Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry

I’ve been seeing Emily Henry’s books around for years: they always look bright, colourful, and full of fun. So, when I saw that her latest, Great Big Beautiful Life, was available to read on audiobook via the Libro.fm ALC program, I decided to give it a go.

Alice has, by her own admission, “never played it cool in her life”. She is an eternally optimistic and aggressively cheerful aspiring biographer, hoping to finally get her break writing the life story of a reclusive octogenarian. Margaret is a former It Girl, a media heiress-slash-socialite who married a rockstar and then disappeared from public view after his death. Alice has tracked her down to a small island in Georgia.

It would be the perfect job, except Alice hasn’t got it yet. Margaret also invites Hayden – an established Pulitzer Prize-winning music writer – to the island, and he and Alice must compete for the opportunity to write the story of Margaret’s great big beautiful life.

If you’re getting big The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo vibes, you’re not the only one. Everything from the conceit to the format marries up to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best seller. There’s just an added romance angle, with Alice and Hayden falling for each other on the side.

I’ll warn you right now: Great Big Beautiful Life is a pretty slow burn, and you’ll see every twist coming a mile away. Also, the leading man’s mouth “twitches” a lot; it feels like the written equivalent of a verbal tic for Henry. It’s more of a family drama than a romance, in the end, and it’s a serviceable read – just nothing groundbreaking or mind-blowing.

Read Great Big Beautiful Life on audiobook via Libro.fm here. (affiliate link)