A review by sangsmiles
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As always with Emily Henry, I read this within a day. Best summer vibes, loved this tiny island and all its weird characters. I also think she should explore more genres in the future because the Margaret Ives story was brilliant! Overall, I really enjoyed reading this.

My only issue would probably be that the stories together felt too tight. I'd rather have had one or the other expanded on, but this way was a bit squashed together, especially the last third.

I liked Alice and Hayden (more Hayden) and loved some of the romantic moments, but the main connection felt underdeveloped, which is not what I'm used to with Emily Henry.
(Also, while I'm here, why did they wait so long to have sex? Especially after doing all the other stuff that was basically sex? I'm baffled.)


That said, falling in love within two weeks is very Ives of Hayden, I rate.
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