Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

A Five-Star Review

Some books are so emotional that they’re painful to read. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is one of those books. Fortunately, I found the payoff to be well worth the heart-wrenching sadness within these pages.

A Quick Synopsis of Hello Beautiful

William Waters knows he isn’t wanted. His parents never recovered from the family tragedy just days after he was born, so he grows up in a silent, stilted household empty of love. That family trauma shapes him, from his desperate need to be the top basketball player to his feeling of other in college at Northwestern University. Until Julia Padavano introduces herself after a class and quickly brings William into the folds of her life, including her three sisters. Julia has plans, and she’s determined that William fit into them. He is complacent because for once in his life he experiences love and family until a tragedy upends the sisters’ world. That moment launches everyone onto different, unplanned courses of their lives, leading everyone through decades of new decisions, separations, and connections.

What I Loved About Hello Beautiful

Hello Beautiful is hailed as a homage to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, one of my favorite childhood stories, and I enjoyed the parallels of the four sisters throughout this novel. However, Hello Beautiful is much more nuanced than Alcott’s beloved tale.

First, this book tackles mental illness and addresses all the ugliness that depression can create. William suffers deep trauma from his childhood, and it impacts his adulthood in many ways. The descriptions of these experiences and emotions are unflinchingly real.

Ms. Napolitano does not shy away from unlikeable characters. William’s parents have no redeemable qualities in my view, although I do empathize with the tragedy they faced. But other characters have unlikeable traits as well. Julia is controlling, a Type A personality who makes questionable decisions. And Mrs. Padavano is a bulldozing mother who can be unforgiving, despite how much she loves her daughters. However, these unlikeable characteristics bring more depth and complexity to the book.

Finally, I enjoyed the structure of this novel. There is very little dialogue as Ms. Napolitano relies on exposition and internal narrative to move the plot forward. Employing multiple points of view across chapters helps this structure as well so that we learn more about different characters.

If you’re willing to commit, Hello Beautiful will rip your heart out. The reward is that you’ll meet a deeply loving, complex family whose story you won’t soon forget.

Do you like emotional stories? What about family sagas? I love both!