If you have been following my blog for a longer while already, you know that books by Emily Henry are a real hit or miss for me. Whereas I really didn’t like Book Lovers, Happy Place was actually pretty decent. Her newest novel Great Big Beautiful Life piqued my interest from the start, but considering my earlier reading experiences, I was hesitant. I finally picked it up and now you’re reading my book review. As our main characters Alice and Hayden have to conduct interviews in order to complete their task at hand, I thought it would be a fun idea to do the exact same thing for my book review, so I interviewed myself. Did I enjoy this book in the end?

About the book

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Published by Berkley on April 22, 2025
Pages: 418
ISBN: 9780593441299
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, General fiction, Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

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.

My review

Why did you decide to pick this book up in the end and what were your expectations before reading?

Well, let’s first start with my expectations. I had none, as I was very cautious this time. I have different experiences with books by this author. I read Beach Read long ago, before it was even popular. I enjoyed that one and it looked like Henry would become a new autobuy author for me. But then there was People We Meet on Vacation and that one took me forever to finish. It was still okay, but I already felt a bit let down. So, Book Lovers was a new chance. And that went wrong, so wrong. I therefore decided that Happy Place would be my final chance for this author. This book ended up being okay, but I didn’t dare picking up Funny Story as that one has both the forced proximity trope (not so bad) and the fake relationship trope (my least favourite trope). Great Big Beautiful Life was a doubtful case as well, but everyone seemed to love it. And it gives me a bit of a mystery vibe with lots of long buried secrets, so I was mostly sold. That’s why I read it eventually.

This book is told solely from Alice’ point of view. What did you think of her and the other characters in this book?

My biggest problem with Henry’s characters is that the characters are thirteen-in-a-dozen ones. It’s easy to grab one from each book and put them in another book. There’s little to know variety in them, their personalities are similar and so is their vibe. Furthermore, they aren’t written well. I still don’t have any clue about Alice and Hayden as they are just really mediocre to me. Too mediocre for a character driven story like this. It’s hard to relate or feel any emotional connection to them. I never felt any chemistry between them and for a romance this is such a bummer. This romance therefore feels pretty at surface level and unbelievable for this exact reason. Margaret however has more depth and potential to her, but she stays too much at surface level as well. I therefore didn’t have any favvourite character.

Do you think this novel reaches its full potential?

Not really unfortunately. It’s not bad, definitely not. I just think both the characters and plot stay too much at surface level and could have been elaborated more in depth. The mystery surrounding Margaret was the most intriguing part of this book, but it falls flat in the end. I was quite underwhelmed. However, I wanted to keep reading to find all the answers to my questions and to unravel said mystery. Besides, I believe a multiple POV narration would have given this novel more depth to it, especially to the characters. I would have loved to see more from Hayden, because there is more to tell here and the author just missed this chance. Either by accident or by choice.

What themes does this book address according to you and does the author want to give a message to the readers?

A message not per se. I think this book is meant for an audience who wants to read for a desperately needed escape. The mystery element is there to give the plot more body, otherwise this is paper thin. There are some themes though: trust, family, love, finding happiness. Important themes, but pretty generic ones for a romance.

Do you think this book fits its genre?

Oh absolutely! There is a romance – albeit with not too much chemistry – and the plot follows the romance formula. The writing is easy to follow and never gets complicated. Nor is the plot. This book is character driven, but let’s disregard their execution. Henry focuses more on the bond between Alice and Hayden, whilst Margaret and her story mostly serve as a side plot to keep the readers interested. I just missed character growth. I mean it’s there, but not in the way and amount I prefer to see in my romances.

Would you recommend this book to others?

I’m not sure about this one as I think everyone has to decide for themselves. Are you a hardcore romance reader? I would recommend it. If you value more emotional depth and character growth, this book is maybe not really suitable for you.

Are your expectations met, and did you enjoy reading this book in the end?

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry did meet my expectations for the simple fact I had none. It fits her bibliography, which is awesome for the fans, but I would like to see her try something new. The couples are always white and straight, which is fine don’t get me wrong, but diversity would be appreciated to see as well. The mystery was what kept me hooked to the pages. Apart from this, the plot is paper thin. I missed depth in both characters and plot. This includes character growth. Even though I would recommend this book to the romance lovers, I think it didn’t reach its full potential in the end which is such a pity.

Are you considering reading this book or is this not for you?