Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry | ARC-Review

25/04/2025 kat @ bookish blades

Emily Henry has been one of my favourite authors ever since I picked up Beach Read years ago. I just had to read her previous work and now her novels are among my most anticipated books each year. And my day was truly made when I received mail from Penguin on Valentine’s Day with an ARC for her newest, Great Big Beautiful Life.

Synopsis:

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Book: Great Big Beautiful Life | Author: Emily Henry | Publisher: Penguin / Viking | Pages: 420 | Genre: romance, literary fiction | CN: grief, loss of loved ones, miscarriage

*thank you to Penguin / Viking for providing this ARC via NetGalley! This has no impact on my honest opinion*

Great Big Beautiful Life is very clearly an Emily Henry book, yet is completely different from her previous novels. It has the “I’m coming home”-feeling that Emily Henry’s books always have for me, but there’s not so much of the typical humor and whipsmart wit. The focus in Great Big Beautiful Life is not only on the MC Alice and her life but also puts a big focus on Margaret Ives and her story. Emily Henry beautifully manages to weave the stories together, to make all of the characters come alive and feel real.

I really liked Alice as a narrator. She has such an optimistic view on the world and the people living in it, it was truly refreshing to read from her perspective. She tries to see the best in everyone, even when she doubts them, she still tries to trust. She has the ability to be friendly with everyone and have everyone being friendly right back. Despite her optimism, she still has fears and pushes her own worries deep down.
Then there is Hayden who seems to be the grumpy to her sunshine but who is actually such a shy cinnamon roll. The two of them just don’t fit right away, they’re opposites in a lot of ways but they are so accepting of each other and despite not having the best start, they grow closer and become friends and I absolutely loved theire interactions! They do have some of the Emily Henry banter but I also enjoyed that there were some (minor) misunderstandings and that they didn’t really click right away and needed time to get to know each other. I loved how the author crafted their story with its secrets and wants and with deep understanding for her characters.

I have to admit, I’m normally not a fan of multiple time lines with different characters narrating each one. But I was instantly gripped by Margaret’s story. Even though we only got glimpses of it, the way it was written in quick notes and only some details, the way Emily Henry, or, well, her character Alice puts it down and thinks about it, the way Alice is connecting the dots, makes it feel incredibly real and emotional. Margaret was such an interesting character who led such a wild life with ups and downs, yet having fears, having felt heartbreak again and again. I absolutely loved how Alice tells Margaret’s story and what she makes of the snippets the older woman gives her.
And I loved how Emily Henry puts their stories together, how she weaves and intricate, interesting tapestry of life, shows all the differences and the parallels, show the beauty in life and the darker sides. I liked seeing how the characters open up, how they confronted their fears, how they realize things about themselves by talking to others. Emily Henry really has a knack for making her characters feel incredibly real and close to yourself, it’s easy to imagine them coming to life or being surprised at the fact that they weren’t actually alive.

Great Big Beautiful Life is so different from Emily Henry’s other books, yet it welcomed me with an embrace that felt like home. It has secrets and the more they unfold, the more the story sucked me in. It has wonderful romances and complex and intricate family relationships as well as wonderful friendships. I was ugly sobbing by the end of the book and couldn’t stop, my emotions simply overflowing. I just felt too much and I’m still not over this book. Great Big Beautiful Life has me in its great big beautiful clutches and I never want to escape.

Rating:

YOU MIGHT ENJOY GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE IF YOU LIKE…

Have you read Great Big Beautiful Life? What’s your favourite Emily Henry book? If you haven’t any Emily Henry yet, what’s your favourite summer romance?

Until next time,