Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

54 reviews

rat_girly's review

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75

After a slow start I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I liked how the story prompted me to reflect on the development of queer acceptance over the decades, and gave me a new appreciation for queer people who came before me. I loved the themes of found family, community, and the different kinds of soulmates and love we can find in this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Infidelity, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Outing

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, Infertility, Incest, and Drug use

laneelizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative 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

4.0

With so many heavy topics discussed in this book, I really think Taylor Jenkins Reid did a beautiful job showing us the complexities of each one of them. Along with the simple complexity of just being human. This book covers the story of a woman from 13 years old to her death at 79 and everything that happened in between including what leads her to Monique Grant to write her memoirs, ending the book with a connection between the two you will never see coming. I never expected to relate to a movie star from the 50s but hearing Evelyn's story reminded me of my own life and it's amazing how the author did that so beautifully.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Outing, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Blood, Abortion, and Miscarriage

cheye13's review against another edition

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

3.0

The writing style was very readable and the characters in Evelyn's history were practically tangible. The expression of her grief and loneliness was well conveyed.

For a story about the golden age of Hollywood, and for a story spanning decades, the narrative felt very unrooted from the time to me. I couldn't tell which decade we were in until Evelyn made a pointed comment, and when the time is the story, I'd rather it be more immersive. I also found the interviewer's storyline very weak and paint-by-numbers. The end also felt like a cop-out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, and Infidelity

Minor: Classism, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Abortion, Infertility, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

tdhuck's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Blood, Alcohol, Abortion, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Racism, Outing, Pregnancy, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Homophobia, Grief, Death, and Classism

big_nerd's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Cancer, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Abortion, Alcohol, Biphobia, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

thebookwhale's review

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

Ooookay let's see.

This book, I absolutely love the concept and the idea. I mean, I love historical fiction, especially when it's sapphic, and this story about Evelyn and also about the film industry is amazing.
I liked that we were introduced to Evelyn through Monique who is writing her biography. 
Though, Monique's story felt entirely unnecessary. It felt like it was only there to fill the book, and I would give this book a 5 star review immediately if it weren't for the absolutely unbelievable plot twist.

Spoiler

like no. I literally screamed out of frustration (over the writing) when I read this part. Like what is this 
"oh you remember the guy I left at the car accident? Yeah that's your father."
Yes, we were waiting for the explanation on why Evelyn chose Monique, but please, it was just so forced. I would have believed it more when the reason was something like "I liked the article you wrote about the struggles of suicidal people".

Also, I just couldn't care less for Monique as a character. I didn't care for her failed marriage or anything, but I understand that we needed to see the influence Evelyn had on people back at her time and also in the present. 
 
Now, let's talk about Celia and Evelyn. I don't get why they are shipped everywhere on social media. Personally, I found both of them extremely toxic together.

Spoiler

Evelyn telling herself that her career is more important than Celia and Celia demanding that Evelyn leaves everything for her, it's just not good.

However, this is not something that took away stars at my rating, since I think the relationship is showing that not everything is gold in a celebrity's life and that they have struggles as well. 
I think what made it even harder for them and had a huge impact on how the relationship went is the taboo that was (and is) on gay relationships. It's interesting to see how the world evolves on queer rights during that time period and also how the importance of Celia's and Evelyn's career in comparison to living out who they are changes throughout the book.

So overall, this was great and the only thing that stops me from a 5 star review is Monique. I didn't like her, I didn't care for her, she felt unnecessary, and I was inclined to skip the parts where she was talking with Evelyn ( I didn't tho).
Still, a great book that's worth a read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Car accident, Biphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Infertility

fadeddpages's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad

• 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

4.5

Kept me interested from the beginning and the twist at the end had me shocked but also made everything come together and make sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Gaslighting, Car accident, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Body shaming, Homophobia, and Terminal illness

shaylee_n_20's review

inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Suicide, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical trauma, Infidelity, Infertility, and Miscarriage

kananineko's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Death, Car accident, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Misogyny, Cursing, Blood, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexism, Medical content, and Infidelity

Minor: Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Drug abuse, and Drug use

vero_lee's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

The pace was really slow but the growth was exponential. This is my second time trying this book. I DNF'd it in the first couple of chapters the first time, but this time I actually got to Evelyn's story and I just about devoured it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Abortion, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Outing, Death, Car accident, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Grief, Cancer, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infertility, Drug use, and Miscarriage