by Emily Henry

Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Writing the biography of Margaret Ives, a reclusive heiress now in her eighties who was once known as “The Tabloid Princess” before she disappeared decades ago.

Alice and Hayden don’t know why Margaret suddenly wants to emerge from her life of anonymity after all these years, but they want to find out almost as much as they want to write her life story. While they try to figure out what she’s playing at, they discover an undeniable spark between them.

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Review:

I keep hearing how this book is so different from Emily Henry’s other novels, but I didn’t feel that way at all. Great Big Beautiful Life felt like classic Henry to me. Her writing style is the same, and I found so many traces of her other books. Notably:

• People We Meet on Vacation: Alice and Hayden reminded me of Poppy and Alex with their grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract dynamic. Both women are bubbly, chatty, and outgoing, while the men are quiet, reserved, serious, and contemplative.

• Book Lovers: Though the dynamic is a bit different, Alice and Hayden working on the same biography was reminiscent of Nora and Charlie editing their mutual client’s novel together.

• Beach Read: Alice and January have so much in common: They’re both writers struggling with the loss of their father. They both fall for acclaimed writers who they worry don’t take their work seriously. And they both grew up with a sick family member, which made them each feel like they always had to put on a brave face to make everyone else feel better and not be a burden.

Without giving too much away, I’d also like to point out that a cult called comes up at some point in GBBL—the People’s Movement for Metaphysical Healing—which calls to mind the New Eden cult that Gus writes about in Beach Read. We even follow Gus and January as they interview former cult members and their famlies—just as we watch Alice interview Margaret.

Even the “story within a story,” which most people seem to point to as the major departure for Henry, didn’t feel like a big leap for me. Most of Henry’s main characters are either writers or professionals working in the world of books. And while it doesn’t go nearly as in depth as GBBL does with Margaret’s story, Book Lovers spends a fair amount of time on Dusty’s novel Frigid . In Beach Read, we learn a lot about the novels Gus and January are writing: The Cup is Already Broken andThe Great Family Marconi, respectively (all of which are, arguably, mini stories within a larger story).

To be clear, I’m not criticizing GBBL for its overlap with Henry’s other books. It’s normal for writers to revisit similar themes and ideas. If anything, I feel like I kind of know Henry a little bit now and have a better understanding of what her preoccupations are. And I think she’s been setting herself and her readers up for GBBL for a long time.

I really liked GBBL overall, especially the ending, which I’ve seen a fair amount of criticism of. But to me, everything came together in a really satisfying way. I won’t say more than that to avoid spoilers.

I also enjoyed Margaret’s story quite a bit, with its explorations of inherited trauma, parasocial relationships, and fractured identities. I know this story within a story has been divisive, with some finding it tedious and boring. Admittedly, it moved a bit slower at times than the romance plotline and required a bit more patience, but I don’t fault it for that. This, I think, is the biggest departure for Henry with GBBL: She asks us to be patient and slow down for a minute, which romance books (including Henry’s past ones) don’t often ask us to do.

My only real issue with GBBL was that we jumped into the romance between Alice and Hayden too quickly, before I felt really invested in them as a couple. Perhaps ironically, I wish Henry had slowed this part down too. But I did ultimately enjoy their love story and rooted for them in the end.

I’m not sure yet where GBBL ranks for me among Henry’s books. It’s not my favorite of hers, but it was still compelling and I’ll definitely reread.

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Favorite Quotes:

“When you love someone, you do anything to give them what they need. You unmake the world and build a new one.” (410)

“I want to be with you. Nothing else is going to matter to me more than that. Not at the end of my life. Not even now. Nothing will matter more than who I spent my time with, and I want it to be you. I need it to be you.” (411-412)