⭐⭐⭐⭐
An enjoyable read. Like the other Emily Henry books I've enjoyed more, the two leads of Great Big Beautiful Life, Alice and Hayden, don't have a previous relationship, so we don't spend the book having flashbacks and only gradually finding out what went wrong (and usually being underwhelmed by what happened). Instead, we have Alice and Hayden on a small island on the coast of Georgia near Savannah, competing to tell the life story of Margaret Ives, heiress to a media empire and widow of music star. Yes, there are echoes of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Both Hayden and Alice can sense that Margaret is holding something back, but they can't discuss it. Instead, they get to know each other. It's a sunshine/grumpy trope, but Alice quickly gets past Hayden's outer layer and Alice's perkiness is never particularly annoying; plus, Henry does a good job giving both character the backstory that their personalities require. Alice can sometimes be a bit frustrating in how she interacts with her mother, but it's both completely realistic and completely earned.
I continue to appreciate Henry's handling of the relationships of her protagonists and their families, both good and bad. She writes love stories, but the heart of Margaret's story is that of her family (not her relationship with her husband); Hayden and Alice's relationship is well-developed (if possibly being a bit racier than I would've liked, honestly), but their families and friends are also crucial.
On a more minor note, one of the running jokes/subplots is Alice and Hayden's heights--Alice is 5'9" and Hayden is 6'3" and there are not-infrequent comments about how, for example, it makes sitting in a booth across from each other awkward because they're both tall and their legs are always knocking into each other. And though that might happen at particularly small booths...look, I'm 5'9" and my husband is 6'2" and this is something we've literally never encountered.
Even so, well-played, all around.
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