correct stance for a literary romance novel to take.
I know reviews have been mixed for Henry’s latest book but it punched me in the gut, quickened my pulse, and made my heart flutter. I suppose that *is* a mixed reaction…but certainly not an apathetic one.
Small criticisms include: minor pacing problems. The end, in particular, felt rushed. I’m sure she was aware that the book was already longer than her readers expect from her. Also, for a story so concerned with the love between siblings, Alice’s sister & Hayden’s brother (especially, considering…!) were barely wisps on the page. That said, all three main stories — Alice & Hayden’s, Margaret’s, and Alice’s relationship with her parents — were expertly and gracefully balanced, which is quite a feat when so much could have been fumbled.
I’d like to give a special shout-out to the joke about Cosmo going from being “the poor man’s Elvis” to “the rich man’s Elvis” after he married into the Ives’ family fortune. Very witty, Emily. Top notch. ;) And it was very sexy, of course, per usual!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Dementia