kedalrymple's review against another edition
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
hobbit_at_heart'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
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Car accident, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Cancer, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Blood, Pregnancy, Suicide, Abortion, and Miscarriage
smolfrog'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? Yes
4.25
This is a book that I felt compelled to keep reading not necessarily because of "twists", but because I wanted to see how the story unfolded. The plot moves along at a quick clip (I would say somewhere between medium- & fast-paced), and I wasn't left unsatisfied when it came to finally seeing the full picture. Some parts of the story I saw coming, some I didn't, but I am very impressed at how TJR crafted a narrative encompassing much of one woman's 80-year life. I also really enjoyed the little clippings from gossip rags and magazines to expand on the plot/world-building in certain chapters.
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide, Infidelity, Biphobia, and Abortion
saturnpersonified'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Addiction, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
te_ss_i's review against another edition
- 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
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
jeanettesreadingcorner'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
3.5
- Evelyn Hugo’s life story is certainly entertaining and eventful. However, I don’t love it enough to keep my copy. I had high expectations because of how popular it is. I only started enjoying it towards end.
- I didn’t like Evelyn that much for most of the book. I don’t agree with how she treated Celia early on. I guess I don’t like how fake everybody is to each other but that’s Hollywood. I actually started to like Evelyn more after she retired from acting. When Evelyn started living as her true self. I enjoyed Celia St. James and Harry Cameron’s characters more. Evelyn, Celia, Harry, and John (and eventually Connor) being a family together was my favorite part of the book.
- I didn’t care about Monique Grant’s character at all throughout the book. The plot twist at the end was what made her interesting to me. I was mostly reading this to know who Evelyn Hugo is.
- The Old Hollywood glamour and timeline was fun and well-written. I especially loved the outfits and historical references. I also enjoyed seeing the actual media articles on Evelyn and getting to read about her in that perspective.
- The plot twist towards the end! I kind of suspected it or made guesses about it early on. I wasn’t exactly correct but I had an idea.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Cancer, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Biphobia
Moderate: Outing, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, and Misogyny
emquartz15'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
Moderate: Death and Misogyny
leonormsousa'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
4.5
Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Death of parent, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Car accident, and Sexual violence
vr_alyssa'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? No
5.0
As a reader, you're basically both reading a fictional biography about a famous movie star as well as the interviews leading up to the creation of said biography. Which means the reader knows certain things are coming (I mean, you know it by the title too, she clearly had seven husband, so you know the first marriage doesn't last). But there are a few other things the reader learns to expect early on in the story. I found those hard to predict, despite knowing that they were coming. Furthermore, there wasn't necessarily a need to figure it out (which I usually have with books, such as Fourth Wing recently), I could just let it happen as it happened. And, of course, when revealed, the information caught me completely off guard, to the point of mumbling 'No no no no no' aloud for a while.
I am not entirely sure how I feel about the way it portray the industry. Yes, Evelyn had agency (at least somewhat), but she's still being used and limited. Differently than men. The book leaves it to the reader to form an opinion on it and fill in the gaps. Sometimes I worried that the book made it seem like she had more agency than she actually did, but it worked for me.
It was a very interesting and lovely reading experience, to say the least. Best way I can describe it, is that it's human.
Life lessons by Evelyn Hugo:
- "Be wary of men with something to prove." (76)
- "... praise is just like an addiction. The more you get it, the more of it you need just to stay even." (83)
- "No one is going to give you anything if you don't ask for it." (95)
- "You can desire someone especially when you don't like him." (111)
- "It is OK to grovel for something you really want." (191).
- And so on
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Terminal illness
fanboyriot'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
4.5
“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.”
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