3.5 stars

After hearing that one of Napolitano's other novels, Dear Edward, had recently been adapted for Apple TV, I was intrigued by her newest work, especially as I love tales of family dynamics so much, with the heavy sister element in this appealing to me immensely. The contrast between the severity of strength of the sisters' bonds, even through times of conflict or minimal conflict them always finding a way back to each other, compared to William's isolated upbringing was probably my favourite part of this - seeing just how much family ties can shape a person through later life. Seeing the sisters go through disconnect, at times with their mother and the eldest sister, while bringing William fully into the fold of their family, was an intriguing contrast, but unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough for me to fully enjoy the story, as I found it quite slow and unengaging at times, especially towards the last third, which I did find myself forcing myself through in order to finish.

A stunning book, the accolades and reviews are completely justified.
An homage to Little Women, the Padavano sisters are inseparable growing up - so similar but yet so very different. Their lives are changed when Julia meets William Walters at college, William is the complete opposite, brought up by distant parents he has struggled to find his place in the world.
A story of how life and love can get in the way sometimes but a sisters bond will always be there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Hello Beautiful.

A poignant, sweeping saga of sisterhood.

Thanks NetGalley, Penguin General UK – Viking for the ARC!

Synopsis –

William Waters had a broken, loveless childhood. As he goes on to become a well acclaimed basket-ball player earning a college scholarship, he meets the vibrant Julia Padavano, falling in love and ends up marrying her. William then becomes an extended part of tightly knit Padavano family and Julia’s younger sisters Sylvie, Emmeline and Cecelia. Sucked into the sisters steady but complicated relationships, William has to navigate the darkness of his past and Julia’s diligently planned future.

Review -

Penned with the most beautiful and profound writing – full of heart, tenderness and sensitivity, 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 is a moving character driven portrayal of a cohesive family and bonding between sisters. It also deals with mental health and its devastating consequences on the very fabric of their strong, close and firmly rooted familial ties - resulting in unimaginable chasms and unbearable separations.

The dynamics between the sisters - Julia, Sylvie, Emmeline and Ceceila steal all the limelight. Their devotion, loyalty and love for each other is so precious and cherished. Among them, it’s Julia who shines the brightest - her zest for independence, reaching high, limitless ambitions, impeccable foresight and sharp focus on achieving her carefully set goals are commendable. I admired and cheered for her all the way.

Julia is followed by Sylvie, the simple, unassuming woman who needs nothing more than pure sisterly affection. Cecelia, the rebel, is famous for her art and mural creations, while Emmeline is the protective and caring one. I grew fond of them all over the decades as the author gradually explores their relationships.

There is a lot to unpack with William’s character. We get to see how his heartless, harsh upbringing throws him into the abyss of depression, further cascading into all the facets of his life. But it was very interesting to see how he seamlessly blends into the intricate web of the Padavano family, becoming indispensable.

The only setback was how the story seemed to drag a bit in the middle, becoming slightly boring and monotonous.

However, I am a huge fan of Napolitano's prose and was very eager towards the end, to find out how it would all play out and although I was not very convinced with the unfairness, the overall impact was big enough to get nodding at the emotional gravity and inevitability of the circumstances.

Definitely recommended if you love a good family drama.

The book started off well and the opening paragraph is a passage that will stay with me for a while. I enjoyed learning about the characters - William and his parents who don't see him vs the Padavano sisters for whom family is a central tenet of their life. The prose was also lovely, melancholic and quiet, with an underlying sense of impending doom.

That being said, as the story progressed, I found that there was a lot more telling than showing, and the characters started to become quite flat with no development, and I lost my initial interest and investment in them.

I know it was loved by many but unfortunately wasn't for me!

Following the lives of Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia and Emeline - 4 sisters who grow up in Chicago, I've heard many claims that this is a modern, retelling of Little Women. While the book is mentioned, with each of the sisters regularly fighting over who is most like Jo and identifying themselves as being Beth when ill. Hello Beautiful also takes a heart warming and moving look at the impact childhood experiences can have on adult life. As well as the strength which can be gained through friendships.

Charting all the successes, challenges, heart breaks and joy of the four very distinct characters as they grow from small children to middle aged adults, Hello Beautiful shows that, despite how close you may feel you are to someone, you will never know what's going on unless you ask.

Filled with moments of happiness and sadness, the book touches on mental health struggles, suicide, family estrangement, infant death, lesbianism, single parenthood amongst others within an engrossing story.

The story of the Padavano sisters from 1965 to the present day. Set in America, the Padavanos are a close famiiy of four sisters with a fierce mother and easygoing father. Only after their father's death do they realise how loved they were, and how they loved him. And how he was the glue in their lives. When oldest sister Julia meets basketball player, Will, at college they immediately become a couple, and he slots into the family. Good times can't last forever and over the years, various family members become estranged. However, once a Padavano always a Padavano. I was fully invested in the life of the family, in WIll's sad and lonely childhood and his wonderful basketball friends. I so wanted a happy ending. Interesting to note were the different reactions to mental health problems. Support not always where you expect it. #netgalley #hellobeautiful #Padavanosisters

A story of four sisters (yes, shades of Little Women, duly acknowledged throughout the book), the four Italian-American Padavano sisters, closely entwined, ever-loving, but with very different destinies. A wonderful family drama, insightful, perceptive and tender. A subtle and nuanced exploration of family, sisterhood, love, loyalty, trauma, parents and children. Beautifully written, expertly paced and a real joy to read.

In Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano masterfully crafts a narrative that exudes simplicity, yet conceals a profound empathy. She has unique ability to create such a powerful emotional connection with all the characters.
The novel spans decades, thoughtfully presenting each chapter from different character perspectives and various years.
The pace is a little slow in the middle, however the last third is an emotional rollercoaster that is definitely worth the wait. This is definitely my favourite book of the year so far!

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for the advance copy of this book.

I really wanted to love Hello Beautiful, the first few chapters are wonderful and I enjoyed getting to know the 4 Padavano sisters, their strong willed mother and docile but adored father. William is an interesting character, so ignored as a child and so desperate to become part of a group, whether in a basketball team or a part of the Padavanos.
However, it is a an immensely slow and over long book, I found it repetitive and the characters don’t develop that much that you really care about them. It really hammers home the Little Women homage, it’s mentioned so many times in different ways, as though the reader isn’t smart enough to get it. It repeatedly switches between POVs which should shine a light on a different perspective but I found just told the same story in a slightly different way, by the last third I was skim reading.
I know many people have adored this and it is well written but not for me.

A heart-wrenching family drama in the vein of Little Women, following themes of sisterhood, loyalty and forgiveness. Not the easiest to get into if slow-paced family sagas aren't you're thing, but beautifully written and well worth a read.

In this touching and moving story, we meet four sisters and their family. Life is shown to be a mix of happiness and sadness, and it all depends on how we view things. When more people are involved, life can be both good and challenging. Having more people around can make us feel at home, but we're all unique, which can sometimes create complications.

The story teaches us that we make different choices and try to make others happy, but finding our own happiness isn't always easy. Love is wonderful, but rejection hurts deeply. Life and death are connected in a cycle that keeps everything moving.

The story explores the characters' emotions and how they deal with love, rejection, and life's ups and downs. It reminds us that our choices affect others and that connections with people are powerful. The author's storytelling makes the characters relatable, drawing us into their world.

Overall, this unnamed book is a touching and thought-provoking read that beautifully portrays the complexities of life, love, and family. It leaves a lasting impression, inviting us to reflect on the profound interconnectedness of our experiences.

I love the work of Ann Napolitano. She is such a gifted writer. The story of a family, their trials and tribulations. This was a down-to-earth, solid book that will be a pleasure for many.

When I first started this book I wasn't sure that I would like it - the beginning is a little slow - but it soon becomes much more interesting and readable.

If you have sisters, or female friends, or people that you love in your life then this book is for you. There is love in all its forms - parental, sibling, romantic and the pain that goes with loving fiercely.

This is the story of the Padavano sisters and the few men in their lives. There are echoes of, and references to, Little Women. The book follows the lives of sisters Julia, Sylvia, Emmeline and Cecilia, their mother Rose, their father Charlie and William. The characters are well drawn and all too believable - you will definitely recognise them, either in yourself or others. A really beautiful book.

Had to DNF it was just so so long and didn’t need to be which was a shame because I was enjoying the story but the characters are pretty insufferable to be honest. I just couldn’t get anywhere with this one.

it was beautiful, it was complicated, it was real.

and a little bit too long…

throughout the first half I felt like this was going to be one of the very few 5/5 reads of 2023, but after the first half I simply realised that unfortunately the beautiful writing started to feel too detailed and I was wishing the author would just get on with the story.

“Then he smiled with so much warmth it was as if a sun had risen inside him. “Hello beautiful,” he said. And with those words, Cecelia knew that she was forgiven, and she forgave him too.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 stars)

Hello Beautiful is an amazing novel by Ann Napolitino, following four sisters over three decades. It’s a heart-wrenching tale of love and loss, and we have the joys of exploring the bonds between the enigmatic and unique sisters; Julia and Sylvie, and the twins Cecilia and Emeline. Following the Padavano girls through the years is quite a rollercoaster - reading them experimenting with dreams and desires. It’s such an amazing read, and I need to stop the review there before I spill any spoilers! 😅

This book has:
💐 Dual Timelines
💐 Multiple POV’s
💐 ‘Little Women’ reference/retelling
💐 Family Drama

I did dock half a point on my star rating- I really wanted this to be a five star read!! The time setting just felt a bit off to me- it’s set in the 1980’s but felt like it was actually set about 30-40 years earlier 🫠 However please don’t let this put you off- it’s still an amazing read! ❤️

Big big thank you to NetGalley UK and Penguin General for gifting me an e-copy of the book, in exchange for an honest review. Definitely a top book I’ve read this year!

This review has been crossposted (literarlo)

Oh My Days! This book. All the feels. We start with William and Julia. Two completely different young people from two completely different backgrounds. William, an only child, parents starving him of love having suffered the loss of his sibling. And Julia with a big loving family and three sisters who she is close to. They meet when William wins a basketball scholarship and travels away from home. And after the two start dating, William is welcomed into the family with open arms.
But the happiness does not last long as William is still troubled and starts to jeopardise Julia's careful plans for their future...
And that's all you're getting from me as you really need to hear the rest exactly as the author wants you to. In her words. Her beautiful words. The only thing I will say is that you might need a tissue or two. I did... It's a beautiful and heart wrenching and emotional family saga and contains everything you would expect to find in a book of that genre. I'm not a big aficionado of this genre, as I prefer my books to be more fast paced, and the genre lends itself better to slow burns, but I was actually shocked at how easily the book sucked me in and held me captive, looking up from it and finding several hours had passed in a flash, so engrossed I became.
And the characters are perfect. I won't go into detail or select a favourite, that wouldn't be fair. Suffice to say that a character driven book such as this needs strong characters and it definitely gets that. But as well as that, there is also a wonderful, beautiful, story of love and loss and tragedy and split and, you get the picture...
And the ending, when it came, was also just perfect. And also, maybe, leaves the door open to more from the family in the future.... Maybe ?
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

“Looking at her hurt my eyes, and I was afraid to touch her." "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."

4.5 * This book was just beautiful. Little Women was one of my favourites as a child, and so I quickly fell for the Padavano girls and their story. But William might have been my favourite character of all. The book opens with his start in the world, his broken parents and loveless childhood. His character was written with such compassion and grace. The author handles love, loss, grief and depression with such elegance and empathy, and reminds us that families rely on forgiveness to survive. I’d love to have resd the perspectives of Emeline and Cecelia too, but perhaps that’s just me being greedy. The only reason I can’t give it 5* is because it felt a little slow in places, and a little repetitive. But it’s an easy recommendation for any lovers of family sagas.

This is a gentle, beautifully written story that becomes ever more addictive. It is the story of a family from Chicago, Mother , Father and four daughters and their intertwined life with William, a college basket ball player.
It is told from the perspective of William, Julie, who marries William and her sister Sylvie.The four sisters are close and in some ways consider themselves a modern day version of Little Women. There are times when you as a reader agree with them. The characters are well developed and by the end you feel you know them It is an emotional, engrossing read.

I did find this story of four close knit sisters Julia, Sylvie, Emeline and Cecelia Padavano and their relationship with William heart warming in places but very self centered. I can see the comparisons with Little Women and the connection between the sisters worked well, but William as a character was distant and unrealistic for the first half of the book.
I thought it a bit one dimensional, it didn’t seem to have many threads running through that were developed. William is revealed as having been brought up with parents who didn’t want to have him and he had no relationship with him. This part of the plot lacked a dimension because it wasn’t there really.
The basketball angle could have had more about it. I didn’t feel any passion for it or learn more about the sport from reading the book. William’s supposed passion for it did not come across in the narrative at all. It could have been anything from ice hockey to art and it wouldn’t have made any difference to the plot. Similarly I thought more could have been made of the sister’s Italian heritage. However, mental health issues were dealt with well and realistically.
The story is told from the viewpoint of William and each of the sisters in turn. It backtracks so gets a bit repetitive and as a reader you just want the story to move on.
I don’t honestly think I would have finished it if I wasn’t going to review it as I was kindly sent an advanced copy. A nice summer read but forgetful overall. The ending folded gently rather than coming to an end you felt was a conclusion.