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fayesmovinglibrary 's review for:
Great Big Beautiful Life
by Emily Henry
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
I-… !!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 New Emily Henry saved my April honestly; this has breathed new life into me.
Positives:
- I truly think this was some of Emily’s BEST writing at times
- I adored the interwoven timelines in the interviews
- I also loved what I felt was a pining & angsty romance. I’m seeing a lot of people saying they felt it was insta lovey & I don’t reaaaaalllyyyyy see it?? (In some ways maybe, but I’ll get to that)
- the most locked in I’ve been to an Emily Henry book so far perhaps?
- like yes, it was kinda predictable I guess, but arguably in a deeply rewarding way in my opinion
- I’m so serious when I say this has the best smut I’ve ever read & I’m a notorious demisexual who constantly cringes at smut. (To clarify, this doesn’t actually have very much smut arguably, but what it does include goes SOOOO HARD)
- I see a lot of people shitting on the romance in here, but I actually thought the anticipation & tension between them was written very very well
Negatives:
- I do think there was just something slightly missing…? Like I don’t know how to put into words exactly what I mean by this, but I almost wish it went a little further in some ways?? I felt like there almost wasn’t enough of the story with Margaret, & then even though there was a lot of pining & I adore the romance in here, by the time they said their “I love you’s” it did almost read kind of anticlimactic & I can understand why people call it insta-lovey?? I personally wouldn’t go that far, but I can understand that argument. Similarly, the reveal I thought was great but it all almost felt a tad abrupt and left me feeling slightly lukewarm?
- I do think it’s valid to say this feels like a pretty carbon copy TJR rip off…? (& I’m no TJR fan, she’s a fucking weirdo so in no means am I trying to defend her at all, but is strangely similar? It feels slightly disappointing tbh ??) Like this I would say does stand on it’s own legs, but anyone even passingly familiar with TJR I think will cock their head at it & question why it’s so similar, specifically to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Regardless, I stand by this has some of Emily’s best writing and I think with some adjustments this could have been astronomical. I still love it and had so much fun though :)
Positives:
- I truly think this was some of Emily’s BEST writing at times
- I adored the interwoven timelines in the interviews
- I also loved what I felt was a pining & angsty romance. I’m seeing a lot of people saying they felt it was insta lovey & I don’t reaaaaalllyyyyy see it?? (In some ways maybe, but I’ll get to that)
- the most locked in I’ve been to an Emily Henry book so far perhaps?
- like yes, it was kinda predictable I guess, but arguably in a deeply rewarding way in my opinion
- I’m so serious when I say this has the best smut I’ve ever read & I’m a notorious demisexual who constantly cringes at smut. (To clarify, this doesn’t actually have very much smut arguably, but what it does include goes SOOOO HARD)
- I see a lot of people shitting on the romance in here, but I actually thought the anticipation & tension between them was written very very well
Negatives:
- I do think there was just something slightly missing…? Like I don’t know how to put into words exactly what I mean by this, but I almost wish it went a little further in some ways?? I felt like there almost wasn’t enough of the story with Margaret, & then even though there was a lot of pining & I adore the romance in here, by the time they said their “I love you’s” it did almost read kind of anticlimactic & I can understand why people call it insta-lovey?? I personally wouldn’t go that far, but I can understand that argument. Similarly, the reveal I thought was great but it all almost felt a tad abrupt and left me feeling slightly lukewarm?
- I do think it’s valid to say this feels like a pretty carbon copy TJR rip off…? (& I’m no TJR fan, she’s a fucking weirdo so in no means am I trying to defend her at all, but is strangely similar? It feels slightly disappointing tbh ??) Like this I would say does stand on it’s own legs, but anyone even passingly familiar with TJR I think will cock their head at it & question why it’s so similar, specifically to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Regardless, I stand by this has some of Emily’s best writing and I think with some adjustments this could have been astronomical. I still love it and had so much fun though :)