lucari0s24 's review for:

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

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wow. what a story. margaret’s life was so interesting and heartbreaking and so vivid, i was locked in during the chapters about her family. i loved the relationship between hayden and alice as well, and i also really enjoyed them separately. the setting felt so real too, and so cozy and lovely. i loved the way the small town vibe was written in here, it’s always a fav trope of mine.

i WILL say that some of the sex scenes felt out of place imo. they were happening immediately after important things were being discussed and it felt….idk, just off?? i also don’t know that the scene where they ACTUALLY had sex was as impactful as i wanted it to be considering such a big part of their relationship until then was that they couldn’t bc of their situation. idk. i feel like if the book had toned back on that, it would’ve felt more natural and would’ve flowed better. 

all that said, i enjoyed the other aspects enough move past the awkward sex stuff lmfao. 

ALSO. the twist at the end was actually unexpected to me. idk if it was obvious to other people but i didn’t expect it. i thought it may be something along those lines but i never thought hayden would be involved in the way he was. 

this is only my second emily henry book but it’s already at the top of my list. i really loved it!