romancingthereader 's review for:

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

4.5

emotional funny mysterious tense 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: Complicated

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I like Emily Henry. Two of her novels are happily sitting on my shelf and get re-read on the regular. I was a little down hearing mixed reviews on this one, but I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint.

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Standalone

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book on Kindle

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Contemporary romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Rivals-to-lovers, getaway vibes, slow burn.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Alice gets the chance of a lifetime to meet notorious recluse and former socialite Margaret Ives. In her attempt to convince Peggy to let her write her biography, she learns she’s up against solid competition - Pulitzer Prize winning biographer Hayden.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I’ll be honest, as always. I was looking at a four star rating on this one, until the last 15 percent shook me up like ice in a martini shaker. Then I was sobbing and emotionally spent. You know how it goes.

This book felt different than Henry’s other work. It was essentially two love stories - Margaret’s told through flashbacks and excerpts of the biography they’re developing. I loved both. Emily Henry is an excellent writer, and I’m always smiling at the way she describes things or the insights she gives.

I’d say the half-star off here is because I needed a bit more character development on Hayden. The way the end panned out, I wish I had more of him to go on. Sometimes having a singular POV and a quiet-ish MMC works out this way - it’s one of the main reasons I didn’t love Ali Hazelwood’s early work - but I still really enjoyed the book overall. 

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 2.5/5 🌶🌶