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.
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I love Emily Henry. I have fallen in love with her writing ever since I read Book Lovers in 2022. She writes the kind of books that keeps you reading late into the night, and when you’re not reading, you’re thinking about it and wondering what happens next. I have been excited about Big Beautiful Life ever since Emily Henry announced it on her social media. I was lucky that one of my best friends decided to get the book for me. I like the fact that the story was about two writers; I enjoy books about books. I was immediately engrossed in Hayden and Alice’s story, and was eager to find out which one of them would get the job. I was little suspicious of Margaret, and fact that she was giving both Hayden and Alice a ‘trial’, and it could been just me but I felt that there was a reason that she wasn’t informing them about it. I was eager to find out if I was right about her.
I've read a few of Emily Henry's works over the years. I've heard that Great Big Beautiful Life was different from her other books. I wasn't sure what to anticipate when I started this book, but I was eager to find out. Not shortly after starting the book, I realized what everyone was talking about. Her past works were more romance centered, but Big Beautiful Life were so much more than that, it felt like it was more women's fiction than romance, and that was one of the things I liked about this book. I liked that Henry took a different approach for this novel, and it worked for her. I felt that the book started slowly, and it took me a while to become immersed in Margaret's story, but once it did, I wanted to know more. I liked how Margaret's story included both their perspective and the real version. However, I was skeptical about what Margaret was telling Hayden and Alice, I felt as if she wasn’t being honest. It was mostly the way she would tell the story. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was hiding, and why.
I adored both Hayden and Alice, but it took me some time to warm to Hayden. Alice was my favorite of the two characters, and I felt more connected to her. I believed that Hayden and Alice's relationship progressed too quickly at start, as if they hardly got to know one another. It didn't take me long to realize how much the two of them cared for each other. However, I couldn't help but wonder how this would influence their future employment. Great Big Beautiful Life is the type of books that has you thinking at times, and reflect on your life and the choices that you had made. Even if you haven’t read an Emily Henry book, I would highly recommend checking this book out.
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