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Great Big Beautiful Life: Reese's Book Club
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.
Named a Most Anticipated book by The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ USA Today ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ 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.
Named a Most Anticipated book by The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ USA Today ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ 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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Community Reviews
I thought the story was great but the storytelling…not so much. It dragged until the halfway point, then all the loose ends were tied hurriedly.
Alice and Hayden are competing for the opportunity to tell Margaret's story. Margaret comes from a very wealthy family that has always been in the spotlight and she continues to be in it when she marries a literal rockstar. Her life story is filled with lies, secrets, and scandal.
I'm torn. I'm giving GBBL 3.5-3.75 stars and here is why:
I absolutely loved Margaret's story. It felt like a historical fiction novel which I love that genre. Give me any book about old money rich people with lies, secrets, scandal, and the other side of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and ima eat it up every time!!!! this felt very ~The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo~ by you know who. which I did at one point eat up. I do not support that author anymore. Anyways, it felt very much like that. The why behind the whole reason to get this character's story told also felt very much like that. Which is ok. There had to be a little twist on why it was our two main characters that got this opportunity. Like I said, I loved and really enjoyed her story.
HOWEVER, I hated the romance in this. The catch to them competing for the opportunity to write her story is that they have to be there for a month with Margaret so she can figure out who out of the two she trusts the most to write the story. By week two the fmc is already catching major feelings and she thinks she's in love with the mmc. Mind you, they don't even see each other or even talk everyday. The schedule they made was that they would separately meet and interview Margaret every other day and have Sundays off so they get the same amount of time with her. So often after their sessions they would just go back to their rental house or hotel and transcribe everything that was discussed that day. There weren't even a lot of text exchanges or even phone calls between them and this bitch is falling in love with him? Absolutely not. Also because of something in his past, he does not want to talk about their sessions with Margaret (since after all one of them will get picked to write the story) and he also does not want to have sex with Alice to confuse their goals for this whole trip. Yet Alice pretty much begged him to sleep with her every time they saw each other. It felt very icky and cringy and if the roles were reversed he'd be such a douche for repeatedly asking her. The romance did not seem real or fleshed out. Maybe if they knew each other previously? Or were exes? Friends? Somethinggggg. It would have made it more believable.
I think I would have just preferred Margaret's story and no romance. Had it just been the story, I probably would have rated it a 4-4.5. I would have been able to respect Emily Henry's decision to dabble into a new genre. Hate to say it, but the romance ruined it for me.
New rankings
Books:
Happy Place
Book Lovers
Funny Story
Beach Read
PWMOV
GBBL
FMCs:
Nora
Daphne
Harriet
January
Poppy
Alice
MMCs:
Wyn
Charlie
Miles
Alex
Hayden
Gus
I'm torn. I'm giving GBBL 3.5-3.75 stars and here is why:
I absolutely loved Margaret's story. It felt like a historical fiction novel which I love that genre. Give me any book about old money rich people with lies, secrets, scandal, and the other side of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and ima eat it up every time!!!! this felt very ~The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo~ by you know who. which I did at one point eat up. I do not support that author anymore. Anyways, it felt very much like that. The why behind the whole reason to get this character's story told also felt very much like that. Which is ok. There had to be a little twist on why it was our two main characters that got this opportunity. Like I said, I loved and really enjoyed her story.
HOWEVER, I hated the romance in this. The catch to them competing for the opportunity to write her story is that they have to be there for a month with Margaret so she can figure out who out of the two she trusts the most to write the story. By week two the fmc is already catching major feelings and she thinks she's in love with the mmc. Mind you, they don't even see each other or even talk everyday. The schedule they made was that they would separately meet and interview Margaret every other day and have Sundays off so they get the same amount of time with her. So often after their sessions they would just go back to their rental house or hotel and transcribe everything that was discussed that day. There weren't even a lot of text exchanges or even phone calls between them and this bitch is falling in love with him? Absolutely not. Also because of something in his past, he does not want to talk about their sessions with Margaret (since after all one of them will get picked to write the story) and he also does not want to have sex with Alice to confuse their goals for this whole trip. Yet Alice pretty much begged him to sleep with her every time they saw each other. It felt very icky and cringy and if the roles were reversed he'd be such a douche for repeatedly asking her. The romance did not seem real or fleshed out. Maybe if they knew each other previously? Or were exes? Friends? Somethinggggg. It would have made it more believable.
I think I would have just preferred Margaret's story and no romance. Had it just been the story, I probably would have rated it a 4-4.5. I would have been able to respect Emily Henry's decision to dabble into a new genre. Hate to say it, but the romance ruined it for me.
New rankings
Books:
Happy Place
Book Lovers
Funny Story
Beach Read
PWMOV
GBBL
FMCs:
Nora
Daphne
Harriet
January
Poppy
Alice
MMCs:
Wyn
Charlie
Miles
Alex
Hayden
Gus
I like the idea but the execution of most of this book made it really drag for me. The last 20 percent redeemed it.
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