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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
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
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
lighthearted
mysterious
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, Sexual content, Car accident, Pregnancy
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:
No
✍️ Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry ✍️
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Alice and Hayden, two writers are invited to a remote island to compete for the life story of a reclusive heiress. Bound by NDAs and unexpected chemistry, they discover Margaret’s past—and their own future—may be more tangled than either imagined.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but I did really enjoy it! I continue to love Emily Henry’s writing, and this book wasn’t any different. I did wish for more chemistry and romance between Hayden and Alice as I thought some parts were quick or we didn’t get to see the lead up to them. I also didn’t find anything super significant about Margaret’s story, though I did enjoy those parts. It felt very similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and definitely wasn’t my favourite, but wasn’t bad. I did enjoy the narrators of the audiobook as well!
Read this if you like:
- stories within a story
- rivals to lovers
Vibes: ✍️🌊📚🏯👵🏼🧡
Song that matches the vibe: Ankles by Lucy Dacus
Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Dementia
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
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