Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
- May 19
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 4
Well that didn't take long. I'm back with another review of an Emily Henry book, this one her most recent novel Great Big Beautiful Life, which was only published in April of 2025. It has so far been featured in what appears to be every magazine currently published, and was chosen as Reese's Book Clubs pick of April 2025. It deals with confinement, death, grief, and a car accident.
Alice Scott loves her job writing for a popular magazine, but it's not a job her mother or sister particularly respect. That will all change if she can land this opportunity: interviewing and writing a book about the life of Margaret Ives, the heiress, socialite, and media darling turned rockstar's wife turned recluse turned nobody has been able to track her down in years. Until now, that is. But Alice isn't the only writer up for the job and her chances don't look good compared to Hayden Anderson, who has already written a Pulitzer prize winning life story. Margaret interviews them both and decides to give them a trial run, after one month of interviews they will both pitch their ideas for the book to her and she will pick the one she likes best. Which means they'll both be stuck on this tiny Georgia island for a month, where the only people they know is the octogenarian recluse... and each other. It doesn't take them long to realize, even with the NDA in effect saying they cannot discuss their interviews, that Margaret is hiding something from them.
A solid second Emily Henry book for me to read. Again, Emily Henry writes a funny, serious, but still lighthearted book with characters that you love to visit. I got nervous that the characters would be the same personality across her books but that was not the case between Great Big Beautiful Life and Funny Story. Each character is solidly unique. And in this book, we get to take a look at the life of Margaret Ives, starting with her great grandfather and the start of the Ives dynasty. We get a variety of mini stories that all tie back together at the end. And more than a romance, this is a book about love. The love between siblings, between a parent and their child, between romantic partners, and all of the choices that comes with a messy life full of relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it has a twist at the end I did not see coming.
I'm giving Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry 4.5 stars out of 5. Spice level is a 2. I really liked it, both Margaret's story and the developing relationship between Alice and Hayden were fun to unravel. It did not catch me like Funny Story did, but it was still solid and I liked it so much I read it very quickly.
For more from Emily Henry, check her out at https://www.emilyhenrybooks.com/
Pairs well with some peach cobbler and making something beautiful from what others have thrown away.
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