Great Big Beautiful Life

Loved the plot! It felt different from Emily Henry's previous books yet it was perfect blend of literary fiction + romantic comedy. I didn't see the connection between Margaret & someone (cant say who!) Loved her history & passion that Alice had for her work

Always loved Emily Henry books. This one is a bit different but it is still a really good story in the end.

The story, characters swept me out of my feet. Couldn’t get enough of it. I thought i know what an amazing book is, but this was different.

Rather disappointed with this one. For anyone who is a fan of Emily Henry, we guys thrive on the romance she builds in her books. The plot, sub plots, tensions, energy, love and emotions are all a big part of her writing and she writes romance like no other author that I have ever personally read. However, with this book a lot of things went wrong. First being the fact that I did not feel any romance or any romantic tension between the two characters. Those two fell in love because they had to. It wasn’t built in the right way, according to me. Second was the fact that this was not a mystery novel, either, and possibly because I am a writer too, I could predict the plot. So there weren’t any big moments in the book that could really make me feel more related to this. That being said, Emily is a brilliant brilliant writer than that nobody can take away from her.

Good.

How does she do it? Bring you in and leave you wanting more? I loved the story within a story pattern of this book - but what was always there was Emily’s brilliant romance writing - make me want to go back and read all the other books! Stupendous as always!

I adore Emily Henry's writing. The way she weaves romance into the plot — like love isn't the sole focus but simply a part of life, making everything & everyone better — is just so heart-warming to read ❤️ The story truly does justice to the title of the book. The mystery aspects were thrilling & transported me to a Sidney Sheldon-era (Huge fan btw!) — absolute chef's kiss! It was a 5 star read, but I am taking away a star simply because I felt there should have been more of the MMC, Hayden. Since he plays such a huge key role in the plot, I wanted more of his story — his family, his inner world. But that's just me being the perfectionist that I am. You can never go wrong with an Emily Henry book — she writes with the utmost tenderness, grace & depth.

If you want a light read, a story that is easy going. Just that it lacks a bit of a challenge, intellectually and the way the story unfolds.

“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹, 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝘁.” From the moment I read this snippet from the book I knew I had to pre -order it and after what seemed to me like an eternally long wait (partly due to how early I pre-ordered it) I was beyond happy when my ebook copy arrived and then not long after my paperback copy also arrived as I need to have all of Emily Henry's books on my physical bookshelf as well as on my devices and in my heart. This book felt like a bit of a change up for me from her usual books in that the romance/relationship wasn't the main part of the storyline for me instead it was interwoven with the sprawling narrative about Margaret Ives' family and her love life. It was at times a heavier story than I am used to from Emily but it still had me feeling all of the emotions from love and excitement, to shock, and sadness. The romance side of the book is a beautiful love story between the protagonists, Hayden Anderson and Alice Scott, a story that made my heart flutter and feel all warm inside. These two stories are interwoven so well by Emily that I couldn't even tell you where each part starts and ends. I loved the premise of having Hayden and Alice, two journalists tasked with writing a book about the legendary Margaret Ives, a project that is also a critical job opportunity and the unfolding of her life story as they both spend time with her separately as they hear her story directly from her and vy for the position of being the writer of her memoir. Emily skillfully builds suspense, leading to two shocking revelations at the end, while simultaneously crafting a palpable chemistry between Hayden and Alice. I loved the dynamic between Hayden and Alice and watching their initial working relationship start to blossom into a friendship and I was here for it all. Their relationship was peppered with such poignant, vulnerable and sweet moments, I found myself hoping everything would work out for them exactly as I wanted it to. I very much enjoyed the interwoven stories of both Margarets life and Hayden and Alice's relationship and can only sum up by saying that this book was well and truly worth my very impatient wait to read. Another delightful read from Emily Henry that left me feeling very satisfied with the conclusion of both stories. #emilyhenry #berkleybooks #greatbigbeautifullife #goodreads #tea_sipping_bookworm #getlitsy #fable #thestorygraph #bookqueen #bookstagram #amazonkindle

Absolutely loved this book! Only Emily Henry manages to write like this - a mix of romance, suspense, story within a story with plot twist I didn’t expect and such a beautiful end.

This book has more depth in the story and characters than her other novels. Although the formula is still the same, I enjoyed the pace and did not become irritated with the main character as I have in the past with EmilyHenry novels .

Every year I look forward to reading the latest book by Emily Henry. I had it on my TBR list as soon as it was announced, and I was counting down the days until its release date. Great Big Beautiful Life was a bit of a departure from Henry’s previous books, meaning that it wasn’t only a romance, but I was completely on board with that. Great Big Beautiful Life was a story within a story, and I was equally captivated by both. Alice Scott may have just found the break that she’s been looking for. Getting to write a biography on Margaret Ives, a former socialite and member of one of the most talked about families would be a dream come true, especially because this particular woman has been off the radar for twenty years. Unfortunately for Alice, Hayden Anderson is another writer vying for this job, and he just so happens to be a Pulitzer-prize winning author. Margaret proposes that they each stay on the small Georgia island to interview her in order for her to get an idea of what style of book each of them would write, then she would pick the author that she would prefer to write her story. This was not the way that Alice or Hayden wanted to approach this job. Neither one of them was looking for a competition with another author, but this would be an intriguing opportunity to get the story on this elusive heiress, so they both agreed to this one-month trial period. Here’s where the real fun begins. Alice is a ray of sunshine who likes to find the bright side in everything. She is a people person, a positive, sweet, kind-hearted lady. Hayden comes across as severe, serious, and perhaps a bit adverse to people. This spelled a whole lot of fun for me! Bring on the competition between these two opposites! While Alice tried her best to be friends with Hayden, he just seemed to be cold and disinterested. Of course, I loved the banter and interactions between Alice and Hayden. I wanted nothing more than for her to be able to melt his chilly exterior. A good opposites-attract situation is always a good time, and these two certainly had that underlying sizzle that makes it that much better. Now, this was a story within a story. While we had Alice and Hayden’s interactions within the novel, we also got to see Alice with Margaret Ives. Trying to get the personal story from Margaret was akin to pulling teeth, but Alice was certain she was going to be able to gain Margaret’s trust. Soon, we get inside the Ives family history and hear the story of these infamous family members. Great Big Beautiful Life was a romance and a mystery intertwined. As always, Emily Henry has created characters that I grew to care about. She delivered a wonderful story that kept my interest from start to finish. Margaret Ives was an interesting and mysterious character who harbored a lot of memories and secrets which made it entertaining to try to figure her out. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these characters and their stories. There was a lot to love about this book, and I certainly did!

Perfecto