I really enjoyed this. I've never read Ann Napolitano before. So good on sisterhood, friendship, family. The characters were so well written.

Could not get into this and it’s such a shame as I’ve seen some great reviews. Probably a fault of the reading slump I was in during my read, just not for me

This was a beautiful family saga in the best sense of the word. The women of the Padavano family and those who love them undergo many changes and challenges over decades, but their story is bound together by love. I loved this.

I can't stress how much I loved this book. William grew up alone with parents who were focused on recovering from tragedy. He meets Julia at college who is one of 3 sisters. They fall in love and marry but William can recover from his past. A huge rift occurs within the family and the sisters and William have to nagivate this and find a way forward.

This was my first time reading a book from the author but I am delighted to say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I look forward to reading more books from the writer in the future.

“Beauty, youth, good fortune, even love itself, cannot keep care and pain, loss and sorrow, from the most blessed for...into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and sad and dreary” - Louisa May Alcott

“love casts out fear, and gratitude can conquer pride”

Hello, Beautiful is an emotional and captivating family-saga with a wonderful cast of compelling characters.

There are a lot of characters and most of the story spans over 3 decades, but despite being under 400 pages it rarely felt rushed (however the first half was definitely better paced than the second) and the characters were well developed with believable flaws, virtues, and motivations.

This isn’t a retelling of Little Women, but the four sisters are inspired by the March sisters and there’s plenty of parallels and references to Little Women, without relying on the classic novel to carry the plot. I loved the relationships between the sisters, and how they changed and developed over time. It felt reminiscent of Little Women but within a very different story.

William’s story and the subtle development of his depression coming to the surface was heartbreaking. You see some really sad and dark thoughts from William in the first half, but as he heals and reflects it really felt like a punch in the gut. At times I found him really frustrating, but understood why he was the way that he was. His ending both broke and mended my heart!

I have mixed feelings about Julia and Sylvia and their journeys, individually and together. I loved Sylvie in the first half and her reflections on her father were some of my favourite parts of the book. In the second half, I understood her actions to an extent but I just couldn’t reconcile them - even though I could tell pretty early on where her story was going to go. I’m glad that William had her, but I also wanted her to make different choices - I also found it hard for me to really buy into their story. Julia I just got really frustrated with - while I could understand some of her decisions, most of the time it didn’t really make sense to me. Particularly in relation to the Emmeline and Cecelia. I wanted to shake some sense into her, I’m glad she somewhat got there in the end!

I loved the closeness of Emmeline and Cecelia, it was much more subtle than Sylvie and Julia’s bond but you could see the strength and naturalness to it and I loved how they intertwined their lives and love.

Without spoilers, I wish that more time was spent on the ending and the sisters’ and cousins’ journey through that. Particularly with Alice and how things impacted her, and Sylvie and Julia’s arc.

I’m rating this 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 - it didn’t quite get the 5 stars for some of the things I’ve mentioned and because I felt the first half the book was much better paced than the second half with the bigger jumps in time making things feel a bit glossed over at times.

It was a beautiful book that made me shed many tears and I would definitely recommend picking it up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful title for a wonderful book. When you read where the name of the book comes from, your heart will skip a beat.

It’s a multi generational family story, which shows the lasting impact of how we are nurtured when we are children.

I loved all the characters, didn’t necessarily agree with all their actions, but it was so easy to empathise with why they took the actions they did.

It’s an unusual family story, but you can easily see that it could happen in any family.

Beautiful writing. I’ve had this on my TBR for quite a while, so was delighted when I saw a buddy read being set up.

This is a beautiful multi-perspective narrative that explores the connection between family members in times of love and loss and the nuance of daily life. Napolitano writes with intent, creating dimensional characters who are hard not to care for. Most of the narrative revolves around the Padavona sisters, each with their own distinct personality and outlook on life (an obvious reason for the in-novel references to them being like the March sisters from Little Women) and their journey down through the years is engaging and emotive. A great read.

An interesting read loved the era it was set in and involving sisters.Having never I think read something by this author.I would read a novel by her again.

A Heartfelt Journey Through Love and Loss

So, I just finished diving into Ann Napolitano's "Hello Beautiful," and wow, what a ride! It's one of those books that just grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go. I mean, talk about realness—it's like you're right there in the story, feeling every emotion alongside the characters.

This isn't my first dance with Napolitano's writing, and let me tell you, she's got a knack for hitting you right in the feels. Loss, regret, anger—you name it, she paints it with such vividness that you can't help but get swept away.

But here's the thing: as much as I was hooked on the journey, I gotta admit, the ending left me hanging a bit. It was like, wait, what happens next? But you know what? In a weird way, that open-endedness kinda added to the beauty of it all. It's like life—messy, unpredictable, but still beautiful in its own way.

So yeah, "Hello Beautiful" might leave you with a few questions, but trust me, it's worth the ride. Napolitano has a way of making you think, making you feel, and isn't that what great storytelling is all about?

The lives of the Padavano women are interwoven, like a complicated basket; pull one sister’s piece, and there’s a corresponding reaction from another sister.
An intricate saga of happiness and heartbreak, beautifully written, I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review.

I can’t believe I waited until now to read this marvellous book. I should have remembered that I adored Dear Edward by the same author.

Hello Beautiful is indeed beautiful. It’s jam packed with interesting, colourful and complex characters. The narrative wraps around the Padavanos sisters as they go through their lives. There is joy and sadness in abundance weaving through the story but overall, it’s an enjoyable and emotional read.

I like how the author incorporates the complexities of the game of basketball and how, over the years, coaches and physios develop strategies to protect the players and prevent injuries. I also loved the murals, I could almost see them from the descriptions!

It’s difficult to describe just how special this book is without giving away some of the story. Suffice to say, I thoroughly recommend it.

My thanks to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely adored this book! I loved Napolitano's Dear Edward, and was so excited to read her new novel.

Hello Beautiful is best described as a contemporary tale of sisters and their bond, not unlike Little Women. The characters are fully-fledged, richly developed, so much so that they bounce off the pages. I loved how each character is inherently different, yet each has their place within the Padavano family. This story of the trials and tribulations of family life is tender and stirring, and I loved spending time with the characters.

And of course there's William, who opens the novel. His story is heartbreaking, and I was rooting for him to find a place where he could love and be loved.

Hello Beautiful is a stunning novel about family, love and loss, and grief, and I enjoyed every moment with it.

I badly wanted to love this story. It sounded so promising — a Little Women-inspired modern take on sisterhood and suffering and overcoming parental trauma — but I couldn’t get my head into it, and I couldn’t bring myself to truly love any of the girls. Maybe I simply read it at the wrong time?

This touching story beautifully portrays the strength of sisterly bonds and the courage needed to face life's challenges and family struggles. Despite facing difficult times, the family's love for one another shines through. The book is a reminder that even in the midst of adversity, love and resilience can prevail.

'Hello Beautiful' is a wise, tender, heart-wrenching novel about love and loss. Napolitano follows one family over the course of three decades starting in the late 1970s when college basketball player William Waters first meets the four Padavano sisters in Pilsen, Chicago. Unlike William who has grown up largely ignored by his parents following the death of his older sister as an infant, the Padavano sisters and their parents are a lively, expressive and close-knit family whose home is brimming with love. William is going out with the oldest and most driven sister, Julia, but also becomes close to bookish Sylvie, artistic Ceclia and compassionate Emeline. One major influence on this novel is Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women', and the four sisters often debate which of them is which March sister.

It would spoil much of the pleasure of reading this carefully plotted novel to say too much about the events that rupture some of the close bonds within this family. Napolitano enables us to care deeply about all the characters in the story even when they make choices which seem incomprehensible to each other. The shifting perspectives in the novel (mostly William, Julia and Sylvie's) are particularly effective in helping us to understand how each character has been shaped by their past, and Napolitano writes sensitively about mental illness, loss and grief.

This is a stunning novel which felt at times like a cross between Anne Tyler's books and Hanya Yanagihara's 'A Little Life' - we go to some very dark places but the love and goodness experienced throughout the story means that this is also a healing and redemptive read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

Hello Beautiful is the latest novel from Ann Napolitano following on from the massive success of Dear Edward, a book I loved. This is a long read at 416 pages, but I think it’s worth the heft.

William Waters grew up in a grief-filled home where he felt little little love from his parents. After getting a college basketball scholarship he meets and falls in love with Julia Padavano, a determined and spirited young woman who recognises he needs a family, so brings him home with her.
Soon Julia’s parents Charlie and Rose, and her younger sisters Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline have taken William under their collective wing and he experiences a loving and boisterous family for the first time in his life.

Tragedy of course soon strikes because life is never easy, and what was thought to be an unbreakable bond between the Padavano sisters is shattered with far reaching and terrible consequences.

This is your classic family saga; full of heartbreak and emotion but also a cast of well-developed and individualistic characters we get to know and love over the years the book traverses. There’s several nods in it to Little Women, one of my all time favourite books, and I enjoyed making those comparisons myself too as I read on.

I will say the writing is at times a little over wrought. Could some of it have been cut out with little impact on the story? Definitely! But I still really enjoyed the experience of reading this book and felt bereft after I’d finished it; what’ll I do now? I don’t want to leave the Padavano family behind!

I think if you love an epic family drama like ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’, ‘Ask Again, Yes’, or ‘This Family’, then you’ll love Hello Beautiful too. A rich and life affirming read, perfect for cosy winter reading 🥰

With many thanks to @netgalley @penguinbooksireland @vikingbooksuk @penguinukbooks for my copy, all opinions my own, as always.

This is a beautiful and emotional story about the close bonds sisters have, about being brave in life and dealing with family dramas. Even though they through highs and lows, even with distance and hurt and confusion there is so much love between all the family. It is beautifully written and it’s a book I didn’t want to rush through but savour the story.

I absolutely loved this book. Fantastic characters, very relatable and a moving, sweeping story covering several decades and many interesting plotlines. Dear Edward was brilliant and I thought Hello Beautiful was just as good; Ann Napolitano is a very talented writer and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. This one took me a long time to read, not because it was boring or bad, quite the opposite. This is a book that I felt the need to put down and digest, every page felt important and special and so I took my time.

This is a historical/literary fiction novel following a family. The story starts when William is a young man and we learn that he grew up in a house full of grief and lovelessness after his older sister died at three years old. At college he meets Julia, a confident young woman with three sisters from whom she is inseparable. Sylvia who loves reading, Emeline who loves children and Cecilia who loves art. The Padavano’s are delighted with Julia’s new boyfriend and Julia’s carefully crafted plans unfold before her. Then the darkness William has locked away from his childhood resurfaces and the tightly knit family is fractured causing them to question if their loyalty to each other is the only thing that can stitch everything back together.

This was absolutely incredible. These characters felt so real, I could see myself in many of them and also my own family and the circumstances surrounding them. My only family is incredibly fractured, I don’t speak to any of my biological father’s side of the family including him and there are many rifts on my mother’s side as well. This story portrays what it means to be a family. Not just a family by blood but also those who have chosen you and you them as family. William created some absolutely beautiful friendships despite coming from a house devoid of feeling and despite the bleak matter that is discussed in this book the overall tone is one of hope. Hope that while we keep living, we can still make choices, we can still find reasons to get up every morning and people to love.

Charlie reminded me so much of my own grandfather who was also an incredibly lively and creative soul but was regarded as a failure by many because he failed to conform to societal norms. “Hello beautiful” is exactly the type of greeting my grandad would use and it warmed my heart every time. I loved the depiction of sisterhood. My sister and I are incredibly close and I have found us becoming even closer now that she is pregnant with her first child and the first baby of our family as it is just the two of us. I felt the warmth and love between these sisters as a tangible thing and each sister’s personality jumped off of the page. It reminded me very much of my first time reading Little Women which I believe the author used as inspiration. She did a fantastic job of weaving parts of the story in while making it completely her own and a new story to enjoy.

I can’t put into words how much this book has impacted me. I suffer with severe depression and suicidal ideation and reading this felt like turning on a light in the darkness of my mind. Ann Napolitano I will continue to walk away from the lake even as it calls to me. I wholeheartedly recommend this and it was released on 13th July. An absolute beautiful story full of heart and soul.