Great Big Beautiful Life: Reese's Book Club

By Emily Henry

A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ 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 novel from Emily Henry. As featured in The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ NPR ∙ Vogue ∙ The Los Angeles Times ∙ The Cut ∙ USA Today ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Glamour ∙ ELLE ∙ E! Online ∙ The New York Post ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader's Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more! 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 twentieth 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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Published Apr 22, 2025

432 pages

Average rating: 7.42

2,632 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Great Big Beautiful Life* by Emily Henry delivers evocative storytelling, authentic emotions, and compelling chemistry between the protag...

TheOriginalJes
6/10 stars
I love Emily Henry and have loved every novel she has written. It’s clear with this novel that she’s trying new math and for me it didn’t add up to a swoon worth romcom story. It took me a month to read this story. Her books are usually a weekend bluster you can’t put down. Too much focus on substory/those characters and not nearly enough build on the main f/m main characters.
Mellific
10/10 stars
I love Emily Henry and this book was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I pre-ordered it and jumped for joy when it finally arrived. The story was incredible, and even though I've seen others give negative reviews about Margaret's story, I couldn't disagree more. There were multiple stories of love within this book. Different kinds of love, different types of love, but all love. Alice got to live through these stories about love at the same time as the reader. All while we learned about her own love story, and the loss that she and her mom were sharing. It's a story about doing what you love, and making room for those who you love. Making it work, even if it means completely starting over - from scratch. The way that this book tied into each story, while telling new stories, was inspiring. I can confidently say that I love this book and it's easily 5 stars.
P Mancuso
8/10 stars
Historical fiction seemingly inspired by the Hearst family.
MRYBRY
6/10 stars
This will 100% be something you could watch on Hallmark. If that is your thing, then it is a great book for you! If it’s not, then give it a pass. I fall somewhere in the middle, hence the 3 stat review.
literarily_occupied
8/10 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars

Great Big Beautiful Life is not the fun, feel-good vibe of Funny Story, but more akin to the substance fueled depth of Book Lovers. This story focuses more on plot with an undertone of romance but not understated in any way. It's good. Just adjust your expectations accordingly.

I love the story within a story interview process, and the rivals-to-lovers trope is a favorite of mine. Emily continues to be a go-to, auto-read author for me.