Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

RomanceContemporary

Jul 1

Written By taylor shepeard

Title: Great Big Beautiful Life

Author: Emily Henry

Publication Date: April 22, 2025

Audience: Adult

Genre: Romance

Sub-Genre: Contemporary

POV: Single

Series: Standalone

Format: Physical

4.75⭐ | 2🌶️

Pros:
✨Authentic Romance
✨Character Development
✨Prose / Writing Style
✨Themes of Love
✨Format / Storyline Execution
✨Depiction of Complex Family Relationships

Cons:
✨Didn't connect as much with MMC as I normally do in an Emily Henry

Synopsis

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.

*Blurb taken from The StoryGraph

Review

This review may contain spoilers.

I gobble up every Emily Henry I come across, and this book was no exception! There is a little format play in this novel, as our protagonist, Alice Cooper, is competing to earn a contract to write a memoir for the elusive and enigmatic heiress Margaret Ives. Because of this, we get snippets of (presumably) Alice’s writing based on her interviews with Margaret. While I did love these clips by the end of the novel, they slowed the story down in the beginning. I stuck with it, though, and I’m thrilled that I did!

There is a slight enemies-to-lovers vibe here because the MMC, Hayden Cooper, happens to be the only other journalist vying for the contract to compose Margaret’s memoir. But, while the rivalry persists, this felt way more like a grumpy-sunshine, fast-friends-to-lovers, and it worked so well. There was a moment at the beginning where I thought Henry was going to give us the insta-love trope, and I was horrified. No worries, though—the plot diverges and we get fleshed out characters. (Phew!)

Alice’s positivity pairs well with Hayden’s stoicism. These two as counterparts are beautiful. They understand the way each other’s minds work: how the inquisitive need to untangle the puzzles of people’s lives can be invigorating, while both also having the compassion to remain respectful of the complexities within those lives. Alice makes Hayden comfortable enough to pull out of his shell, and Hayden earns Alice’s trust, giving her a space to open up about her deepest fears and personal trials.

For some reason, I didn’t quite connect to Hayden the way I have to all of Henry’s prior MMC’s. I honestly think this boils down to page time. Because Margaret functions as a pivotal secondary character, she takes up a significant portion of the novel (as do the snippets with her story). This was necessary and I loved the incorporation of Margaret and her past. But the give is that we lose space for Alice and Hayden to deepen their own connection and spend time with each other. Alice makes a lot of (accurate) assumptions about Hayden based on his behaviorisms and dialogue. Which isn’t bad! It’s good! But something was missing. Something that didn’t click. And I can’t quite put my finger on what that was. Honestly, I would have inhaled another hundred pages of this book if Henry had decided to ignore industry standards, expand the plot, and give us more Alice-Hayden moments.

Beyond the romance, I adored how Alice rekindled her relationship with her mother, and how honest the complications between them were. (Some off-grid living goes a long way with me, too!) The way Alice began recording her mom to make up for the regrets she had in not documenting her dad while she could made me tear up. This, along with the the conclusion of Margaret’s story in Cosmo’s death, and her grief, self-isolation, and the sacrifice of her daughter … I’m sniffling even now, reflecting back on these threads.

The focus on storytelling, outsider perspective on reputation, and familial relationships within this novel made my heart swell. One of the many moments that stayed with me was when Hayden and Alice commiserate about how their parents are proud of their accomplishments, but not the actual creative work they’ve done; they bond over the fear that, if the awards and recognition went away, their loved ones’ respect would disappear as well.

If I spoke to all of the themes and symbols and thought-provoking moments in here, this review would turn into a novel all its own. What I can say is that, upon finishing this book, I immediately wanted to read it again, knowing how Margaret’s story panned out and her connection to Hayden.

There’s something so mentally stimulating about Henry’s books, which is why I always go for one of hers when I’m in the mood for a reread. This will skip to the top of the list!