Great Big Beautiful Life: Reese's Book Club

Books | Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy

(133)

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 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.

Buy now:

More Details:

Author

Emily Henry

Pages

432

Publisher

Penguin Group

Published Date

2025-04-22

ISBN

059344129X 9780593441299

Community ReviewsSee all

"🎧 Two authors compete for the right to write an icon’s biography in a small island community, but not all is as it seems, secrets and lies abound. Will the work go to the better writer, will the competing authors become friends? Fun plot twists and surprises. "

Jackie Davidson

"I really enjoyed this one! I think, plot-wise, it was definitely different from Emily Henry’s other novels but I could still hear her voice throughout. I found Margaret’s story really interesting - albeit a little hard to keep up with given the generations it spanned (but that may just be a me problem). I also really enjoyed the romance between Alice and Hayden. I will say - there was a strong through line of grief throughout the book but also a whole lot of love. all in all - I liked the journey I was taken on and how it all tied together in the end. as with most EmHen books, I’ve just finished the book and feel empty but full, I feel like I miss it but also am ready to keep moving forward, like I want to go back and reread it but also am scared to experience that all over again."

klow

"I’m a fan of Henry’s in general, but this was perhaps her most serious novel, still set around two likable main characters falling in love, but surrounding a larger, more epic story sweeping generations. A truly enjoyable read. "

NyrdwithAY

"4.5 ⭐️ I don’t know why but I feel like my favorite Em Hen books are not the ones that everyone else is raving about. My first book of hers was Happy Place and despite its mixed reviews, I absolutely loved it. Everyone seemed to love Funny Story and it just did not hit the same for me. I went in to this book knowing it had mixed reviews and dove in without expectation. I actually really loved it. I couldn’t stop listening. I was so intrigued by Margaret’s story and I loved the banter. Hayden fell so hard and him and Alice just tugged at my heart. I did toy with the idea of the twist ending but it did not deter from my stress in watching it all unfold. "

CeeCee

"Given the mixed reviews I was nervous, but I ate this book up. I loved it. It was different than normal Emily Henry. It gave rom-com mixed with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes. I loved getting to read Margaret’s story while also watching the love unfold between Hayden and Alice. The character growth, the twist, the love it was all beautiful!"

Mackenzie Miller

"Well I’m really torn on this review because I feel like if I went into this NOT expecting a romance like all her other books, then I’d probably love it. This is totally not in the right genre IMO. This read literary fiction to me with a side of romance. I’m not gonna lie, most the book was pretty boring and I didn’t really care for Margaret’s story. I feel like it was being portrayed like it was such a dramatic celebrity story but it fell flat for me. It felt like Emily Henry was trying too hard to mimic 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. The ending did make up for it a bit with the romance portion, but with most of the book I didn’t really feel the main character’s connection. The MMC had little background and just kinda felt like he came from thin air lol. Overall, it was okay!"

Taylor Nagy

"I’ve enjoyed many of Emily Henry’s other books but just wasn’t feeling the vibe with this one! I started getting tired of all the stories about the Ives quickly and it felt like I didn’t get to know that much about the main characters, Alice and Hayden. Lots of random spice strewn throughout and as a non-spice reader, I kept having to skip chapters. I was tempted to DNF but stuck through to the end. The last chunk of the book seemed rushed in my opinion though so while I hate to rate an EH book this low, I just didn’t enjoy it like I had hoped. "

Sophie

"This was just ok for me. Definitely not Henry’s best. The majority of the book was sort of boring but it does tie together in an interesting ending. "