I loved this story of the Padavano family and the other charecters William, Kent and the basketball players. As stated in other reviews it's a homage to Little Women which I've always loved. While it's similar to Little Women Hello Beautiful tells its own story. It's very sympathetic to depression and the love story at the centre is beautifully told. It is wonderfully evocative of Chicago and New York.Many thanks to Netgalley UK and Viking Penguin for for the advance copy in return for an honest review. . I will definitely be reading more from this author

This was an amazing read, the characters were very engrossing, and I always looked forward to delving back into the world Ann Napolitano had created.
A heartbreaking and heartwarming family saga - these characters will stay with me for a while!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A family drama told through alternating perspectives across four decades; Hello Beautiful is the heartbreaking and compelling story of William Waters and the Padavano family. Love, grief, regret and mental health are explored with so much depth as each character attempts to find a sense of belonging - they felt wholly real to me. You can't help but adore and root for the sisters and William (he has my heart!), and although there was heartache and many tears, it is ultimately an uplifting story.

This is the sort of book that stays with you long after you've finished. I'm already recommending to everyone!

Hello Beautiful is family saga following the Padavano sisters, husband William and daughter Alice. The novel spans decades and is told from different perspectives.

The story was told in a tender and gentle way, the characters were sympathetic and fully realised.

In particular, William’s relationship to himself, his purpose in life and how to accept and give love was v moving.

The difficult and loving relationships between sisters felt so real. Napolitano captures the noise and chaos of a large, loud family incredibly well.

Also the cover is very apt! I love it.

Pick up this book up if: you love complicated family dynamics (tv series Parenthood!), sisters, Little Women.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Hello Beautiful is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.

This heartbreaking, moving family saga will shakes you to the core! The three dimensional and layered characterization with references to Little Women make connecting with each character incredibly easy. You know it's a brilliantly written book when you're rooting for the characters even when they make the wrong decisions.

I cried my heart out and still would recommend this book to everyone.

This gets four stars a rareity me !
The reason is that is just so moving
I found myself at times welling up and realised I was so attached to the characters
I was pulled in and yes is like a story through the years of love lost love gained and hope
I love dark twisty thrillers but occasionally will be tempted for a novel such as this
Of lives meeting and love at it’s heart
It’s wonderfull
The kindness and compassion shown by this family is wow and you really understand them and their decisions
Ty I will read this authors first now I suspect also as was well received too

This is a family drama about the Padavano sisters, and their lives. As children, they compare themselves to the characters in Little Women, and some of the stories reflect this. The story starts when Julia meets Will, and the family's closeness is reflected through their welcome to Will.
The book is well-written, and made me laugh and cry, really enjoyed it.
Highly recommended.

An absolutely beautiful family saga. I must admit, though, that I didn’t find any of the sisters completely engaging or likeable. I’m not a huge fan of Little Women, so perhaps the similarities between the two books mean it’s just not my cup of tea! I was, however, entirely engrossed by William. A gorgeous character. I completely adored him, and his story kept me hooked. I could read about him forever.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Viking for the privilege.

This story follows the lives of the four Padavano sisters as they grow up and navigate adulthood through periods of trauma, love and loss. I loved the depth to the characters and the beautiful writing. The story was obviously mirroring parts of Little Women and this was mentioned many times. The story felt real and I found it quite emotional.

I really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

After Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano writes a beautifully tender family drama with its echoes of the classic Little Women, primarily set in Chicago. William Waters grows up in silence with parents unable to love or even look at him after the tragic loss of his sister Caroline. As a youngster, he plays basketball alone, until he is surprised to be encouraged to join local basketball players. It is his remarkable skills in the game that are responsible for him gaining a scholarship to college in Chicago, leaving a home he will never return to. William works in the laundry, which is where he cements a lifelong friendship with Kent, and it is in his history class where he meets the vibrant problem solver, Julia Padavano, who zeroes in on him as her future, a man she can mould into everything she desires.

It becomes clear to William right at the start that Julia comes with her poor, but loving, loyal and chaotic Italian American family, her heart beats as one with her sisters, the literary dreamer, Sylvie, working at a library where she kisses boys, and the twins, the artistic Cecilia and Emeline, who takes care of them all. William is grateful to be wrapped into the heart of the Padavano family, the paper factory worker, the loving and drinking father, Charlie, and the gardening mother, Rose, with her love and resentment of an unambitious husband that powers her desire to see all her daughters attend college. However, marriage puts pressures and strains that push William beyond his capacity to cope as he moves further and further from who he is, whilst the Padavanos experience the kind of losses, surprises and betrayal that threaten to splinter the family apart, will the family ever come together again?

Napolitano writes a extraordinarily moving and gripping family drama, creating a captivating and distinct set of Padavano sisters, all strong in their different ways, but challenged when cracks begin to appear in their unity. As for William, I felt my heart truly feel for him, a past responsible for the mental health issues he must face and find the inner strength to learn to put himself back together in a manner that is true to who he is, and despite the obstacles, learn to accept real love into his life. At the end, we can see with joy just how much he is loved by so many. This is sublime storytelling, of life, loss and love in all its different forms, the beauty and price of love, and illustrating the many problematic issues that can potentially undermine family cohesion. An absolute delight of a read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This was a sweet, enjoyable book. Some of the timing of the various plot twists/turns felt a bit too convenient but it was an easy, absorbing read.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was beautifully written and the characters were really well thought out and developed. The relationships were complex and interesting and felt really real

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

This book centres around the Padvano family- four sisters; Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia and Emmeline and their relationships. It spans over many years and also includes flashbacks to their childhood so it really felt like we got to know them well. I enjoyed that Sylvie was a librarian and had found sanctuary in the library and reading from a young age. Sylvie is also a hopeless romantic and when she finally falls in love, everything changes for the family. I adored the characters, I felt like the sisters were my friends and I was so invested in finding out what would happen to them. I read this at the end of last month and it made it in to my top ten books of 2022 and I’ve no doubt that it will be in lots of top lists at the end of this year. A strong 5 star read that you won’t want to end!

I haven’t read Dear Edward yet but after loving this so much it has been bumped up my list.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We all want impossible things is out on 13th July 2023.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is about a family of sisters and their entwinements, estrangements and bonds. Sometimes I felt like it was set in a different era to the one it was supposed to be in.

I haven’t yet read Little Women but many readers said this has echoes of it. I actually was reminded of The Virgin Suicides, more for the close relationship between four sisters, and the fact that I loved both novels. This one spans 30 years and gets you so immersed that you feel like you really know the Padavano family. Beautiful.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

A rich family story set over three decades in Chicago. We follow William, whose early life was marred by tragedy and a cruel lack of love. He is swept up by the Padovano family and we are pulled into the lives of the four sisters as they negotiate life and love together. Thanks NetGalley!

I adore books like this, so I knew I would at least find it to be an enjoyable read but it was so much more. I felt like a fly on the wall to the relationships of these sisters which at times, felt like a subtle nod to Little Women. It was heartbreaking and stunningly written, and I feel like these characters are real and part of a family that I have known my entire life. Highly recommend this book.

In Napolitano's story we meet the four Padavano sisters, Julia, the planner, Sylvie, the hopeless romantic, Cecilia, the artist and Emmeline, the nurturer. Living in a small house in Pilsen, Chicago with their mother, Rose and their father, Charlie, these girls share a bond like no other. We also meet William Waters who is a shadow of a man, cast aside by parents and whose upbringing could not be more different than the Padavano sisters. Then Julia meets William in college and their lives interwine.

This is a generational saga which sweeps through decades and is told from a multitude of character's perspectives over those years. We see the blossoming of young love all the way through to middle aged lives and go through the motions of the losses along the way.

There are a lot of wonderful things about this book, Charlie for example is a fantastic example of a character with his own demons who is written beautifully. Napolitano can make the reader feel the love and closeness in the Padavano house. This book puts a modern spin on Alcott's Little Women so if you enjoyed that classic, then you will enjoy this.

There were some things that I did not quite enjoy such as the basketball aspect of the book, it got a little technical at times and it didn't hold my interest but that's just my preference as I don't have an interest in basketball. Also, I found the male characters to be very interesting characters (William and Charlie) and written with a lot of empathy but a lot of the female characters were not graced with that same empathy. I would have loved to have delved deeper into Emmeline's character also. There was one particular death which I felt wasn't expanded on the way it should have been and was slightly disappointed by that.

Fans of family sagas will love this book, it is written beautifully and judging by initial reviews, I can imagine this book will be wildly popular next year when it's released.

I felt a strong connection with the sisters and i think this book was beautifully written..Perfect for fans of little women and the paper palace.