Amina's Reviews > Hello Beautiful

✨✨Happy Publication Day✨✨
I just got an email from the the publisher:
Hello Beautiful is an Oprah Book Club Pick!

Hello Beautiful is a fascinating, stunning story of family, love, and the life we ultimately choose to live--not simply follow.

We are introduced to the young, William Waters, a lonely boy finding meaning in his passion for basketball. William is born into a home devoid of emotion. He loses the only sibling, he never knew, a sister. HIs parents are absent, uninterested, but thankfully, he finds basketball as a reprieve. When he gets a college scholarship in Chicago, he never turns back.

While at college, William meets Julia Padavano. Julia is assertive, a go-getter, and she has her entire life planned. She also comes with a family of three sisters that are thick as thieves. Her mother, often overbearing, has a strong presence, her father a loving nature. Julia's family is nothing like William's and it changes his entire outlook.

Julia and William marry and have a daughter. Things seem to be going fine until they are not. Hello Beautiful is a story the deals with mental health in a way that is surprising and insightful. Often, character driven plots don't delve into life changing events made by characters while in a moment of emotional and mental struggle. When William decides to change the course of his life, not only is Julia and baby Alice affected, but all of the family, especially the sisters. The betrayal the heartache is unforgivable.

The sisters often make references to Little Women and attach themselves to different characters throughout the book, which was endearing.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Ann Napolitano is a gifted story-teller. I loved her previous novel, Dear Edward as well. Napolitano weaves the story in such a way that the sad moments have meaning and power, like the circle of life. The story also shines a bright light on sibling relationships from beginning to end.

This is my second book of 2023, and I must say I cried my heart out. There were some parallels to gut-wrenching moments in 2022 that came to life in this book. The coincidence felt like the universe was speaking to me, and I felt grateful. I will hold this beautifully crafted story close to my heart. I also loved the setting, Chicago, a place I call home.

A story is perfect when the reader is cheering for the characters, even the ones that make bad decisions. The character arcs were drawn perfectly and drove the story forward.

This book will make you ache, it will make you cry, but it will also give you peace and a make you smile.

5/5 shining stars.

I am enormously grateful to Netgally and Random House Publishing Group/Dial Press for sharing this stunning story with me in exchange for my honest review.

See other reviews:
Dear Edward