Book Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

“I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn’t really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.”

Emily Henry, Great Big Beautiful Life

Review:

Going into this book, I’d read and heard a lot of mixed reviews saying that this book deviates from Emily Henry’s typical style. I wasn’t too concerned about this because the style of this book actually aligns more with my typical reading preferences, so I feel I was lucky in this regard. 

Alice and Hayden are both given a month to vie for the chance to write the life story of an aged former celebrity, Margaret Ives, now living in seclusion. The competition isn’t exactly bitter as Alice and Hayden connect. Unfortunately, thanks to NDAs, neither of them can discuss their interviews with Margaret. This becomes increasingly difficult for Alice in particular as the month goes on. 

While certainly different than what I’m used to from Emily Henry, I did enjoy this. That said, this isn’t necessarily the kind of book I’m looking for when picking up her work. I think I would have preferred to listen to the audiobook. I also found it too similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s less of a romcom and closer to general fiction. Which, again, is not an issue for me, but might be for people expecting another Beach Read. 

I enjoyed the scenes with Alice and her mother the most. I liked how that situation played out, and I liked watching Alice’s growth through these situations. Honestly, I could have read an entire book about them and leave or take Hayden. I liked him, but I feel like we missed out not hearing his POV. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• The more literary feel to the book.
• Alice and her mom’s complicated relationship.

What I didn’t like:

• This was just way too similar the The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in structure/concept. Very different stories, but same set-up.
• Honestly, the romance felt out of place with so much else going on. It felt forced.

Afterthoughts:

This was the May group read with throneofpages‘ book club!

Where to buy the book: