Hello Beautiful

I stayed up into the wee hours to find out how the Padavano Sisters would turn out. I had already spent several earlier chapters in tears with them, so not finishing was not an option. This one is still on the NYTIMES Bestseller List as of this writing and definitely worthy of that honor. Often marketed as a modern retelling of Little Women, it is only that way in that the sisters compare themselves to the March sisters off and on throughout the story. Because to be perfectly frank, a modern retelling of Little Women is not my usual literary fare. If my bookish friends whose opinions I value- Kelly T and Narci - I'm looking at you- hadn't recommended this one so highly- I would've passed on it. I think this book touched me so deeply because I have 3 sisters of my own and I was raised in a tight knit Catholic family. I will be shipping my copy to one of my sisters immediately and then insisting she pass it along until we all have read it, wept a bit, and finally stopped to reflect on the power of familial love. Highly recommend.

Having just read Little women this was an interesting read. Hello Beautiful is a Little Women retelling, which I was unaware of going into it.

Overall, this was an ok book for me. It was really slow in some parts. But if you enjoyed Little Women then you might enjoy the story which focused heavily on sisters and family dynamics.

This book is thoroughly mediocre and merits about 2.5 stars. Around the 150-page mark, I also thought of DNFing it because there is so much telling and not nearly enough showing. This is a literary fiction about intergenerational relationships but the people in it felt so one-dimensional, bland and clichéd. like characters I would expect from YA books. We're told again and again how the Padavano sisters are so close yet all their actions show the exact opposite of that. As an elder sibling, I was particularly pissed at Julia's actions. It almost felt like Napolitano wrote one character and then split her 4 ways. The capacity for empathy for Will has only been bestowed upon Sylvie and not his wife Julia. The capacity to stand up to their mother has only been bestowed upon CeCe and not on Julia/Sylvie. All of the stakes in this are not that deep and could be overcome in about half a second if any of these people had even a passing interest in each other, let alone the kind of all-consuming sisterly love we're told they do. rounding up my rating to three because there were some moments I enjoyed and the prose wasn't half bad.

Heel mooi en goed geschreven boek. Verhaal dat je denk ik wel bij blijft. Ik vond het heel leuk dat je de zussen vanaf jongs af aan volgt tot aan eind 40. Het snijdt serieuze en zware onderwerpen aan waardoor het mij lichte A Little Life vibes gaf. Ik vond alleen toch soms de schrijfwijze erg langzaam waardoor je er niet helemaal lekker doorheen kwam op sommige stukken maar het einde was weer ontroerend dus to sum uppppp: 4 sterren gek.

This book broke my heart to pieces and mend it back by the end. The distinctive personalities of the sisters and everything they went through was very realistic, and even though i found myself not rooting for some of the choices they made throughout their lives, I was still fascinated by their ability to bounce back from obstacles in life and the deep bond between each other. If you are like me who loves to read about semi-dysfunctional families with non-exaggerating drama, then look no further than this book.

3.9/5- I loved the relationship with the sisters and I felt myself attached to the characters, the author clearly has a way to paint the full picture but I couldn't give it a 4 just bc I felt some things felt too slow at times and by the end it felt a little rushed. I told myself too many times “when is this part gonna be over?”. Absolutely loved the last like 30% tho.

The first line is ominous:
“For the first six days of William Waters's life, he was not an only child.”

The first paragraph notes the event that changes the lives of the family members for generations:
“...they found her dead in her crib.”

William's parents close down. William is emotionally bereft.

It's shocking to me to see how this one death leads to the emotional deaths of so many. It is only when new life comes in the form of love and caring and compassion that a slow, fraught healing can begin.

A few of the things I took away from this book...how a life can have great importance to many through small acts of love, even though the life may not be recognized for this at the time...emotionally shutting down can devastate others...the power of love to revive a soul...

I'm glad I read this one. I will continue to think about William and the Padavano family.

This is the story of the Padavano family, but focused on the four inseparable sisters and the man one of them chooses to marry. We learn about their childhoods, their dreams, and how their lives might differ from the plans they had set for themselves. It's ultimately about the family dynamics that come from grief, mental illness, disappointment, trauma, and controversial romantic choices. I connected deeply with some of these characters, so that certainly influences how strongly this story affected me. It made me ugly cry many times. It was heartbreaking, hopeful, and deeply moving. If you liked Little Women, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this story. It has a strong chance of being my favorite 2023 release, but I guess we'll see by the end of this year!

This review is published in full here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/12/review-hello-beautiful-by-ann-napolitano/

Favorite author alert! Ann Napolitano's Dear Edward is a gorgeous book that I love, so I was really excited to read Hello Beautiful. With these two books, Napolitano has cemented herself among my favorite authors!

I couldn't believe my luck when I was approved on NetGalley to read Hello Beautiful before it comes out in March. I loved Dear Edward so much (read my review), so I was very much looking forward to reading it!

First of all, the relationships in this book are so complicated and messy, but so real and beautiful. The four sisters at the heart of the story all have different relationships with each other, and Napolitano somehow captures each of those unique relationships and how they all fit together.

There's one moment in this book that was just magical to me, when William and Sylvie are sitting together on a bench. In this ordinary moment, they see each other...like really see each other. It's honestly one of the most subtly beautiful moments I've ever read in a book, and I think it'll stand out to me forever. It was just so perfect!

Hello Beautiful is named for the girls' father and how he'd greet them when they entered a room, who ends up not being in the story much, yet is this huge part of his daughters' lives. I really felt that – how a parent can be not present, yet SO present.

The book takes place over decades. Sometimes, books that make such big time jumps are hard for me, because I feel like I need to know what happened in all those years in between that were skipped, but I didn't really feel that way with this one. It was just sort of “normal life” continues, and you pick up where you need to.

Overall, I found this book to be pretty amazing. It was like a cozy family novel that I could pick up and fall into for a while (much like Little Women, which is referenced many times in Hello Beautiful), It's largely character driven, but definitely has some events that happen to move things along. It's about legacy, family, true love, grief, mental health, and more. I highly recommend Hello Beautiful and I think it would make a fantastic book club read. 5 full stars!

A story about four sisters who are raised in a close knit, loving family in Chicago, alongside the story of William, a boy who grows up knowing no love at all.

I didn't realise until after I finished this that I had also really enjoyed the author's previous book “Dear Edward” as well! The author is really good at writing stories with tragedy that verges on bittersweet more than anything else.

This was devastatingly sad, achingly beautiful, and I am a sobbing mess.

Another character driven story, another favorite. I should have guessed just by the cover that I would love this.

Hello beautiful is a family saga happening between 1960 and 2008. It's a story about love, friendship and family, and how we are shaped by the persons in our lives, both in their presence, absence and silences.

It's a story about acceptance, and in seeing all of a person, choosing to love that whole.

It's a story about “infrastructures of kindness”

I loved all the characters, William sadness and large heart, Sylvie's caring nature and Julie's determination.
The supporting characters feel like family to me now.

William
William's body—tired and bored by his hesitant mind—had to set off fireworks in his nerves and muscles to alert him that something of import was taking place.“You were afraid of her light?” “No. I was afraid I was going to put her light out. That my darkness would swamp her light.”He wasn't walking away—he was standing in fire. “I see all of you,” he said, but his voice was quiet.“I think sometimes”—now it was his turn to pause—“we need another pair of eyes. We need the people around us.”Sylvie”Sylvie was composed of question marks and feelings that she didn't know what to do with, as if her hands were full and she was wearing pants with no pockets.”“Sylvie leaned against the wall. Because she was clear about what she didn't want, she was alone. She was no longer who she used to be, and she wasn't yet whoever she was becoming.”Julie“I'm a self-sufficient adult, Alice. That's rare for a woman, and I'm proud of that fact.”

Ann's writing is gorgeous and this book will remain in my heart and mind for a long long time. I wish I could give it more stars ⭐️

A lovely family drama that spans decades, this story of 4 sisters in a closely-knit Italian family living in Chicago caught me up with its wise observations, its interwoven plot, and the characters - well, what is there to say but each one was unique and true to themselves and as different and as alike as sisters can be. They each picked a different path in life while still clinging to whatever intimacy they could find in a challenging world. The “once in a lifetime” romance between two of the characters pierced my heart - so wonderfully nuanced and unexpected. And Napolitano managed to make a story unfolding across 20+ years seem like an afternoon.

I listened to this book, and the narration was lovely. Napolitano has such an easy story-telling style that translates well to audio. Even with the dual timelines, I understood what was going on and loved the protagonists. The ending was a touch short, but still satisfying. I guess I just wanted more of this family!

I don't know that I've ever read a book that captures the beauty, necessity and impossibility of love so completely. Every word, every storyline and every character was so well thought out and had the perfect mix of frustration and adoration for nearly every character. An absolute highlight of 2023 and one of the most beautiful novels I will ever read.