2024 the best novels of 2023 review

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! From the author of Dear Edward comes a “powerfully affecting” (People) family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

“Another tender tearjerker . . . Napolitano chronicles life’s highs and lows with aching precision.”—The Washington Post

ONE OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, Time, Vogue, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Post, She Reads, Bookreporter

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?

An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Dial Press (March 14, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593243730
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593243732
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.36 x 9.53 inches
Reviewer: KWyly
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautifully written…
Review: I love this story about the four Padavano sisters and their parents. Rose is the strong willed matriarch of the family. She strongly believes her husband, Charlie, just doesn’t quite measure up to what he could have been. Together, they have four daughters. Readers are drawn right into this story and feel every emotion the characters experience. Julie, the eldest of the four sisters, is a planner, a fixer, a girl who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She has a plan for her life and it doesn’t include living in a tiny house like where she was raised. Second daughter is quiet Sylvie, a reader who has worked in the public library since she was thirteen and sneaks kisses from the boys behind the shelves knowing she doesn’t want a boyfriend. She doesn’t take the boys seriously because she is just practicing for her one true love. The twins who are energetic, fun loving girls, round out the Padavano sisters. Then there is William a loner, ignored and never loved at home, socially awkward, always wondering where he fits in, how should he behave, and why he wasn’t enough for his parents. He only feels at home on the basketball court. Julie has decided William is just what she needs to get her life plan started. In alternating chapters, the four main characters tell their story with each chapter bearing the character’s name. Quoting Walt Whitman’s poetry and making comparisons of the four sisters to the sisters in Little Women by Alcott, this book is more than a family saga. This book is a love story. It is about acceptance, heartbreak, forgiveness, and understanding. Napolitano’s writing is thoughtful and beautiful. The story is deeply moving as each character grows and discover his or her truth and learns how powerful it is to live an authentic life. A five star read and on my list of favorite books in 2024!

Reviewer: diana jaycox (my friends call me DJ)
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: It improves as you read further...
Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, an Oprah's Book Club selection was read by this reviewer as part of a challenge. It would not have been my choice otherwise. As a rule I read to escape and find that many of contemporary bestsellers require me to be too much in the now and too much in my head. So it was no surprise that I struggled to get into this novel. It was too achingly real! The characters, their lives, their dreams and their struggles collided with my own and made me want to withdraw into my own darkness. I so wanted to send this book to the trash bin. Though, as a writer I challenged myself to read other writers ,especially those that are bestsellers. I needed to discover what makes other authors so appealing. How do other writers set-up their stories, build their settings, develop their characters. After a break, I came back to Hello Beautiful and read this as a writer as well as a reader. By applying a critiquing approach, I was able to achieve a degree of separation from the story. It was just enough to allow me to focus on the cadence of Ann Napolitano's words, to savor the style of her storytelling and to not get caught in my own angst and issues.I began to see how Hello Beautiful shared so many elements with one of my all time favorite books , Little Women. I was intrigued by the depth of personality of each of the sisters Ann Napolitano created. Ann was able to show how each sister was a part of the others yet completely individuals. How they became who they were was beautifully and intricately choreographed by Ann Napolitano throughout the novel. And, adding William a lost soul, an outsider to the mix, was a brilliant catalyst for the sisters growth and development!This was NOT an easy book to read. I took several breaks but always came back. This poignant story about family love and relationships, did end up stirring my heart and soul in ways, I admit, prefer to avoid. At times, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. By the time I reached the climax of the story I was fully invested in the characters and their lives, the many highs and lows they experienced and yet were able to weather because they had each other. I don't know how many other of Ann Napolitano's my tortured soul will be able to tolerate. I can say that the beauty of Ann Napolitano carefully crafted words, the images she brought to my mind's eye and the powerful feelings of love that seemed to leap from the pages of Hello Beautiful, eventually brought me to place of peace. I read the last page with a sigh. Then I closed my eyes and reflected on all my best memories of life in a large, obnoxiously in your face , flawed, loving family! All the highs and lows, the good times, the bad and the big loving mess of it all!SIGH.

Reviewer: Mrs. Golightly
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Poignant, Heartfelt, Beautiful
Review: This book was so touching…I found tears spilling down my cheeks at multiple points in the story, and it both broke and healed my heart in the reading of it. No spoilers, but I do recommend tissues. Anyone who has deeply felt love and loss will relate to this larger-than-life family and the saga of their shared history. Highly recommend!

Reviewer: JKid
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful and tragic and hopefull
Review: This book was a little slow to start for me, but then I just kept wanting to read. The characters are flawed but likeable. I was frustrated by many of their choices but was rooting for them anyway.

Reviewer: hello it's me
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Meh...
Review: Overall it was ok, easy to read. Not all the characters were likable, and the complexity of each character could have been developed more. A lot of the same descriptors used (ie Sylvie liked to kiss boys in the library was used repeatedly to explain her personality).My main issue with the book was the way Alice's height was described. The author made her seem like a freak for being 6'1". As a tall woman myself with many tall friends, what the author described is not the experience of being tall. Clearly Ann is short and resents others for their height. Interestingly, I've never met anyone who wishes they were shorter. I've only ever met people who wish they were taller.

Reviewer: Lorraine L. Miller
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Hello Beautiful is Beautiful!
Review: I laughed. I cried. I loved this book!What a wonderful tribute to family, to flawed people, and to the power of love, connection, and living life. This is a great book.

Reviewer: Ximena
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Este libro es fácil de leer, aunque trata algunos temas complicados, la lectura es fácil y entretenida.

Reviewer: Anya
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Gostei bastante do tema deste livro que fala da relação entre irmãos e entre pais mães e irmãos!

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: "Hello, Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano is a hauntingly emotional tug at the soul. While the pace is slow, it feels deliberate, allowing us readers to immerse ourselves in the language of the characters. William Waters is doomed from birth to become a damaged adult, accustomed to tucking his emotions away in order to function in the real world. Growing up in a house full of tragedy, with the sudden death of his sister, made him construct his own world, but it’s not built to last. As a freshman in college, William meets Julia Padavano, with her larger-than-life family, full of powerful sisters. Awkwardly and slowly, he learns to navigate their boisterous, loud family.Julia, driven to succeed, charts a life with William. They marry and have a child, and she sets William on a path to become a professor. But this is Julia’s dream and not one William can sustain. The darkness from William’s childhood swamps him, and the construct of his world collapses, a reality Julia cannot contemplate or deal with. She’s on a fast track to reach her dream, and having a husband have a mental breakdown is not on her list.When William goes off the deep end, it’s Sylvie, Julia’s sister, who recognizes the crisis. This recognition by Sylvie of who William is, and his struggle, sets William and the Padavano family on a new path. To make the path succeed, sacrifices must be made, and it’s Julia who recognizes this and who is determined to live up to her father’s expectations. Julia uproots herself to flee Chicago, where every street holds a family memory, to New York, to start over as a single mother with baby Alice.Decades slowly unravel, and the reader sees the depth of love coating Sylvie and William, the twin sisters Cecelia and Emeline, and William’s vast friendships thanks to his love of basketball.The characters in this novel are richly developed, layered much like Cecilia’s murals all throughout Chicago depicting powerful women (who resemble the Padavano women). This novel unmasks powerful women with tight bonds gluing them together as sisters, who must each learn to stand on their own, often meaning disappointing parental expectations to become truly independent. The male bonds of friendship were wonderful to see as the men in William's life rally around, keeping him afloat in the real world through his initial crisis and throughout the years.I dare any reader not to cry through the last few chapters as the wide gulf that had existed between the sisters is mended through a transformation of life’s expectations, faith, and the powerful love fueled by sisters. This novel will cling to me for a long time, and I highly recommend it as a must-read.

Reviewer: Claire louise
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: There is not one bad thing to say about this book. I've been waiting for a read like this for a long time and I would give it 100 stars if I could. It was just written exceptionally well. It was character driven and each and everyone was so well thought out ,with complex layers to their personalities. It shows how flawed they all were , but also how much love can grow and flourish even in less than ideal circumstances. There is so much trauma , pain , hurt and poor decisions that have you rooting for one person one minute, then another the next. It opened up some intense discussions, that I think allowed us as readers to explore why we were feeling certain ways. I know it has made me examine myself during the read and why maybe I swayed towards one character more than the other. It's left me feeling thoughtful and heartbroken all at the same time and it'll be one that stays with me for a long time .

Reviewer: LovesToRead
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano is a masterpiece that gets under your skin. On the surface, its narrative seems to be the modernised version of „Little Women“ by L. M. Alcott. On a deeper level, however, the four Padavano sisters deal with the complexity of love, grief, forgiveness in their family and intricacies over a quarter century.The character development is to the readers‘ utmost satisfaction. The narrative is impeccable and prompts self-reflexion on many occasions. Every person will find a piece in this novel that appeals to her/his heart and mind.It’s a hear-wrenching and hopeful story that reminds us that everything will fall into place and that resistance is in vain.