While I adored the writing style of this book, its pace was slow and felt difficult to continue reading at times. The character development felt unrealistic at times, which made it difficult to get engrossed in the story, but I would certainly give Napolitano’s writing a chance in future books.

Hello Beautiful was recommended to me by so many people and it is exactly the kind of book I should adore. I love Little Women and novels about families..and yet I had a very mixed experience with this novel.
Written as an ode to LIttle Women, this is the story of 4 sisters, each having a little of the qualities of the March sisters. With a loving father and a rather distant mother, the loving relationships between the four women is tested by adulthood, marriages, relationship choices which will set them apart and challenge the strength of their bonds..
I decided to listen to this on audiobook and I think that this may have accentuated what i felt was a very flat writing style and it was this really that distanced me from the plot and the characters. The writing felt very linear and lacking lyricism and I felt the style was probably more suited to a thriller. However, I was drawn in by the characters and the themes. As a child I read a story about sisters who fell out, with one never having the opportunity to reconcile with a sister who died. This story has always lived with me and I have been haunted by the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation within families which is so effectively explored within the novel. I was particularly drawn to the chapters about mental health breakdown and in particular the reactions of the family. The characters were well drawn especially Julia who felt very much like a Julia I know!
Personally I didn’t need the ode to Little Women. i love the book and don’t think it needs this form of tribute which at times I felt was overdone. I think that this story is strong enough in its own right. However, I was engaged enough in the story to shed some tears at the end..

With many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General Uk for my digital copy.

I love a family saga but sadly this one didn’t work for me as much as I hoped. The writing was beautiful and I loved the nods to Little Women. But I found the book to be too slow pace wise and felt like I didn’t feel invested in the family dynamics the way I normally would, perhaps because I never felt the initial bond between the siblings. Gorgeous writing and I would definitely read from this author again as I loved Dear Edward.

I am not a massive fan of family sagas, but I was reeled in by all the love for this story about the Padavano sisters. It's definitely engrossing and super readable, but a bit too sentimental and unrealistic for my tastes (in character development, rather than plot). It was set largely in the 80s and felt like it was set about thirty years before, and the protagonists always felt a lot older than the teenagers and twenty-somethings they were supposed to be. That aside, though, I think it would be a great holiday read and you would like if you're a fan of family dramas! I liked the Chicago setting too; I'm planning on going there next year and it was fun to read something about Chicago and its working-class inhabitants. 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK, and the author Ann Napolitano.
Really enjoyed the story arc of this novel and the vivid characters and settings that surround the four Padavano sisters.

I was sent a copy of Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano to read and review by NetGalley.
After seeing all the glowing reviews I was really looking forward to reading this novel, unfortunately I couldn’t even get past the first chapter. I found the writing to be incredibly flat and monotonous with no cadence, soul or heart at all. Plodding and one-dimensional hardly even covers it. I’m afraid there is far too little time to read badly written books, sorry.

William Winters has been a lonely child. His parents’ grief after his sister’s death did not allow them to show affection to their second child. William found comfort in basketball, and his skills earned him a college scholarship and the friendship of his teammates. When a beautiful, popular girl shows interest in him, he falls in love. Julia is the eldest of the four Padavano sisters. She is ambitious, focused and determined to reach her goals. She loves to make plans for the future, and soon, those schemes start to include William.

This novel is a bittersweet story about love, family and friendship, where the heart-warming and heart-breaking scenes intertwine. I enjoyed reading about the unique bond between the Padovano sisters. They are vivid, individual characters, but there is also a similarity in the way they look, talk and behave. It was a pleasure to read.

Apart from describing the story of the Padovano family, the novel also touches on the problematic topics of mental health, depression and the influence a person’s childhood can have on them in adult life. To sum up, it is a well-written, emotional read, and the only fault I found is that the pace slowed down somewhere in the middle to the point where I was losing interest in the story.

This is a story about family dynamics and there were parts I really enjoyed and thought the writing was really lovely. But it is long and for me I felt too long. I didn’t connect with all the main characters which I think didn’t help when chapters were from their point of view.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely stunning. A quiet family epic, this broke me down and built me back up all at the same time. I loved reading about this messy group of sisters - a family who all feel deeply and make mistakes but are bonded through it all. Definitely for those of us with a young love for Little Women. Heartbroken but happy to have given this book my time.

I was simply blown away by the beauty of this book. The story, the characters, the writing. All sublime.

The story centres around four sisters. Hello Beautiful is a modern day Little Women in that the bond between the sisters, whilst bending to breaking point, never quite snaps. Through grief, joy, birth and death a thread connects Julia, Sylvie, Emeline and Cecilia. There is such raw beauty in the writing that moved me so many times. This is a book to truly indulge in, to laugh, and to cry with the characters. It is a story of resilience, of friendship and love. Love in all its ugliness and its beauty.

What an Intresting complex read. Smartly written, flows well, characters and storyline written well. Would recommend.

Oh how I loved this book and spending time with the Padavano sisters and William. With a nod to ‘Little Women’ , this novel sweeps you into a family saga and the loves and losses of these wonderful characters. The prose was deceptively simple, and, although at times, this book was a slow burn it is also most definitely a page turner. A book of family relationships – mothers/daughters and bonds between sisters – of loss and heartbreak, but also of joy and love. It deals with sensitive subjects well and you really feel part of these characters lives and I did not want to leave them. A book that will stay with me a long time. I can only recommend that you go out and get yourself a copy immediately. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

I was surprised by this complex novel. After letting it sit for a while i realised how clever and smart it all was. The complex stories effortless came together with some beautiful story telling that spanned decades and generations. Ultimately questioning what is love and how nature/nature effects our life choices

A profound story of family life written from the voice of several characters. Delving into the bonds created and how the human psychology guides our reactions. At times, very deep and emotional. Vividly written with some beautiful descriptions.

Reading "Hello Beautiful" was one of the best emotional experiences of the year so far. With complex characters and meticulously-crafted personalities, Ann Napolitano invites the reader on a decades-long family journey about love, loss, and identity. It was all I love in a book: sadness, hope, and and a cast of characters to which aspects a reader could relate to, but also learn from them. An overall beautiful story.

With such character-focused novel, the plot was often slow, or non-existent, so the novel is not for those looking for a constant family drama. At first, I also did not enjoy Julia at all, but a character doesn't have to be enjoyable to be an interestint point of view throughout the novel. The only criticism I have is how disconnected from the times it was happening in the book felt at times. The 80s seemed like 50s, with at times archaic portrayals. Similarly,t here was not a big change in perception between the 80s and 00s, when the plot finishes.

Hello Beautiful tells the story of the four Padavano sisters in homage to the beloved classic Little Women. William has grown up as the second child to a very different set of parents so when he meets the eldest Padavano sister: Julia, he is swept away within the enigmatic Italian-American family. Sylvie is the dreamer, lost in her books and dreams of a big love and the twins Cecilia and Emeline are artists and carers, very different to their eldest sister in many ways. Rifts, devastating events and loss, threaten to tear them apart over the decades in the novel.

I loved Dear Edward a couple of years ago so was very eager to read this book but it was definitely a case of 'right book, right time' for me as I found the start a little too slow. This is a character driven novel and I found I didn't warm to the sisters until much later. This time though, I stopped for a little while and came back to it and I'm so glad I did. Beautifully perceptive, I think most people with siblings that are so different from each other, understand the push and pull, the love and the anger you can feel for one person that simultaneously comes from you and wants to get away from you. Family is everything here but often, to be an individual, you need to be apart, and Napolitano explores this wonderfully. William is just a character I wanted to hug and make it all better!

So beautiful! I really felt like I knew the characters. I lived, laughed and cried with them. The characters were all so dimensional and developed.

A touching, thoughtful read. The comparisons to Little Women is what drew me in, and it does very much feel like a contemporary storyline of Alcott's popular novel. The sisters are authentic, intricate characters, and so much of their identity is entangled in their affection for each other and those around them. Without saying anything that might spoil it, highly recommend, it's a truly heartfelt novel.

This is an emotional story about four sisters it’s beautiful read Ann had written this in a way that you feel you are apart of the padavano family I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be looking for more by Ann

This is a beautiful book about family, love, and loss. The story focuses on William Waters and the Padavano family that he marries into. William missed out on a family growing up and the fierceness with which the Padavano's hold onto him as one of their own is very touching. Even before it is specifically mentioned there are a lot of Little Women vibes which I particularly enjoyed having always loved that book. The characters here are all very well developed and the story is truly wonderful though heartbreaking at times.

Reviewed on Amazon
Will also review on Instagram shortly