Reviews tagging 'Incest'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

22 reviews

ogl00's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child death, Grief, Suicide, Addiction, Incest, Sexual content, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia

nehanaomi's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

i support women's rights, but i also support women's wrongs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Medical content, Alcoholism, Child death, Misogyny, Cancer, Alcohol, Death, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Outing, Suicide, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage and Incest

kcmag1's review

medium-paced

Starting with the things I liked: first, I read this in a day, though I can’t say that can be attributed to me dying to know what happened next. I generally liked the concept, which did actually make me think differently about some classic Hollywood stars I’m somewhat familiar with. Also it’s a intriguing way to circumvent the story of a bombshell movie star with a dozen husbands. 

So while I did enjoy the story, what kept me from really loving it was the writing. It felt too distinctly modern to be anything but a book from the 21st century. I’m not referring to the LGBTQ or other progressive themes in the book really; I found the actual dialogue to feel too current and lack the feel I would associate with Golden Age movie stars. That could be somewhat explained by the story being told in retrospective by an older Evelyn, but it doesn’t explain how even the newspaper excerpts felt like someone intentionally trying to write like a mid-century journalist. I also found the final few chapters to be a bit rushed. 

Also related to the writing, I did not engage with the characters, though I found them interesting. I believe that is because there was no mystery to them. Every one was described so thoroughly - often from the moment that they were introduced - that nothing surprised me or made me want to know more about them. Even with Evelyn, clearly the most complex of them all, the author seemed to be working so hard to convey that she was complex that it made her still seem one-dimensional.

I’m inclined to think I would have like this book more if it was fully the biography that Monique wrote for her. It would have allowed for Evelyn to retain some mystery and allure as a smart and savvy young actress, only to have vulnerable and truly immoral side revealed slowly. It could contribute to this allure of Evelyn that readers are constantly told about, yet do not get to experience for ourselves. It also would have allowed for a little bit show not tell, which I think this book desperately needed. It still could have included Monique’s perspective, even though I found her character to be flat and predictable.

The best thing I can say about this book, and I mean it truly, is that it could be a really good movie.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Grief

Minor: Abortion and Incest

inthemoonforcheese's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Violence

danirc_'s review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Outing, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcoholism and Biphobia

Minor: Drug use, Gaslighting, Incest, and Pregnancy

kcarney86's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Chronic illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Outing

Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Incest

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• 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

I went into this book knowing nothing, and right from the beginning I couldn't put it down. I read this in a single day--less than twelve hours, during which I had things to do (like, uh, work). I really enjoyed almost everything about this book, and would definitely recommend it, especially for the queer aspects and the way it brings together the past and present in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Car accident, Misogyny, Racism, Outing, Homophobia, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Sexual content, Vomit, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Death, Cursing, Classism, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Fatphobia

Minor: Police brutality, Pedophilia, War, Incest, Drug use, Death of parent, and Addiction

jennifermoyas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-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

4.25

Lovely book that truly explores the world it is in. I have a complicated relationship with the characters, especially Evelyn and I think that truly reflects on what a good writer TJR is. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death of parent, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

laurenleigh's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This lived up to the hype! I loved an Old Hollywood tale that was also conscious of class, gender, race, and sexuality. It makes me wonder about the celebrity stories we don’t hear. When we’re inundated with information about certain stars, we might think we must know everything about them, but there’s of course a private life behind every public persona. And this is true for us regular folk now too, as social media elevates just about anyone to a minuscule level of stardom. This novel reminds me that privacy is not necessarily a moral failing. Some may call it hiding your true self, and perhaps there’s an element of that, but we’re allowed to hold on to what little privacy we have left in this age. I could go into more detail about how this relates to the plot here, but I don’t want to give anything away! You should just go read it now and then talk to me about it. 🤓

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Incest, Blood, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Infidelity, and Death

krxshan's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

This book had me hooked, and I mean really really hooked. Genuinely couldn’t
put it down. Spent my time wondering throughout the day what would happen next. The author did so well with this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Alcoholism

Queer, Celebrity, Hollywood, Famous,

Spoiler

Lesbian