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seubecca's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Suicide and Abortion
lillymarieundine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
srod910's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Outing
scarytadpole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Abortion
cyndee76's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
an_actual_floof's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Cancer
ammah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Abortion
lisa07xie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
annahill888's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Lesbophobia
earth_to_mars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I like her additions of the articles, both old and new as it adds to the believability of this being a biography of an Old Hollywood movie star.
The pacing is good, slow enough to digest everything that Ms. Hugo is telling us, but not slow enough to feel like a drag when trying to read through each marriage. All in all, her technical skills are the reason I rated this book higher than I wanted to.
My issues lie within the representation within the book. And while yes, I understand this is historical fiction, there's a way to write bigotry without incorporating homophobic and biphobic tropes in a way that almost seems positive. She incorporates Harry as The Gay Best Friend and Celia as The Bitchy Lesbian both of which are not enjoyable in the slightest. She incorporates the downright biphobic trope - The Cheating Bisexual - twice. Once with Evelyn Hugo herself and possibly again with
It definitely feels as though Reid did not have any sensitivity readers or did any sort of research on marginalized groups or even listen to marginalized voices, which has soured the book for me and why I feel I can only give it a 3.25.
In the end, it's a solid book and the characters and their complexities and flaws are what make the book as good as it is with moments that made my eyes water. But, Reid is in desperate need of making sure her biases/ignorance don't bleed into her writing.
Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Xenophobia, Car accident, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail