Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

20 reviews

cheaploaf's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I feel like this book could’ve been shorter and still accomplished the same result. Felt pretty slow. I enjoyed the writing style. The book wasn’t bad, just overall fine. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pregnancy

ladynavalon's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is about depreession and generacional trauma. I enjoyed, I think the autor knows pretty well what depression is, but don't read It if you want some cozy Little women retelling.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Abandonment, and Death of parent

kelly93's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Mental illness

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Child death, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug abuse, Cursing, and Medical content

kaylanoellesims's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 ⭐️! so breathtakingly beautiful and heart wrenching - this book so perfectly walked through the difficult emotions of love and heartbreak and human suffering and family trauma. taking off half a star because it did almost send me into a depressive episode with all its utter sadness 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Lesbophobia, Classism, Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Medical content

lillieb130's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Alcoholism

Minor: Infertility, Car accident, Terminal illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Body shaming

kelsielovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

thewellreadmrs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A wonderfully moving story of a family of sisters and how their relationships ebb and flow as the years pass by. Though they encounter more than their share of love, loss, gains, and lows, their integral connection can be felt through all those that observe their actions.

I appreciated especially the authors note that detailed the research that went into this book from how one would obtain a PhD in history all the way to researching the town and the likely street the sisters would have lived on during that time.

A worthwhile read for any literary fiction reader.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

A really beautiful family saga, a touching (if slow-moving) homage to LITTLE WOMEN. Humans are a messy and complicated bunch, and yet! We choose to love them and love them hard. The whole book made me want to hug my own parents and siblings tight.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy

Minor: Lesbophobia

makinzimyers's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Infertility, Cancer, Child death, Addiction, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

roget's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 out of five stars.

Hello Beautiful follows the lives of the Padavano family--especially Julia, Sylvie, William Waters, and a girl named Alice. Loosely Little Women inspired, this story focuses on the mundane and the deeper emotional revelations that come from living through change, loss, grief, and healing. 

I spent most of this book wanting to throttle one or more people for their choices. And yet.
As a family epic, this is profoundly moving. Napolitano is a master of character work, and the voice has a way of calmly relaying both brokenness and strength. Did I like the plot? No. I wanted them to

be happy and honest for far longer than they were

. Did I like what I was left reflecting on, though? Yes, actually.

So many books bring a vague ideal to the table, and this slams you into a chair, shows you the ugly and the beautiful, and you are left blasted with love too big to wrap your arms around. You're left wondering about the nature of how we handle conflict or mistakes or forgiveness. You're left considering human mistakes and just...humanity in general, really, which is usually a sign that you've read something important. The family here isn't idealized--it's messy and real (though I admit there were some parts where people were a bit more charitable or less charitable than expected, but maybe that's because I'd respond differently in some of those situations).

Still can't decide if I deeply resent William or if I love him. I have no idea what to think.

But Alice--Alice is beautiful to me. I don't know. This book was a lot. Clearly, this is going to be one of the major literary works of 2023. I likely will have more thoughts in the days to come, and may return to this review after a time to add them.

*My thanks to Random House, The Dial Press, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. My thanks to my husband, who sat through a forty-five minute long summary of this novel so I could process it.*

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Grief, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content, Body shaming, Child death, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Child abuse

Minor: Addiction and Infertility