I have really enjoyed reading Great Big Beautiful Life. The dual time line felt like a new direction for Emily Henry and I was invested in both story lines.
I didn’t feel the connection between Alice and Hayden immediately but I loved how it developed and their interactions became more believable as the book went on.
I very much enjoyed the setting too, I like the small town vibes and you almost feel like Hayden and Alice are on holiday as they are in unfamiliar territory.
Thanks for letting me review.

I definitely seem to be in the minority when it comes to this book. I had the idea that it would be a rivals to lovers story, with the story of Margaret being a side story. However, it was the Margaret show, with a love story thrown in that didn't belong and had zero growth or chemistry. This unfortunately felt like a carbon copy of a Taylor Jenkins Reid book, but without the addictive grab hers has. Really disappointed :(

Emily Henry comes up trumps again. Another addictive, romantic story that's impossible to put down as rival journalists Alice and Hayden compete to win the chance to write the biography of the reclusive Margaret Ives. Loved it

As a HUGE longtime Emily Henry fan, Great Big Beautiful Life was my most anticipated read of the year. I read the ARC back in March, but I’ve been sitting with it since then, trying to figure out exactly how I feel. This was such a big difference to her usual style that it took a bit longer to draw me in.

The dual POV was interesting, though I found myself less engaged with Margaret’s chapters initially. It wasn’t until she began opening up about her own past that I started to really enjoy her chapters. The romance, while sweet, felt a little underdeveloped compared to Henry’s previous works.. I definitely missed some of that signature EmHen slow-burn.

That said, I loved the setting, and the side characters were great. One of the things I always appreciate about Emily Henry is how she writes about relationships—not just the romantic ones, but the full spectrum: family, friendship, sibling bonds, the complicated love between parents and children. That was definitely present in this one with Alice and her mom, but again I just wanted a little bit more depth.

Though it hasn’t become my new favourite EmHen, I still very much enjoyed it, I think she clearly tried something new with this book and I appreciate that. Emily Henry will forever remain an auto-buy author for me, I will gladly read anything she writes and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

3.75⭐️ rounded up to 4⭐️

This might be my favourite Emily Henry book to date! I absolutely loved the small beach town setting with the cute cafes and I felt like we got to know the side characters quite well too.

The romance was well paced and not too rushed and they had a lot of chemistry. My favourite part of the book by far was Margaret Ives and her back story. It felt like I was reading a Taylor Jenkins Reid story (who is my other favourite author) and there was so much involved in her part of the story. I was constantly guessing throughout at what would happen next and the ending was amazing!! It made me laugh and cry, 5 stars!

Two writers compete for the chance to write an heiress's tell-all memoir and end up finding more than just their next job. This might be Henry's best book yet - full of her trademark romance style, but with a powerful and engaging secondary story that supports Hayden and Alice's romance. A must read.

After an anonymous tip-off, journalist Alice has tracked down heiress Margaret Ives who disappeared from the public eye two decades earlier. Alice wants to write the memoir about her life and the secrets behind her scandalous family.
But Margaret reveals she will be pitting Alice against another award-winning writer, Hayden, and they both have a month to interview her but they cannot exchange information with one another. Only one will win the contract.
Emily Henry often relies on a set formula. Writers (or some near-related occupation). Rivalry. Romance. This book shakes it up somewhat with the interviewing of Margaret about her complicated family tale. This was the part which kept me turning the pages, while I had little interest in the chapters focused on the relationship between Alice and Hayden beyond their tepid professional rivalry. Because of that, in terms of hit or miss, this one unfortunately goes in the miss pile.

I absolutely adored this book and I can confidently say this is my favourite by Emily Henry.
It wasn't at all what I was expecting, and it feels very different from her previous books (in the best possible way).

The novel switches between two stories, that of Alice and Hayden (who are so loveable and relatable) and the story that gradually unfolds surrounding the House of Ives. I loved this structure and the mystery that ran through the entire novel quite literally had me wondering up until the final few pages.

At its core, this is a book about love in every form and Emily Henry has captured it perfectly. I'm SO excited for everyone to read this and I can't wait to make it my entire personality from now on.

Yes yes yes!
I was hesitant when starting the book because I have unrealistically high expections for Emily Henry's books so it's like I'm waiting for an inevitable disappointment. Then on p.6 I read 'She flashes a smile. It's both dazzling and sad. Sazzling.' and I thought lol they could have edited this out. Lo and behold the next sentence 'That, for example, would /not/ make it to a typed-and-edited sentence.' Okay Ms. Henry you got me there!

The flashbacks/Margaret's story made this feel different than Henry's other books and those bits made me think of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising.
Some descriptions of Hayden made me think of Ali Hazelwood's books (tall! big hands!).

[slight spoiler alert]
This is the kind of book to read again, now that we know who is who, and see if there's any foreshadowing throughout the book.
The ending felt maybe a bit rushed? At first I didn't really understand why Alice left Hayden after she found out [spoiler]. But I guess she couldn't be with him and not tell him that secret.
Anyways, all's well that ends well.
[end spoiler]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, you should have seen the happy dance I did when I received this email.

I liked this book, but I do feel like it was copying a lot of tropes from THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I've read Henry's previous books and I just thought this could have landed a lot better. I also think the ending wrapped up a little too quickly, especially since the big reveal is life changing for everyone involved. Overall, an enjoyable read, but I felt it wasn't super impressive or original. I also think my thoughts will be unpopular, so I am curious to hear how other people will react to the book.

Thank you to Penguin for providing me with an ARC of the eBook.

This was definitely a bit different for Emily Henry but I still adored it. I just love that we jump straight into the story and fully invested in the characters from the start. Alice and Hayden were no different, I was obsessed with Alice from page one.

As Alice and Hayden are competing for the job to write the autobiography of Margaret Ives, we hit the jackpot and had two stories in one book. This was done really well, my only complaint was that I wish we’d had more time on Alice and Hayden but I wouldn’t want to lose any of Maragret’s story so, I guess I just wish the book was never ending.

I love Emily’s writing and as usual, I already can’t wait for the next one!

Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry

‘Keep working, keep moving, keep hoping.’

Yours, mine, and the truth… I LOVE this book. I yearned for it when I had to put it down. I will always plead allegiance to Team EmHen.

“Unicursal. One beginning, one end. Or, depending how you look at it, no beginning and no end - just a journey.”

This was a masterpiece. I devoured the chapters with him in it and was always chasing his next entrance. All the while knowing the other chapters narrating the history had invaluable context but I was simply chasing that short term high. Boy oh boy, when the story cracks right open! You just know how masterful it was. A story in a story with undeniable depth and heart.

“Neither of us can afford to be pulling punches here. If either of us doesn’t give this our all, we’ll regret it. And then we’ll resent each other for it. And I don’t know if I can handle being the one person on the planet Alice Scott doesn’t like.”

This was a magisterial story that will stay with me forever. The value in knowing someone and seeing them, even if you don’t understand them. The unmaking of our world and heart for love. ❤️ honestly I bow down to Emily Henry.

“For the one you love? Anything. You unmake the world and build a new one. You do anything to give them what they need.”

“She lies to me too,” he says. “For whatever it’s worth, Margaret Ives isn’t telling me the truth.”

(Posted 17th April 2025).

Oh, I just love it!

I love Alice’s dedication and how much she cares about her family, even though they’re not perfect. And it’s impossible not to fall in love with Hayden, especially when he shares his passion for his writing and his commitment to being part of something bigger, regardless of how it may be perceived by others. At first, I wasn't so sure if I would enjoy this book, but that conversation was a turning point for me. It made me realise that it was indeed a very special story.

The ending was surprising to me, I really love how everything turned out. I believe Emily Henry's fans won't be disappointed. She’s done it again, keeping me awake all night, lost in thoughts about these wonderful characters.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Emily Henry did it again, this was so lovely.
The plot was interesting, it obviously worked towards a twist, but I couldn't guess what it was, despite the red herrings. The characters were lovely and well fleshed out. Henry is so good at writing relatable characters that you don't normally see in other books. She knows how to describe the ordinary, which is a rare talent. The romance was nice and warm and I like the TJR vibes.

Thank you for the e-arc, all opinions are my own.

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of an heiress with more than a few plot twists. When Margaret Ives invites Alice Scott to Little Crescent Island she sees it as her big chance to impress her family with her writing. But there is a spanner in the works as she is competing to write Margaret's book with Hayden Anderson and he is a Pulitzer Prize winner. What ensues is a fun read as Alice delves further into Margaret's story and discovers that even though she is leading her astray with some things about her past Alice works things out.

This was another Emily henry win, who but she could write about falling in love with your ex-fiancée's new fiancée's ex and make it actually something you could not put down and LOL with.

This is THE book of the summer (and we aren't even in summer yet)

📚Book Review 📚

#adprproduct

A massive thank you to NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book. I am a huge Emily Henry fan and did a happy dance when this approval came in.

This story was a romance with an added air of mystery. Whilst Alice and Hayden are competing for a job you get the feeling that everything is not quite what it seems. Margaret's inclusion in the story gave me Evelyn Hugo vibes from the start and I loved getting to know her. Her family history was very complicated and I thought it unravelled really well.

Don't worry though, Emily Henry doesn't completely detour from her usual style. Alice and Hayden do not disappoint and certainly deliver on the slow burn, sexual tension and romance.

Another beautiful book written by Emily Henry! I loved the way the book was set out and how each character's story unraveled. I understand the ending and enjoyed the cyclical nature but it wasn't my favourite Henry book. The setting was stunning and I loved the detail put into building the world around the three main characters and especially, the side characters who played their part in expanding and developing the protagonists' stories!

'Yours, mine, and the truth.'

I loved this! It was like a story in a story and I couldn't put it down!

I must admit, I did look at some reviews (on GR) before I started and I didn't know if I'd like this from what I saw.....couldn't have been further from the truth!! I devoured this book in a day because I just couldn't stop reading!

Alice and Hayden are competing to write a, now reclusive, old money socialites biography. And this is where the story in a story comes to pass.

I LOVED hearing about Margaret's family, how they came into their money, the familial relationships, the scandal, the drama, Margaret's love....all of it!

And then there was Alice and Hayden, a bit like a side story, a grumpy/sunshine match....and it was glorious!!!

My jaw. How it dropped. Dropped right down to my chest. I'll leave it here all cryptic like! Read this!

REVIEW
cw: mentions of childhood illness, dementia, death, grief, bereavement, anxiety, depression, mention of overdose, coercive and psychological control

Eternal optimist, Alice Scott is still dreaming of her big writing break. Meanwhile, Hayden Anderson is already a Pulitzer-prize winner. Both are desperate to write the biography of octogenarian Margaret Ives, the tragic heiress and former tabloid princess. Margaret offers them each a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story. But 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.

This, for me, was the hardest Emily Henry book to categorise, but I still really enjoyed it. The romance felt secondary for much of the story, so I'd categorise this more as fiction with romantic elements.
I loved Alice. She was fallible but immediately likeable. I was surprised though, when she said she was in her thirties. She came across as younger to me. But her height observations made me cackle (even as a 5ft woman), and I loved her tenacity. Though I was initially frustrated with her mum, I really, REALLY loved the development of their relationship, and I was sobbing near the end.
Hayden was quite an enigma early on, mainly because every time we were about to learn about him, it would flick back to Margaret's story. But I grew to love him, especially how much he buoyed Alice and genuinely wanted the best for her career. I also appreciated that he was able to open up to her about his family life, especially his mother's health. I didn't get much of a grumpy vibe from him at all though, rather he was just a little serious at the beginning.
As I mentioned at the start, the story of Margaret's infamous family was at the heart of the entire book, and the scene was lovingly set for Alice and Hayden to meet Margaret properly, and slowly unravel her story. That won't be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed learning about the Ives dynasty. Margaret was such a hoot, but I also felt her pain. The stories of her and her family’s lives were well-written. I found Lawrence and Gerald's dynamic fascinating to read and even felt for Gerald at times. I loved the story of how Margaret’s parents met, but I really loved Cosmo and Margaret’s love story. They were adorable together. However, the constant throughout the story about how the tabloid press manipulates and builds people up, only to knock them down again, was as relevant today as it was throughout the Ives family’s lives, and the one particular situation that mirrored an unforgettable RL event was sadly just as inevitable. I guessed part of the twist, but the full reveal was well-written.
While Alice and Hayden's attraction was magnetic, especially after the first tease of how palpable their chemistry could be, I would say this felt less developed early on than some of the author's other stories, but it still had a satisfying enough tease to keep me wanting more. And in the final act, it really came into its own. I loved how besotted they were with each other, and there were lots of cute little moments. Though there was a little bit of conflict, it genuinely made sense, and I LOVED the resolution. As for the ending? It tied all of the multiple threads together in a perfect bow.
An enjoyable story of love, both past and present.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥

*Thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. Great Big Beautiful Life is published on 22nd April in the UK*

Favourite Quotes:

“Whatever you’re thinking,” she says, “you don’t have to worry about breaking me, Alice. I’m hard to shake.”
My chest pinches. Of course she is. No one person survives everything she did plus years’ worth of public rehashing of those sad and bizarre events without getting some grit, I’m sure.

It bothers me to think of people out there meeting Hayden Anderson and coming away with this partial view of him.
He can be unpleasant. He can also be kind, and even funny.

“You never wear pants,” he murmurs, his thumb tracing down me. “It makes it hard to think."
“You always wear pants,” I manage to breathe out. “I’m worried you’ll have heatstroke.”

"...I don’t know if I can handle being the one person on the planet Alice Scott doesn’t like.”

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to do another book,” he says finally, his voice a rattle. “It’s hard, spending years with a person. Especially someone at the tail end of life. The same thing I love about this job is what I hate about it.”
“What’s that?”
“It feels like you’ve lived their whole life with them,” he says. “And I just can’t help but think, we’re not supposed to know how it all ends, this early. It’s too much of a burden.”

Nothing happened, I’ll remind myself later while I’m lying awake, eyes turned up to the stucco ceiling. It was just a hug.
My body will tell a very different story. Yours, mine, and the truth.

“We were just supposed to touch,” he murmurs.
“Then touch me, Hayden,” I say.

What do you do when you live in a world that was built around you, and so you find yourself trapped, like one sentence in a myth, one brick in a wall, when you’re built into the fabric of a place and that place was built to keep everyone out? What’s it like to feel yourself alone in the world?

"I’ve written stuff I’m really proud of that hardly anyone read. I’ve written stuff I’m proud of that no one liked. That doesn’t mean it didn’t deserve to be written.”

"How many of your favorite shows got canceled? How many of the best albums barely sold when they came out? I mean, It’s a Wonderful Life was a box office flop in its time. If everyone who worked on that movie had known, could see how things were going to pan out in the short term, would they have even bothered to make it? And then the world would’ve lost out on something beautiful. Just because something doesn’t make money or win awards doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value. Or doesn’t deserve to exist."

“I think she loves me because I’m her daughter. But I’ve never felt sure she loves me because I’m me. Does that make sense?”

“Don’t think of it as your punishment,” I say. “Think of it as my reward.”

"Pretending everything’s fine only works for so long. And I don’t know. It freaks me out a little, that I could . . . that I could feel like this, about someone who’s good at pretending to be fine. That I could miss it, if you’re actually not."

“What do you think is going to happen?” I ask.
Under his breath, nearly a whisper, he says, “I think if I get this job, you’re going to break my f**king heart.”

“Tell me something no one knows about you,” and he’s quiet and still for so long I start to wonder if I’ve crossed a line.
Then he tips his chin down to his clavicle to meet my eyes and says simply, “I’m in love with you.”

He kneels in front of me, work forgotten, everything forgotten except that thing that we’re not saying. That we love each other. That when he looks right at me, the world stops turning.

The love of strangers was mercurial. You did nothing to earn it and so could do nothing to prevent it from vanishing, or souring into hatred.

“It’s just a story,” she says bluntly, lowering herself into one of the chairs. “That’s what I used to tell Cosmo. And I believed it. But after I lost him, and Laura . . . When you don’t have the people who love you around, reminding you who you are, that story feels bigger and realer than anything else. You lose yourself inside the character with your name and face.”

"I gave up an entire lifetime with her, and it wasn’t enough to keep her safe.”

“I should have asked him more. I should have written it all down. I should’ve recorded every stupid joke and every piece of advice. I should have taken videos of him singing in the kitchen while you cooked. I should have tried to know all of him while I had the time. Before it was too late.”

"I loved you almost instantly, before I really even knew you. Before I understood it. I trusted you, and I loved you, and I still do.”

“When I let myself dream,” he murmurs against my ear, “or it all comes crashing down—it’s Alice, Alice on my mind. Alice all the time.”

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.