Humans Don’t Have Horns eBook is now 89% off!
9.11- 18.11.26 on Amazon.UK
Plot
Alice Scott is a journalist with an enormous amount of sunshine energy who arrives on Little Crescent Island hoping to land the opportunity of a lifetime: writing the biography of Margaret Ives, a woman from one of America’s most infamous families.
There is just one problem. Hayden Anderson is there too. He is also a writer. He also wants the story. And, naturally, he is the grump to Alice’s sunshine.
Margaret hasn’t decided which of them will ultimately write her book, so Alice and Hayden both get access to her story but are forbidden from sharing what she tells them with each other. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad.
My Breakdown
Let’s start with the problem: Great Big Beautiful Life has one of my least favorite romance tropes: grumpy/sunshine.
I know. It’s one of the biggest romance tropes.
And yes, I know what this says about me. I have been informed before that I may, in fact, be the grump.
Alice has a LOT of sunshine energy. Normally, that would make this a difficult romance for me to love.
And yet, I really enjoyed this book.
The romance is good. But I usually lean towards darker romances. So, I’m not reviewing this book because I can’t stop thinking about the romance.
I’m reviewing it because the storytelling is exceptional.
Emily Henry gives us two narratives to become invested in at once, and the gradual uncovering of Margaret’s life kept me hooked. Margaret was written exceptionally well. Pretty early on, we understand that she’s manipulative and withholding information. And yet, she’s relatable. That made the mystery surrounding her much more interesting.
A slightly random connection: I recently read Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden, and Burden’s background kept reminding me of Margaret’s. The stories aren’t similar, but that American royalty kind of world is.
I also really enjoyed Alice’s relationship with her mother and how complex it was.
And then came the plot twist. I genuinely did not see it coming, and I enjoyed being surprised.
A Note on the Audiobook
I listened to Great Big Beautiful Life through Libby.
I usually listen to nonfiction and read my fiction, so listening to a romance audiobook is still relatively new territory for me. But I really enjoyed the narration here.
It’s a single-narrator performance, and I was especially impressed by some of the acting choices for the female characters and how distinct they felt.
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