A review by documentno_is
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A deeply emotional tightly woven character drama about love, depression, and family. I can imagine how some felt it difficult to connect with, if they couldn't appreciate the characters, because it really is a complete character study on families and relationships. Meanwhile, I felt each character was vibrant and jumped off the page- every one of their actions made sense for how they were written and that only made it more and more heartbreaking when things ended up as they did (because I expected it.) Each character in this novel is desperately searching for something, some find it in easier and less complicated ways than others, but as the reader I was rooting for everyone to actualize and learn to live among each other again. There is a lot of emotion on these pages, a lot of sadness, and if I'm being completely honest a lot of melodrama- but none of these are negatives for me and I felt the story moved along so smoothly. When I picked this novel up I hardly put it down again until it was finished. If I had any criticisms it was that the prose was a little lacking, leaning too heavily toward trying to be quotable or summarizing rather than trying to capture in some specific scenes.

I bawled like an absolute baby for the last two chapters- jesus.