BookBrowse Review
BookBrowse
Each character has virtues: Sylvie, the bookworm romantic with her head screwed on straight; Julia, the planner obsessed with finding and fixing all flaws; Cecelia, the sentimental artist; and Emeline, the nurturing caregiver. Yet, most importantly, they have major flaws. They run from challenges. They hurt easily and hold grudges. They are emotional, they are thrown into irrational decisions seemingly at a whim. They have egos and tempers. But at the forefront of all the conflict is the desire for forgiveness: to receive it, and to dole it out. That, and the desire for love...continued
Full Review 
(708 words)
(Reviewed by Abby Edgecumbe).
Media Reviews
The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
Radiant and brilliantly crafted ... Napolitano's [work] resists the easy satisfactions of the sentimental and never settles for simple answers to emotional predicaments faced by her characters.
Oprah Quarterly
This sumptuous family saga is one of those rare novels whose singular characters are so beautifully rendered, it's as if they're your best friends, and you're grateful to be in their orbit. Napolitano's homage to Little Women, albeit set in late-20th century Chicago, will prompt you to slow down as you read, never wanting the book to end. When it does, prepare for tears.
People
This powerfully affecting novel illustrates [that] love and luck don't always intertwine.
Washington Post
Another tender tearjerker ... [Napolitano] compels us to contemplate the complex tapestry of family love that can, despite grief and loss, still knit us together. She helps us see ourselves—and each other—whole.
Kirkus Reviews
Napolitano spins a saga of familial love, deception, and hope for healing while adeptly highlighting each family member's unique position in the narrative. Napolitano's characters can break your heart as they work to mend their own.
Publishers Weekly
Napolitano explores the meaning of love and family with this striking story… [she] breathes great life into her characters, and brings insight into their quiet moments as they gradually come into their own. This will move readers.
Angie Kim, bestselling author of Miracle Creek
Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving and propulsive novel about the deepest connections of family and love, trauma and healing. In intricately elegant prose, Ann Napolitano explores both the cost and power of loyalty and honesty. This is a book to treasure and share with friends and loved ones.
J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Hello Beautiful is the work of a great author at the height of her powers. Equally immersive, emotional, and brilliantly crafted, this is an early contender for best novel of the year.
Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes
A rich, complex family saga, Hello Beautiful is a portrait of love and grief in equal measure. Napolitano's prose is so lovely, so keenly perceptive, that it held me captive until I finished. A lot of people are going to love this story.
Miranda Cowley Heller, New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace
Ann Napolitano's new novel, Hello Beautiful, is exactly that: beautiful, perceptive, wistful. It's a story of family and friendship, of how the people we are bound to can also set us free. I loved it.
Reader Reviews
Kate Lesinski
Family Drama
I love Ann’s writing & this is by far my favorite book of hers. I don’t think it’s quite the new or updated Little Women as it sold to me as. I think it stands on its own with its own merits & things to say. I say as a Little women Stan. This book ... Read More
Nancy
Fantastic
One of the most amazing books I have ever read. A book that can bring a tear to my eye is one to remember. I applaud the author’s ability to create characters so completely relatable you are drawn into the family. Kudos.
Shetreadssoftly
very highly recommended, poignant and complex family saga
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a very highly recommended, poignant and complex family saga. One of the best novels and character studies I've read this year. Absolutely excellent!William Waters grew up feeling completely isolated and ... Read More
Bookworm Becky
Family saga
4.0Broken, loyalty, rift…The four Padavano sisters - Julia, Sylvie, and twins Cecelia and Emeline grew up in Chicago inseparable.Julia met William Waters in college. He didn’t have the same loving , loyal, contented upbringing as the ... Read More
...Read 5 More Reader Reviews
Write your own review!
