{"id":4179,"date":"2025-05-17T15:59:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T15:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4179"},"modified":"2025-05-17T15:59:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T15:59:24","slug":"great-big-beautiful-life-by-emily-henry-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=4179","title":{"rendered":"Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! It\u2019s been over two weeks since I read Emily Henry\u2019s latest novel. I just had zero motivation to write the review these past weekends, but here it is finally! A day at home with no plans. In a good mood as I just finished painting while listening to Taylor Swift. It just felt like the perfect time to write this, so here you go! \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019re 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\u2019ll choose the person who\u2019ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice\u2019s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice\u2014and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She\u2019s 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\u2019t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they\u2019re in the same room.

And it\u2019s becoming abundantly clear that their story\u2014just like the tale Margaret\u2019s spinning\u2014could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad\u2026depending on who\u2019s telling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~THOUGHTS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emily Henry has become a household name. She has written 6 books, mostly all loved by readers. I have different thoughts, but what she has been doing has been working. So, I was befuddled with Great Big Beautiful Life. It did not read like an Emily Henry novel. It actually read like a Taylor Jenkins-Reid novel, nowhere near her expertise though.<\/mark><\/strong> I have read 4 books by TJR, and have loved them most of them, as against EH, so I\u2019m clearly biased. If it hadn\u2019t been for the TJR-esque writing, I wouldn\u2019t have read the book as quickly, so what can I say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have two authors in a month-long audition to write Margaret Ives<\/mark><\/strong>\u2019 biography. So, the novel is her story right from her great grandfather, and it\u2019s also the story of writes; Alice and Hayden<\/mark><\/strong>. I enjoyed reading Margaret\u2019s story, because how couldn\u2019t I? It has a rags to riches story, drama, tragedies, disappearances, too many characters who have too many secrets. <\/mark><\/strong>That part of the book was fun to read. But, of course, because it was similar to TJR\u2019s writing, I immediately had high expectations which were tough to meet. As for Alice & Hayden\u2019s story, it\u2019s nothing we haven\u2019t read before. An empath woman falling for a surly man who is only considerate for her. I didn\u2019t find any typical EH romance elements with these two. Sure, there was a lot of build-up, but it never felt \u2018meant-to-be\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The major problem in my reading experience was the big disconnect between the two story lines, and the very obvious and sole connection which I saw coming early on.<\/mark><\/strong> I am not sure what was EH\u2019s vision for the book, but it was genre-defying in the worst way possible. It was too tame to be romance. It was too mellow to be historical fiction. It was too generic to be women\u2019s fiction. If I look at Margaret\u2019s story independently, it would be 4\/5 & for Alice & Hayden, it would be 2\/5. So, I have rated Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry at 3\/5 stars.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are the book reviews for previous Emily Henry novels if you’d like to read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beach Read<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People We Meet on Vacation<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book Lovers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Place<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funny Story<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! It\u2019s been over two weeks since I read Emily Henry\u2019s latest novel. I just had zero motivation to write the review these past weekends, but here it is finally! A day at home with no plans. In a good mood as I just finished painting while listening to Taylor Swift. It just felt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Picsart_25-05-17_20-00-44-387-2.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3462,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3462","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":0},"title":"May 2024 Wrap-Up!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! May has been the highlight of 2024! It was the month of my first international trip to the US! I had the time of my life. Never had 20 days felt so ridiculously short! I was in Virginia, Washington DC, Philadelphia & New York City! Of course, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picsart_24-05-31_10-38-48-460-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picsart_24-05-31_10-38-48-460-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picsart_24-05-31_10-38-48-460-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picsart_24-05-31_10-38-48-460-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Picsart_24-05-31_10-38-48-460-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1431,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1431","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":1},"title":"Celebrating Mindscape in Words’ 7th Blogoversary!!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"September 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers!! Every time I write a post, I somehow always wonder how quickly the month has gone by, and today here we are where an entire year has gone by! Another successful year of Mindscape in Words! I am forever grateful to you readers who come back to read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life!"","block_context":{"text":"Life!","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2764,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2764","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":2},"title":"Happy Place by Emily Henry: My Unhappy Place","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! May has been a tricky month so far. I am reading just as much, but not really been able to review anything I have read. Most times, I knew exactly what to write but did not find the will to write. At other times, I was clueless as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/SI_20230522_220254.jpg?fit=687%2C687&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/SI_20230522_220254.jpg?fit=687%2C687&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/SI_20230522_220254.jpg?fit=687%2C687&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2100,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2100","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":3},"title":"Books Read in May 2022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! May was slow for me reading wise. I only read 6 Books across 2145 Pages. The workload was the same, but in addition to it I also had to study for a certification. So, getting back into that \u2018studying groove\u2019 after 5 years took some time. But then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/PSX_20220529_130849__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/PSX_20220529_130849__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/PSX_20220529_130849__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/PSX_20220529_130849__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/PSX_20220529_130849__01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1194,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1194","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":4},"title":"Book Review for Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation.","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi\u00a0Readers! How are you all doing? With cyclone & power outages these past few days, I was able to read a little more than I can during a workweek. I finished reading Emily Henry\u2019s \u2018People We Meet on Vacation\u2019. I had been wanting to read this book for a long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Featured-Image.jpg?fit=881%2C881&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Featured-Image.jpg?fit=881%2C881&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Featured-Image.jpg?fit=881%2C881&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Featured-Image.jpg?fit=881%2C881&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3451,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3451","url_meta":{"origin":4179,"position":5},"title":"Funny Story: My First Emily Henry Favorite!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! It has been a while since the last review, because guess what? I have not really been reading a lot of books worth reviewing. 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