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Book Review of "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano

 

Interested in stories about sisters and found families, with a dose of coming of age, oh and also how about some romance?! Looking for your next four or five star read? Keep reading this post to check out my review of Oprah Book Club's 100th book pick, "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano.

 

Hello Beautiful

by Ann Napolitano

goodreads // amazon // library

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos. But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most? An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it. ( from amazon.com)  

Book Review and Discussion of
"Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano

 

Ann Napolitano books are always my favorite Even though I actually read her last novel, "Dear Edward" three years ago, I feel like I read it just last month. The memories from the book and the emotions in it are still easy for me to connect with, which as a reader with a long list of books read, is an especially difficult accomplishment for an author! If you haven't read "Dear Edward" yet - do it because it is so, so good. I loved "Hello Beautiful" in a similar way and I'm sure I'll be thinking about this book for a while, wondering about the characters, and reflecting on all of the quotes I saved while reading. I can not wait to see what Napolitano writes next; she is absolutely one of my favorites!

Check out some of my favorite quotes from "Dear Edward" by the author of "Hello Beautiful", Ann Napolitano.

"Hello Beautiful" strikes so many different emotions I really feel like this novel has something for everyone. In part because it covers so many different characters and also stages of life. I really rooted for these characters and also felt incredibly sad with them. It was an emotional rollercoaster in the way only a really good book can be!

Characters to love and hate I can't wait for other readers to grab this book to see which characters they love and connect with the most. A common struggle for readers is finding a hateable character and then the novel is ruined for them by that character. I think my favorite character in "Hello Beautiful" was Alice. And my least favorite was definitely Julia, and I do not think I will be alone there. Reading that character's storyline will be an understandable challenge for some readers because a huge chunk of the book was from her perspective. Her story ultimately didn't bother me as a reader but it might bother other people.

Such a good book club choice Because this book hits so many different emotions and also raises so many interesting questions it would be an excellent book club pick. For example, most of the characters in this book take substantial risks in their lives and most of those risks are worth the reward, but others are less so. So many interesting conversations could be generated by looking at those risks, deciding if they were worth taking, and how they might play out off of the page. Any book with a hatable main character is also sure to generate lots of conversations and I felt like this book has that covered too.

 

Things I Struggled With

Repetitive A common criticism I saw checking out the Goodreads reviews, and one that I also agree with is that "Hello Beautiful" becomes repetitive. I think repetitive themes in novels are fine, I don't need a ton of action and prefer character-driven plots which can tend to show the same themes, but in actual character experiences it wears on me. Pretty much the entire book, the main characters are repeating the same emotional struggles just in a new place. Their thoughts about those problems and how they choose to solve them, or not solve them, don't change over the course of most of the novel and after 400 pages, it did become a bit frustrating. 

Frustrating characters If you are someone who gets frustrated with character choices and that puts you off when reading a book, this one might not be for you. For example, I really struggled with Julia's character because she just refused to grow emotionally, at least not in the way I would hope. By the end of the book, I was even more frustrated that she didn't understand why her poor choices would have negatively affected her daughter's ability to form relationships - definitely a "throw the book across the room" frustration moment for me. 

 

Related - There were so many beautiful quotes in "Hello Beautiful". Click the image below to see which quotes from "Hello Beautiful" by Ana Napolitano made my list!

Have you read "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano? Comment below and let me know what you thought of the novel! I'd love the hear if you found any of the characters especially frustrating or which of the plot lines you most connected with! If you haven't read it yet, share with me a book you recently read that you think would make for a great book club discussion. Thanks for reading, readers!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an early copy for review. Please know that as a "girl about the library" where books are always free, my opinions expressed in this post are truly my own.

 

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Heartbreaking Quotes from "Hello Beautiful" by Ana Napolitano

Reader beware. SPOILERS AHEAD - there are several twists and turns in "Hello, Beautiful" that I would hate to ruin for another reader!! So, if you haven't yet read this book, I would recommend saving this post and coming back later because reading these quotes and the discussion will give away many of those surprises. That being said, let's get into those heartbreakingly beautiful quotes!

How Did "The Hunting Party" by Lucy Foley End? What Was the Twist? Spoilers!

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"The Whalebone Theater" by Joanna Quinn - Book Review and Discussion

Interested in historical fiction with a dose of coming of age, also how about some spies?! Looking for your next big chunk of a book? Keep reading to check out my review of "The Whalebone Theater" by Joanna Quinn.

 

The Whalebone Theatre

by Joanna Quinn

My Rating: ★★★★/ 5 stars

goodreads // amazon // library 

One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, it belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household—her sister, Flossie; her brother, Digby, long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor; Maudie Kitcat, kitchen maid; Taras, visiting artist—build a theatre from the beast’s skeletal rib cage. Within the Whalebone Theatre, Cristabel can escape her feckless stepparents and brisk governesses, and her imagination comes to life.

As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman, World War II rears its head. She and Digby become British secret agents on separate missions in Nazi-occupied France—a more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart. ( from amazon.com)

 

 

"The Whalebone Theatre" by Joanna Quinn

Book Review and Discussion

  

What Worked

Immersive, epic story Yes, brace yourself, because this book is long ( 576 pages!!). Most of this novel is jam-packed with characters and plot so it didn't feel long for me, until the very end. In fact, so much happened with the rotating cast of main characters, especially in the first half, that looking back it's wild to think that this was all just one book! 

 

Reminds me of other favorites "The Whalebone Theater" reminded me of two other favorites "The Heart's Invisible Furies' by John Boyne and also "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. It's definitely grittier than "The Nightingale" but the spy elements were familiar, as well as the story of sisters living different lives, separate but also together during WWII. The length of the book, paired with the main characters being out of place, emotionally complicated, and quirky children with inattentive parents, and also that the story follows much of their whole lives, definitely gave me "The Heart's Invisible Furies" vibes. 

 

Just great writing, so so good Despite how much is going on during "The Whalebone Theatre" all of the characters are well-developed and strong. This is a multi-point-of-view historical fiction. Typically, I would have a favorite character and resist the POV change, but I think each of the character's stories is equally engaging.  For most of the book, the pacing was perfect as well. Nothing felt rushed. I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Instead of being glad that I had shifted to a new character and their subplot, I just missed the characters being all together and their group interactions. They each felt like very real people to me, and also the secondary characters as well!

 

So many creative storytelling methods in the book Talented writers are in their own class when it comes to creative storytelling and Joanna is certainly one. She cleverly uses different storytelling methods to keep the plot moving, such as when a large amount of time elapses and she uses dated newspaper clippings about the children's plays to show the passing of time. Joanna Quinn also uses different sizes of font and the placement of words to tell the story, much like in poetry. The novel is also epistolary as much of the story is told through letters between the siblings. This book has so much to offer and checks a lot of different reader boxes.

 

What Didn't Work 

While I loved almost everything about "The Whalebone Theater", the last quarter of this book really dragged out for me. That lull took this book's rating for me from five to four stars. The author's depictions of being a spy in WWII are probably very accurate but made for exceptionally slow storytelling. I imagine it would be easy to fall into a James Bond-eqsue action sequence to keep the plot moving and the reader engaged, and I'm glad she resisted that. However, the ending felt very drawn out and unrewarding as we were stuck with the same character for over one hundred pages, and not much happened in that time. Which was particularly discouraging after such great pacing and storytelling at the start of the novel! Regardless, I really enjoyed this book and will absolutely pick up this author's next novel.

 

Have you read "The Whalebone Theatre" by Joanna Quinn?  Let me know your thoughts about the book below! Either way, comment with your favorite historical fiction novel. It is one of my favorite genres and I would love to add your suggestions to my TBR. Thanks for reading, readers!

  

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