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chelsey_bookishlife 's review for:
Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
✨ Book Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry ✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)
Short Description:
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period—after which she’ll choose one to tell her story—it’s a high-stakes race filled with secrets, tension, and a slow-burning connection neither Alice nor Hayden saw coming.
⸻
My Thoughts:
I’ll be honest—I wasn’t sure this was going to be a high-rating read for me at first. The pacing was a little slower, and the story was layered in a way that felt a bit hard to keep up with at times. But then… the last 20% hit, and suddenly I was hooked. I could not stop reading.
Alice was hands-down my favorite character. I loved her heart, her hopefulness, and her ability to connect with people. She made the story feel warm and alive, even in its messiest moments. Hayden, on the other hand, was harder for me to connect with. He was so closed off that I felt like I never fully got him until later in the book—and even then, I wanted more from him emotionally.
And Margaret? Let’s just say… I was suspicious of her from the very beginning. She’s one of those characters who keeps you second-guessing everything, and I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or shake her by the shoulders.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)
Short Description:
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period—after which she’ll choose one to tell her story—it’s a high-stakes race filled with secrets, tension, and a slow-burning connection neither Alice nor Hayden saw coming.
⸻
My Thoughts:
I’ll be honest—I wasn’t sure this was going to be a high-rating read for me at first. The pacing was a little slower, and the story was layered in a way that felt a bit hard to keep up with at times. But then… the last 20% hit, and suddenly I was hooked. I could not stop reading.
Alice was hands-down my favorite character. I loved her heart, her hopefulness, and her ability to connect with people. She made the story feel warm and alive, even in its messiest moments. Hayden, on the other hand, was harder for me to connect with. He was so closed off that I felt like I never fully got him until later in the book—and even then, I wanted more from him emotionally.
And Margaret? Let’s just say… I was suspicious of her from the very beginning. She’s one of those characters who keeps you second-guessing everything, and I didn’t know if I wanted to hug her or shake her by the shoulders.