Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

393 reviews

te_ss_i's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Addiction, Outing, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Violence

fanboyriot's review against another edition

emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Read For:

Bi Icon

Sapphic

Actress MC

Old Hollywood Setting

Interview Style Storytelling

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this but this was not it but not in a bad way.  I’ve had this book for so long that I kind of went into this knowing nothing.  

I loved how this was told, the interview, and the old newspaper articles, it isn’t something I read often so it was kinda cool.  This book definitely has a charm to it, the world of old Hollywood and the dreams and damage it caused.  There were happy moments, a little spice, and some good old angst as well.

Evelyn was an icon and while she might not have been a good person she sure was captivating and the life of the party.  You either wanted to be her or be with her.  She kind of gave off Marilyn Monroe vibes.

The line at the end: 

“Doesn’t it bother you?  That your husbands have become such a headline story, so often mentioned, that they have nearly eclipsed your work and yourself?  That all anyone talks about when they talk about you are the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo?”

And her answer was quintessential Evelyn.

“No,” she told me.  “Because they are just husbands.  I am Evelyn Hugo.  And anyway, I think once people know the truth, they will be much more interested in my wife.”

      - (Chapter 69, Page 385)

I waited the whole book to read that line alone and it was so worth it.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ (4.5/5)

Release Date: 13, June 2017

POV: First Person

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Rep:  Bisexual (MC), Lesbian (LI), Gay SCs, Latinx MC 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Mental illness, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Suicide, Classism, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Child death, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Outing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Murder, Cancer, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Drug abuse

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Fatphobia

hypofocus's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

Never has a book about an outlandish Hollywood star made me feel so deeply. A beautiful tale about what it means to love, to be loved, and to love yourself despite your faults. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Racism

historicalmaterialgirl's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

This book completely lived up to the hype for me. It was funny, reflective, twisted and I was hooked the second Evelyn's character begins speaking. I was so impressed to see a story fit for a soap opera or telenovela become knotted up with a commentary on celebrity, women's objectification, greed, pain and love. This book was written with a capital W! This book was edited with a capital E! High school English teachers everywhere should ditch Gatsby's green light for Evelyn's emerald dresses.... 💚 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism

Minor: Racism and Suicide

renciti's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

I think something I've realized about myself is how much I love Taylor Jenkins Reid's writing. This is the second book of hers I've read that I've found myself completely hooked by. I swear I think about at least one of her books once a day. 

Spoiler

Making the main character of the book a queer woman of colour and the love of her life actually being a woman instead of any of her husbands was amazing to read. The rockiness of their relationship and the hardships they had to go through just to be together without losing everything they had will send you through about a million emotions. The ending of the book was definitely something I would not have predicted as well. I knew Monique Grant's dad would be involved with Evelyn at some point, I definitely did not expect that ending, however I loved it.

Spoiler

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Outing, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Drug use, Sexism, Racism, Blood, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Addiction, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Classism, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

rory18's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.5

A really lovely book, and the plot is tied together well. My only complaint is that at times the emotional scenes between the central pair seem a little stilted, as if the author isn't very confident at writing a love story between two women, although it still feels authentic. A captivating book, and it says something that its appeal transcends genres so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Misogyny, Biphobia, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Outing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Racism, Terminal illness, Suicide, Death, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Police brutality

rodent_scribbles's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A beautiful and complex story about fame, womanhood, queerness, and race. The characters around Evelyn Hugo feel complex and multi-dimensional.

I was not a big fan of the voice in Monique's POV, especially at the beginning, but don't let that put you off. Once Evelyn starts talking, the pages just fly by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Car accident, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abortion

bean_7088's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

• 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

4.0

Life of a biracial queer Hollywood star throughout their life. 

*spoiler review*

It was really nice having so much bisexual representation and how frustrating it is when people assume about you. 
I love Evelyn's calculating cunning and all she did to preserve her life and livelihood. 

I'm really happy I had some education about that period of Hollywood thanks to Be Kind Rewind on YouTube, made it a little easier to understand some of the Hollywood politics of the time. 

While Evelyn loved Celia, I didn't. I was just as frustrated as Evelyn in a lot of their big fights. 
Harry was lovely, other than after John Harry...  NOT COOL HARRY

I really don't know how I feel about how race was brought into things? I'm definitely not an expert, and very white myself, but it stood out in a way that was clear it was not written by someone with experience. It stood out enough for me to explicitly comment on it. 

I still really enjoyed the story from the queer perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism

A lof of Biphobia as one of the characters is bi and shares their experiences. One of the husband's is abusive Two main bi-racial characters written by a white woman

jemmaisntcool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cancer, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Blood, Cursing, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Biphobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship

kingcrookback's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• 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

...I wish I liked this the way I've seen other people like it. I don't hate it, by any means, but this really didn't live up to the hype for me. I'm all for diving into the nitty-gritty of fame and the panopticon of celebrity. I even found it engaging to tick off the references to real famous people and Old Hollywood stars - Evelyn as an amalgam of Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, and Joan Didion, Harry's car accident analogous to Montgomery Clift's and his being closeted similar to Cary Grant's - and I appreciated that Reid didn't strain credulity by shoehorning or name-dropping actual celebrities. But the only part of this book's treatment of fame that truly engaged me was

Spoiler

the transactional exchange between Evelyn and her driver after Harry's car accident

because it stood out as one of the only times I could viscerally feel how grimy the business of fame could be.

Little else about the book truly grabbed me. Evelyn was handled in this blandly girlboss-y feminist way and had a jarringly modern understanding of queerness for the 1950s-70s. The amount of time we got to spend with Celia wasn't really conducive to building an actual attachment to her character, ditto Monique. The memoir narrative felt unmoored in time, despite the descriptions of clothing that were supposed to help in that respect. Like, I don't care what people were wearing, tell me about what attitudes were like in that decade, that year. If you want to talk about the fashion so badly, why not make some connection to how clothing can signify in microcosm what was going on in society at large? Once again, I honestly just wish I saw what other people see in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Cancer, Suicide, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death of parent, and Car accident

Minor: Abortion, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Incest