A review by sakisreads
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

challenging dark hopeful slow-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

3.5

This was very much inspired, I feel, by ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara. Obviously there’s the Little Women inspiration added to it as well, but my comparison comes from all the pain the characters face. William felt often like Jude to me in almost every aspect (e.g. parents’ love or lack thereof, trouble with finding a perfect partner etc.) 🥲

This was a read for Book Club, and as much as I wanted to give it the 5 stars, it fell as about 3.5 out of 5 for me ✨ I felt myself getting slightly frustrated with the characters throughout, and even the beautiful language couldn’t dissuade me 🫠 

I obviously loved their love, but initially when Sylvie chose William I was shouting ‘REALLY?!’ at my screen 😂 I can’t judge because I’ve never been in love like that but still…

I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say about this one 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Homophobia, and Terminal illness