tiffanielle's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
sarahflanders's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, and Grief
madoherty93's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
rmcmillin7's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Cancer
martafvduarte's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt
martieliz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
writersrelief's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A decades-spanning family saga, Ann Napoliano’s heart-wrenching, lovely novel HELLO BEAUTIFUL takes more than a page from another American classic, Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN.
HELLO BEAUTIFUL begins with William Waters, whose wealthy parents’ bereavement over the untimely loss of William’s older sister causes them to withdraw. Neglected and unloved, William finds solace on the basketball courts, but a knee injury makes a professional career unlikely. During college, he meets the bright and ambitious Julia Padavano—along with her three sisters Sylvia, Cecelia, and Emeline. Over the next few decades, the family confronts devastating loss, depression, and riffs that tear them apart. When one of the sisters fall ill, will the Padavano family finally be able to reunite?
Like its inspiration, HELLO BEAUTIFUL is a tearjerker that wears its heart on its sleeve. While some readers may feel their emotional buttons being pushed a little too aggressively, it is still easy to emotionally invest in the characters, their individual journeys, and how their family dynamics change over a long period of time. This is because Napolitano draws her characters with carefully coordinated and nuanced strokes. These aren’t characters that readers will always like or agree with—Julia, specifically, makes several understandable mistakes in the aftermath of a traumatic event—but their motivations are always clear. Readers familiar with LITTLE WOMEN will have an especially fun time observing the parallels and reversals, but will probably feel impending dread when one of the characters states “I’m Beth” (if you know, you know).
An emotionally compelling story of an ever-changing and evolving family, HELLO BEAUTIFUL is a lovely, luminous book for readers of character-driven fiction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Lesbophobia
tarajoy90's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
sarah_simpkins's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child death, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity
sarahburchh's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
maybe my favorite book this year!!! by the end it was impossible to put down. i LOVE sylvie, that’s my girl fr.
it was a liiiiittle slow to start but once you’re in it, you’re in. somehow really good world building even thought its just in chicago? you really get a feel for the space and place and the connections these characters have with their environment.
Spoiler
when the narrative shifted to alice for the first time?! i was gagged.Spoiler
it was a liiiiittle slow to start but once you’re in it, you’re in. somehow really good world building even thought its just in chicago? you really get a feel for the space and place and the connections these characters have with their environment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Mental illness