Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'
Os Sete Maridos De Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
22 reviews
kedalrymple's review against another edition
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
lyeve'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: Death, Car accident, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent
fieldofhats's review against another edition
I got 3.5 hours into the 12 hour audiobook and couldn’t force myself to go any further. It pains me to DNF a Taylor Jenkins Reid book, but it pains me even more to give it one star. In all fairness, my true rating might be more like 1.5 stars, but it didn’t think it really deserved to be rounded up.
Let’s start with the good, if only because there’s so little of it. The story is split into two very distinct plot lines: Monique and Evelyn. We see much more of Evelyn, but Monique is the main character, or at least the one we see the modern world through. Her story is much more interesting. She has hardships and problems, and because she’s a normal person living in the normal world, they feel much more genuine. I was much more invested in her story than in Evelyn’s, and in a book that’s titled “The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo”, I feel like that’s an issue.
The drama is good. The troubles and hardships that Evelyn endured and eventually got through are universal and painful, but also particularly feminine issues, which makes this an undeniably feminist piece — the problem is, she’s a rich, powerful, Hollywood star. I have a much, much harder time relating to and sympathizing with a rich star than a common person. All of the things that Evelyn goes through, lower class people (like Monique, for example) also go through. Having the main character be a rich star just dampens and cheapens the story. Celebrity feminism is antithetical to feminism.
Furthermore, Evelyn is not a good person. Because she’s spent most of her life in Hollywood, she has this heightened sense of entitlement that I just have no respect for. She’s also manipulative; she guilts and practically bribes Monique into taking the biography job and admits that she’s okay with (and does) use people when it’s advantageous for her. She will also do absolutely anything to save her image. And maybe I could get behind that if she wasn’t either rich or a Hollywood star, but she is. Even if her image is destroyed, she’ll be absolutely fine, so I don’t have much sympathy for her. To properly enjoy a novel I have to like the main character on some level, and so this was a huge blow for me.
Yes, she is a powerful woman, and that image can hold a lot of weight regardless of anything. But when we sacrifice integrity and decency for power, we’re left with an awful character. I wish we could portray powerful women without them being rich and manipulative.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny
giulianalb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Sexism, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Grief, and Sexual content
sirenricobooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Biphobia, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Abortion, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
ellafranks'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, Death of parent, Death, Homophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Physical abuse
jmkendall0218'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: Sexual content, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Alcohol, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
bookswithlauren'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? No
5.0
Reading 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' is one of my favourite reading experiences to date. It made me, laugh, it made me smile with complete joy, it made me cry, it made me angry and it completely consumed me from start to finish. I adore Evelyn Hugo and her life, I want to have known Evelyn Hugo, I want to have been a part of her life. I want to read more and more about her. The exploration of fame and Hollywood, sexuality, self acceptance, race, religion, sexism, friendship, family, abusive relationships and so much more is nothing short of perfection.
Taylor Jenkins Reid has such an interesting structure to her writing and I very much enjoy it. Both of her books that I have read so far have been an interview structure with dual timelines. It is such an interesting, clever way to write, I find it to immerse the reader in such a profound way. I cannot wait to read more of her work.
Graphic: Abortion, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Hate crime, Sexism, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child death, and Cultural appropriation
piaschj'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Body shaming, Death, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
jakespeare's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Chronic illness and Car accident
It's a good read