The Long Hello Beautiful

Welcome back, friends! This month has been pretty good for me, and I’m up to 15 books read so far this year. So, I’m staying on track and making my way through my TBR. Before we get into this month’s review, I need to take a moment to let my regular readers know that I will be taking the month of May off to make some much needed fixes and updates to my website. With that being said, let’s get into this month’s read. This month I chose to read Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. I’d been thinking about doing this one for a few months then I found it for $4 at a thrift store and it felt meant to be! And to accompany my reading, I made a Long Hello cocktail.

The Long Hello Recipe

3/4oz Apple Brandy

3/4oz Elderflower Liqueur

0.5oz Water*

2 dashes bitters

~2–3oz Champagne

Grated Nutmeg

*This is an optional ingredient.

In a mixing glass with ice, stir brandy, elderflower liqueur, water, and bitters. Strain into coupe glass, top with champagne, and garnish with grated nutmeg. Enjoy!

I liked this drink! It’s champagne heavy (I cheated and used prosecco because it’s cheaper) with a subtle taste of apple brandy and elderflower liqueur. Overall, I really enjoyed it. I added water to this one as my special ingredient, so it obviously didn’t change the taste of the drink much. I chose water because William’s last name is water and because there is a specific scene involving water that is important in the novel. Water just dilutes the alcohol taste slightly, so add it at your leisure but I definitely recommend trying this one!

Hello Beautiful Synopsis

(from book cover)

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Review

“No bullshit and no secrets.”

This one was interesting. Hello Beautiful is a Little Women retelling, and it really wants to make sure you know that. I’ve never read Little Women, but I know the bigger parts of what happens (thank you to that one episode of Friends and to my niece for recapping the movie to me years ago). This aspect of Hello Beautiful makes it read like a classic. I am not the biggest fan of classics as I often (not always) find them a bit slow and boring. So, I had similar issues with this novel. However, I also had a lot of positives with this novel, so it’s kind of another mixed bag.

As mentioned before, it’s a slow, slow novel. And really not a lot actually happens in this book. It’s another heavily character-driven novel, which isn’t a bad thing but can be a bit boring. However, I found it still had a solid enough plot that I was invested and interested in it even though it was predictable. The second half of the book was definitely better for me. A lot more happened and I felt more driven to continue reading than I did in the first half. The first half was still fine and laid the groundwork nicely, but I wasn’t as inspired to pick it up and keep reading.

Despite my feelings on pacing, I thought the novel was beautifully written. It was descriptive and the prose was just gorgeous. I did find it a bit repetitive throughout the novel, but the beauty outweighed that complaint. I will definitely read more from Napolitano as her writing style resonates with me. It wasn’t poetic really, but it had a delicateness and depth that I loved.

But anywho, we can’t talk about a character-driven novel without talking about the characters. And I adored these characters… other than Julia. She sucked. I couldn’t relate to her self-centred and controlling attitude at all, but it worked for the story and made sense for her character. I just couldn’t find the extent she tried to control things overly relatable or believable and I wasn’t sympathetic towards her. On the other hand, Sylvie, William, the other sisters, and the kids I loved. I found that all the characters were beautifully layered and had so much depth, especially those characters we get chapter perspectives from. And I really enjoyed getting to know this family and all the characters in it.

I also thought there was a decent amount of diversity in regard to people of colour and the LGBTQIA+ community. Could there have been more? Always. And were all the diverse characters side characters? Yes. But I am glad there was representation at all, I just think there could have been more. Especially since the novel takes place largely in Chicago, I expected more people of colour in the forefront of the story.

On a kind of similar note, a huge focus in this novel is on basketball. Almost all of the diverse characters come from the basketball team, which works but feels uninspired. Also, be aware going in if you don’t care for basketball that a lot of this novel talks about basketball. I, luckily, like basketball enough to have found these parts interesting, but I can definitely see it getting boring pretty quickly for people who don’t share that interest.

My final comment is that I felt a lot of connection to this novel. As someone who has 3 sisters, I understood a lot of what the 4 sisters were feeling and going through. Me and my sisters are not quite as close in age to have as similar a story, but the sisterly love and understanding still resonated with me. I also loved seeing William’s point of view. As a clinically depressed girly myself, I found the depiction of depression accurate and thoughtful. Beyond being able to connect with William’s feelings and thoughts, it was nice to see depression from the point of view of a man since we don’t actually get that a lot in media.

Overall, I enjoyed Hello Beautiful. It was gorgeous and thought-provoking and just all-around well done. But it had it’s negatives and issues, so it’s sitting at a 4-star for me. This is another one that feels more like a 3.75 maybe. I would definitely recommend this novel if you love Little Women, basketball, and character-driven stories. But if those things aren’t for you then maybe skip this one, unless you can’t pass up a gorgeous cover because this one is beautiful. And thank goodness we’re back to good cocktails so that I can whole-heartedly recommend giving this one a try.

My Rating:

Thanks for reading! And, if you read the book or try the cocktail let me know in a comment or on Instagram. Also, if you haven’t yet read my previous reviews, I recommend reading Come and Get It, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow if you liked this one!

Teghann

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