Emily Henry delivers another ultimately heartwarming story. Bit diffrent from her other books but for me still a enjoyable read!

Not my favourite Emily Henry, but a fun summery read nevertheless. The love story took a bit of backseat, but oddly enough I was still conveinced by it. Interesting, mileage may vary on this one.

Another classic Emily Henry! I found it a little slow to get into, but once I did I was hooked on the story and loved the twists as we learned more about the characters past.

I absolutely LOVED GBBL. This is truly Emily Henry at her best, her characters are beautifully in depth and have an incredible dynamic that just makes me want to kick my feet and smile while they banter.

I’m a sucker for a dual timeline/historical backstory, and I just had a feeling EmHen was going to do it so well, and of course she did! I loved every aspect of the book and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

I’ve read a couple of Emily Henry books, with Book Lovers and Happy Place as some of my favourite rom-coms. Great Big Beautiful Life immediately intrigued me with its comparisons to one of my favourite literary romcoms, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (which I just realised now, that I never wrote a review for on this blog!).

So what is Great Big Beautiful Life about?
Two writers arrive at the elusive and famous Margaret Ives job, to find that they are pitted against each other to write her biography. One being male, and the other female, of course they both form a budding competition and romance. As they interview Margaret separately however, they find out that the job isn’t as it seems, and she’s not telling them the whole truth. While in direct competition with each other, they need to find out what the job is about and who will win it, without breaching their NDA.

How did I find it?
I liked the premise well enough, but very soon, I found that the mystery was flimsy at best. While touted to be extremely successful and then shunned from the world, I found a lot of Margaret’s persona was more telling rather than showing. I didn’t find her story particularly interesting, and soon lost interest through the retelling of her family history. Much of the novel focuses on Margaret’s biography and the gaps in her story, and whether you’ll enjoy this novel will depend on how you find her retelling of her life.

What about the romance?
With Hayden and Alice being pitted against each other with their writerly ambitions, there was a rivals to lovers flavour to their romance. However, I found it to be slightly predictable. Of course they were going to have tension, and then fall in love. Unfortunately, I found that Margaret’s story dominated this book with the romance being secondary to its focus.

I did like Alice’s struggle with connecting with her mother, due to her mother’s disdain over her career. This offered a bit of depth to Alice’s character, other than her ambition to get her big break.

Great Big Beautiful Life is part mystery, romance, and about the secrets behind the family of a rich socialite. While there were some beautiful moments in Margaret’s story, I unfortunately found it rather dull and uninteresting, especially compared to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I definitely preferred other Emily Henry novels.

Thanks to the Penguin Australia and Netgalley for the electronic review copy.

Emily Henry does it again! Raced through this book like I have all her pervious and loved the structure of this, Very much giving The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! I loved it and it is probably one of my favourite books Emily Henry has ever written. Not only did I love the main characters and their love interest, but the rest of the plot and the setting was so damn amazing as well. The plot twist at the end was really interesting and I didn't see it coming either. I will definitely recommend this, especially if you already love Emily Henry's books!

“What makes your heart beat? For whom would you unmake the world, and how would you build a new one?”

This week, Emily Henry returns with Great Big Beautiful Life — and friends, it’s 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 ✨

I laughed. I cried. I finished it in one (ish!) greedy sitting. This one absolutely delivers the emotional punch I’ve been waiting for 🥹 — it’s the first book in ages that truly gave me the same all-consuming feeling I had reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (and if you know me, you know that’s saying something) 💕

Emily Henry does what she does best here: magnetic characters, electric chemistry, and a story that explores the aching beauty of love, memory, and identity. There’s romance and mystery, yes — but also this undercurrent of something deeper… that lingering question of how our past shapes us, and what we’ll do to reclaim our narrative, our future ✨

This book is funny, sharp, heartfelt, and surprisingly profound. A five 🌟 highlight-of-my-year kind of read. Emily Henry fans will swoon — but even if you’ve never read her before, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 is the one to start with.

Publication day is today in the US, Thursday in the U.K. — and I’m telling you: don’t walk, run 🏃‍♀️

Have you preordered it? Will this be your next read? Let’s talk about it! 👇

🔎 Glimpse of the plot in the comments 👀

#GreatBigBeautifulLife #EmilyHenry #BookReleaseDay #WeekendReads #BookstagramRecs #FictionFavorites #RomanceReaders #ReadingCommunity #BookedUpGirlReads #fivestarreads Emily Henry’s best yet, for the fans of Evelyn Hugo, Five-star emotional read, new books to read, book club, A love story, Must-read new fiction 2025



The story follows Alice Scott — eternal optimist, hopeful biographer, and underdog — as she lands on dreamy Little Crescent Island to compete for the chance to write the life story of one Margaret Ives. Think: scandalous heiress turned mystery woman, with enough secrets to keep you hooked for days. The twist? 🌪️ Alice is up against Hayden Anderson, a Pulitzer-winning thundercloud of a man who just might be her rival… or something more.
Margaret gives them each carefully guarded pieces of her past. No sharing. No swapping notes. And in between the biographical puzzle, there’s a sizzling tension between Alice and Hayden that crackles through every page. The result? Well, you’ve gotta read it for yourself 👀


I thought I’d posted on netgalley already.

This is perfect. From the competitive premise to the story they’re writing, and then the present time story they’re unpicking without realising it, it’s got everything, and I fell in love with the community at the motel and all the little twists and turns to get to everything coming together beautifully.

I really loved this story which drew me in immediately. I always enjoy Emily's books and this one was just as good as her others. It was so interesting and I loved the characters. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

first thing I noticed is that this book is really a mix between The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (by Taylor Jenkins Reid) and Book Lovers (by Emily Henry). With everything surrounding the biography of Margaret Ives, the way the tension is slowly built up and the beautiful, compelling writing style of Emily Henry, this has really become a beautiful story. I enjoyed the mystery and the intrigue and regularly had to swallow a lump in my throat.

Okay, the middle part felt a bit slow. Although I found Margaret Ives' story interesting and I certainly appreciated the plot twist towards the end, I found her parts, the flashbacks to the past, a bit less interesting. I enjoyed the parts between Alice and Hayden more. I found especially those parts very emotional, and their all-encompassing and all-consuming love is beautifully portrayed. I did find Hayden an almost standard MMC of Emily Henry? He was very similar to Charlie from Book Lovers or Gus from Beach Diary. Not necessarily bad, because he's a fantastic, intriguing guy, but a bit corny.

I once again really enjoyed Emily Henry's beautiful, almost poetic writing style. Great big beautiful life is a gem, although for me it couldn't quite match Book lovers. But fans of her books? They will happily close this book!

I have received an E-arc through NetGalley, this has not affected my opinion whatsoever.

This was my first Emily Henry novel and my expectations were high. Possibly too high. I knew she was a bestseller and shortly after I requested this book it was revealed as a Reece’s book club pick.
Great Big Beautiful Life follows Alice and Hayden, two journalists competing for the same job – the chance to write the biography of aging socialite, Margaret Ives, who dropped out of public life decades ago.
I enjoyed the book, especially the flashback chapters showing Margaret’s glamorous, gilded youth, but I expected… more. I thought the romance would be heart-stoppingly, achingly beautiful, and that the mystery would be gripping and unputdownable. It didn’t quite live up to the hype for me, but I’d still recommend it. 3.5 stars rounded up.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

In this light-hearted romance, two journalists try to resist their growing attraction to each other as they compete to win the right to publish an official biography of former socialite, Margaret Ives. Overall, this was an enjoyable read. The romance between Hayden and Alice is sweet and I enjoyed reading about their relationship blossom. Their story is interspersed with Alice's interviews with Margaret ('Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' vibes) and this part of the story is also interesting; however, I felt like switching between Margaret's story and Alice/Hayden's story made it harder to fully engage with either so the impact of each was lost. The two story lines do tie together well at the end, but it took too long to see the relevance of this and it didn't feel like there was sufficient else (e.g. mystery, learning journey, etc.) to make this structure work for most of the novel. It was still an easy and fairly compelling read but I was a little disappointed with this one, in comparison to Emily Henry's other titles.

I read and listened to this book simultaneously because I simply couldn’t stop—it was that good. Sorry to my buddy Danielle for speeding ahead, but once I started, I was hooked.

What I adored most is that while it’s a romantic comedy on the surface, it has so much emotional depth, which is exactly what I’ve come to love and expect from this author. The story masterfully weaves in a touch of history, and every thread, every line, beautifully comes full circle.

The two main characters—both authors, hilariously and competitively attempting to write a memoir—are just so well written. Their chemistry, banter, vulnerability, and growth pulled me right in. I loved them both so much.

This book made me laugh, tear up, and think deeply—all while rooting hard for the characters. It’s more than a romcom; it’s a brilliant, heartfelt story that stays with you.

I can't stop thinking about the story! I love everything Emily Henry writes, she's an instant favourite author. Would recommend 'Great Big Beautiful Life' and will definitely read it again. 5 Stars.

I wanted to love this soooo much but it just wasn't for me. Emily always falls flat for me in the last third of every book but clersly I'm in the minority.

Loved the premise of this and honestly enjoyed the two stories separately but I feel like they didn’t work the best together. The flashbacks and historical elements almost dragged the story down at times and seemed a bit bland in comparison to the present day story.

I enjoyed the characters of Alice and Hayden but insta-love isn’t my cup of tea and then Hayden was so hot and cold it was frustrating.

The ending moved into a mystery with twists and intrigue thrown in but then it felt like it was a whole different genre to the rest of the book and was disconnected.

Emily Henry’s writing is excellent and I sped through it, there were moments I thoroughly enjoyed but overall I didn’t love this one.

This did take me a hot second to get into. I did slightly struggle to get into the flashbacks but it started to pick up about 40% of the way through and I couldn’t put it down!

You can’t go wrong with an Emily Henry book, she just keeps getting better and better. Thoroughly enjoyable, engaging read, quirky characters, cozy small town vibes, with a nice little unexpected twist at the end.

In Emily Henry's newest novel, a journalist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer compete for a chance to write the biography of a famous heiress now in her 80s and living as a recluse.

Alice works for a pop-culture website and hopes that writing this book will earn her more respect from her family. She has spent months tracking Margaret Ives down to small island off the coast of Georgia. Hayden seems the ideal choice for the job, having already published a best-selling biography. When the two meet Margaret, they must sign iron-clad NDAs and remain on the island for a month, working with her until she decides who's going to take the reigns with her story. Of course, it's a small island, so these new rivals are going to keep bumping into each other, and eventually sparks fly.

I've seen this book marketed as a mystery/thriller, and I think it's important to point out that it's not, at least IMO. However, it is a departure for Henry, who combines her exceptional talent for contemporary romance with historical fiction. The story of Margaret and The House of Ives - the name given to her scandalous family - traces all the way back to the Gold Rush and the early days of Hollywood, exploring the family's history, their relationships, and the tragic love story that led Margaret to retreat from the public eye.

It has all the elements of Henry's earlier novels: steamy romance, witty banter, electric chemistry, and brilliant characters. Fans of the grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity tropes will squeal. But this story is also an emotional and thoughtful exploration of family ties, the power of truth, the fragility of trust, and, of course, love in its many forms.

I loved Alice and Hayden, and Alice's relationship with her mother was a highlight. A cosy, engaging, and gripping read with plenty of swoon, and a testament to the writer Henry is. Gorgeous!