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.

Before I start, there’s some content that some readers might want to be aware of. Check out at the end for more information.

This one was such a slow burner of a read. It started off really slow - and it wasn’t until I was about 40% into it that it started pulling me in.

It’s billed as a homage to Little Women (with even the Padavano sisters comparing themselves to the titular Little Women.). I’ve not read LW, so I went into this one blind. And I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

There are certain events in this story, that made my heart break, but by god, I really wanted to punch Julia. I don’t want to go into detail and spoil it for you - but I guess that given out things play out with her mother, it’s sort of understandable. (But definitely not forgivable).

There’s a strong theme of abandonment in Napolitano’s latest, and all the main characters are affected. But I really liked how the sisters pulled together to maintain their unconventional little family.

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Viking Books UK and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.

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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: includes themes of abandonment/absent parent, and familial relationships, and has detail of depression, attempted suicide. ⚠️

There are just so many good things I could say about this book. I absolutely tore (pun intended) through this read. Everyone needs to go read it.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

wow.... I LOVED this book.

It has to be read to understand why it deserves 5 stars.

100% recommend to everyone, I really enjoyed how you follow the characters over 25+ years and see how the evolve.

Just read it, you will not regret it.

i was so excited for this but really struggled to get through it - felt shallow and boring, like i was trying to crack open something empty with a shoe string or something.

‘Hello Beautiful’ by Ann Napolitano is the story of a family from 1981- 2008, very much in the same vein as the novels of Anne Tyler and Alison Lurie. In other words, domestic detail is not just important; it is crucial to our understanding of character. The four Padavano sisters are devoted to each other and cannot imagine a life in which their parents are not present and their sororal relationship is fractured. When the family unit is divided through illness, death and divorce, the sisters are devastated, yet also free to live without former constraints.
Ann Napolitano tells the story through a number of third person narrative voices so that we are given different perspectives on the same event. This allows the reader not only to appreciate the contrasts in the working, domestic and emotional lives of the central characters but also why they react to change in the ways that they do. It’s easy to become immersed in the sisters’ lives; however, towards the end of the novel I found myself less engaged, perhaps because part of the narrative moves onto the younger generation, about whom we know comparatively little.
Nevertheless, this is a novel to be relished by all who enjoy reading about family dynamics, about how our parents influence us, and about the complexities of familial love.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

A bit of a slow start but an emotional read, inspired by Little Women, and full of beautifully-drawn characters. The perfect read for the summer holidays.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton for the opportunity to read and review this beautiful novel.

When beautiful, curly-haired Julia Padavano sets her cap at college basketball star William Waters, she sets in motion a chain of events that, though she doesn't know it, will lead to the rupture of her tight-knit family.

The Padavano sisters consider themselves to be like the four March girls in Little Women. Headstrong go-it-alone Julia is possibly Jo; a younger, artistic twin is probably Amy; but who's doomed, mortal Beth - the motherly lesbian and full-time homebody twin, or is it otherworldly Sylvie, who kisses boys in the library stacks but never gives her whole heart (and when she does, it's potentially to Mr. Wrong)?

Beautifully written, slightly let down by its soapy plot but well-researched and unfolding at a leisurely, confident pace, this felt reminiscent of Anne Tyler, Claire Lombardo and Emma Straub. I always love a Little Women update, and this one definitely does the girls justice.

I downloaded this book ages ago but delayed reading it until just before publication. The anticipation was better than the book, unfortunately. It fell quite some way short of Dear Edward which I enjoyed very much and didn't really hold my attention until the very last pages. I never felt as if I really got to know the characters and the story was very repetitive.

A hefty, delicious, intergenerational family saga to sink into this summer. Hello Beautiful is a homage to Little Women, framed around the four Padavano sisters and William, the young man from a loveless childhood who marries Julia, the eldest, and quickly finds a place in their close-knit Italian-American family. William is at college on a basketball scholarship and the book is packed with detail of life both on and off the court, with particular references to injuries and the importance of recovering well: true of childhood trauma as well as sports-related mishaps. Julia sees a bright future for her husband and pushes him toward the outcome she dreams of for herself and their children, yet as we all know – if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. A tender, warm-hearted novel with beautifully-drawn characters, this will sweep you along from your sun-lounger and leave you bereft to finish your time within its pages, as all good books should.

Such a beautiful book with gorgeous prose and an achingly deep portrayal of family love. The Padavano sisters are completely wrapped up in each other making a close family unit which you'd imagine could never be shattered but then the unthinkable happens and the unit divides.

The author has a wonderful way with words and describes grief, depression, healing and family relationships in an entirely believable way using multiple viewpoints, and although it is incredibly sad in parts it's never overly sentimental. I highly recommend it.

Hello Beautiful
by Ann Napolitano

I have been sitting on this book since November quietly anticipating being blown away with it's central theme of sisterly love and how that can be challenged with life's complications. In many ways this story was everything I hoped it would be, messy, with divergent responses depending on each sister's personality (a veritable enneagram rainbow). It is much more nuanced than I hoped for, dealing with abandonment, depression, teenage pregnancy, a suicide attempt, betrayal. perceived or otherwise, withholding of love, narcissistic behaviour, denial of identity, toxic relationships, terminal illness. I have seen reviews that claim this book is full of doom and gloom, but actually it is full of hope and aspiration and adaptation and navigating ways to survive and redemption.

However, my emotional experience with this book fell very short. To say I did not appreciate the writing is quite the understatement. The amount of repetition is excruciating. Many passages were repeated, often verbatim for each of the 3 POVs which felt tedious and unnecessary. There are so many references to William's height, Alice's height, Julia's hair, their personality traits, the murals of Pilsen, Cecelia's art, William's knee, over and over again, as if the author doesn't trust the reader to remember these facts that we are being beaten over the head with. Every single emotion is written explicitly as if she doesn't trust us to have the desired emotional response. Nothing puts me off a story more than when I feel manipulated by the writer, and with all the tell-not-show in this story my brain overrode my heart and I just feel annoyed now. Maybe it's a cultural difference, because this book has certainly found it's audience with such glowing reviews and a healthy 4.2 rating on GR. Just not for me.

Story: 5 stars
Writing: 1 star

Publication date: 13th July 2023
Thanks to #netgalley #vikingbooksuk and #penguinukbooks for the ARC

Hello Beautiful might be one of the most interesting readings from this year. Even though it started slower, but then when I got into the story I got engaged and the book ended before me realizing it. The family drama, the characters all were beautiful written, in a way that the story felt more real than just a story.

This is my first book book by this author and I was engrossed in the family story from page one. It’s one of those book you don’t want to end and I am still thinking about the characters some days later.
William is introduced early in the story, he is a gentle giant, over 6ft tall, he has never been shown love, his parents showed no emotions towards him after they had lost his sister Caroline when he was a baby.
William devotes his time and energy to basket ball, and whilst in college he meets Julia, another student, she is a strong character and immediately decides she is going to marry William and has their lives planned out.
Life though takes a different path for them both, the story is not just about William & Julia, it includes Julia’s three younger sisters, Sylvie, Emeline and Cecelia. Like all sisters they have lots of similarities but they have their own individual characters and I loved them all.
This family saga is heart wrenching, a tale of love, family and sisterhood. There is also the wonderful strong, unbreakable male friendships that William makes through basketball.
At the start of the story William is so closed to any emotion, he looses Julia, gives up his baby daughter, finds love with Sylvie, which causes rifts between the sisters, he learns though to open his heart and make his world bigger.
An emotional rollercoaster which I didn’t want to end. A fabulous read - a top book for 2023 and a 6th star is needed.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Penguin General UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

'Hello Beautiful' by Ann Napolitano is a heartwarming tale of family dynamics and especially of sisterhood; a retelling of 'Little Women' for today.

This was a beautiful family saga that really satisfied the Little Women fan in me! The writing was gorgeous and easy to read, and I really enjoyed all of the characters.

I loved Dear Edward, Ann Naolitano’s, first novel. Unfortunately though I quite liked parts of Hello Beautiful I didn’t think it was as good as Dear Edward. I couldn’t take to certain characters and in some ways that spoiled the story.

A big, sweeping family drama with complex, memorable characters and beautiful writing. The story takes a while to really get going, but overall I really enjoyed it.

I love love LOVED this book - it was easily the best book I've read in over a year. I loved the characters, the way the sisters were written to be so intwined and involved. I loved the way we jumped from different viewpoint to viewpoint; each having such a distinctive outlook that it was not at all confusing (like it can be sometimes). Honestly, it was perfect. Thank you for this ARC, I've already been recommending the book to so many people.

It's hard not to warm at least a little to this Chicago-set family saga that focuses on the four Padavano sisters, Julia, Sylvie, Emeline and Cecelia, their parents Rose and Charlie, and the man who marries into their family, William. Hello Beautiful is loosely inspired by Little Women, but, although each of the Padavano sisters pretty neatly lines up with one of the March sisters, character-wise, they don't follow the same trajectories, which avoids the plot becoming predictable. What Ann Napolitano takes and runs with from Little Women is also my favourite thing about the novel: its focus on how strong the relationships between sisters can be, and how they may be at least as meaningful as any romantic or sexual relationship. I loved how Hello Beautiful explored alternative ways of living and mothering beyond the traditional nuclear family unit, and how the sisters centred each other in their lives. It's a shame, therefore, that it's a bit of a potboiler, definitely better than Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had (which is also set in Chicago and follows the lives of four sisters and the man who interrupts their plans), principally because the characters are much more likeable, but in the same kind of category.

Hello Beautiful starts vividly in the late 1970s, with some memorable early scenes, especially between Julia and William, and with Sylvie and Charlie. But, like many novels I've read that try to cover so much chronological ground, it becomes thinner thereafter, and although I found it compulsive, this was more because I wanted to reach each of the significant life events that were telegraphed rather than because I was truly invested in the characters. It's a pity, given the length of this novel, that only Rose, Julia, Sylvie and William are really developed as people; the two other sisters are given short shrift even though they arguably live more interesting and unusual lives. I also felt that Napolitano relied too much on telling us how the characters feel about each other rather than really letting us see. In particular, we're told that the sisters are incredibly close, with a complex network of references and in-jokes that spans their childhood and adolescence, but we don't actually get to see a lot of it in terms of how they interact with each other. Instead, we get Sylvie telling us about key childhood memories in a way that doesn't really bring them to life. I also found it unbelievable that, given what we are told about their closeness, SPOILER they would all let the rift between Julia and Sylvie continue as long as it does. I just didn't think that, if Julia and Sylvie were as close as we're told, they would give this bond up so easily, or that the other sisters wouldn't try and intervene END SPOILER

I liked Napolitano's Dear Edward but did not find it memorable, and this will probably go the same way for me, which is sad, because there was certainly the potential here to tell a much more haunting and moving story about sisterhood. 3.5 stars.