Scan barcode
cowahbull's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault
kfmcf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
BIG TW for this book - the last third deals with a lot of non-consensual moments with a man in power.
This book is not a romance. It's barely chick lit. I don't honestly know what it is. It feels like someone had a movie idea and then just decided to write an underdeveloped book instead.
Esther is awful. There's a fine line between quirky and sardonic and obnoxious and distasteful. She's very immature and she must have been the hottest woman on the face of the earth since everyone was falling for her. Again. Oy.
I wanted to like her friends, but honestly they wouldn't talk to each other and their blow out felt like middle schoolers. And the toilet thing got old.
I had fun with the first third or so of this book. It is *very* British which is not a bad thing at all, but might take some adjustments for some folks. I just wish their had been ANY character development across the board and we actually got time with some important ones who didn't get enough page time. I also do think it would have been a better movie.
If you like this concept - read "Exes and O's" by Amy Lea. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea but it is a better execution of revisiting your exes.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Alcohol, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content
staceen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Sexual assault
bookswithmybulldog'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: Sexual assault
lololovesthings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
"Seven Exes" by Lucy Vine might be hard to get through for a lot of people, and that's completely understandable. Such is the nature of a story like this. The main female character, Esther, is a absolute hot mess of a person. She is a very selfish, dishonest protagonist who only seems to care about her own feelings, wants, and desires. She's the friend who always brings the conversation back to her, who lets others pay for her and doesn't pay them back, who uses people within an inch of their lives, who lies to get what she wants, who pushes people's buttons but gets mad when they push hers. We all know an Esther. If Lucy Vine's goal was to make her readers absolutely dislike Esther from the get-go, she did a great job.
In an effort to revisit all seven of her ex-lovers, Esther gets back in touch with each of them and casts away their feelings and the feelings of her friends so she can attempt to find the one that got away. She shirks off her works responsibilities and is then surprised when she thinks she's going to het fired. It becomes painfully oblivious right away that Esther is the cause of most of her breakups. From ignoring her exes to cheating on them, she is the source of most of her relationship problems. It is exceedingly difficult for some people to read a book about a protagonist like this. For me, despite Esther's unlikability factor, I found enough in this book to call it a success overall. I laughed many times. I liked to overall story, regardless of how bonkers the premise may seem. I loved Esther's friends Bibi and Louise, and I would totally read novels about them! The pacing is good and it doesn't overstay its welcome. I didn't have a problem with the writing. I found it to be funny and witty at times, painful at others, reflective and introspective here, difficult to process there. The British humor and the potty humor won't land for every reader, but I didn't mind it. I will definitely read another Lucy Vine novel if the protagonist isn't such a selfish jerk! It's hard to deny that Esther is a pill, but we should strive to support women's wrongs as well as women's rights, right? I wish there had been a touch more recognition from Esther about her terrible behaviors...her "ah-ha" moment felt a little too easy to me. Still, I liked this book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Vine, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for my review.
Graphic: Sexual assault and Infidelity
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story switches between past and present with looks back at each of the seven exes and 3 interactions from the past that explains their relationship from how it started to how it ended!
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Gaslighting
Minor: Stalking and Rape
mjscooke'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
4.5
Minor: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Mental illness
lit_with_lauren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault