Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Los siete maridos de Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

746 reviews

rubberrosebooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring sad medium-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

Outstanding. Best book I've read in my entire life. From beginning to end, I was captivated. My god, this was just incredible. 

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kyra_johnson_'s review against another edition

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inspiring reflective 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

4.25

A great book that would’ve been interesting even on its own, but the final reveal at the end and the messages it’s puts out into the world are what really make it great. It really gave a unique perspective on fame and the human behind it all.

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earth_to_mars's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

3.25

My thoughts on Evelyn Hugo are conflicted, so I wanted to start on the technical aspects of Reid's writing. She is a good writer, great even. From descriptions to dialogue, there's not much I can complain about. Her descriptions are vivid but not flowery and the dialogue feels as real as it can, each character has enough of a personality and unique voice that I could probably tell you who said what without tags.

I like her additions of the articles, both old and new as it adds to the believability of this being a biography of an Old Hollywood movie star. 

The pacing is good, slow enough to digest everything that Ms. Hugo is telling us, but not slow enough to feel like a drag when trying to read through each marriage. All in all, her technical skills are the reason I rated this book higher than I wanted to.

My issues lie within the representation within the book. And while yes, I understand this is historical fiction, there's a way to write bigotry without incorporating homophobic and biphobic tropes in a way that almost seems positive. She incorporates Harry as The Gay Best Friend and Celia as The Bitchy Lesbian both of which are not enjoyable in the slightest. She incorporates the downright biphobic trope - The Cheating Bisexual - twice. Once with Evelyn Hugo herself and possibly again with
Monique's father at the end of the book, and I say possibly because Reid does not confirm his sexuality
. I, after listening to POC talk about this book, realize the racial representation is not the best either. While barely incorporating how Evelyn's race effected her career and social status in an era that was incredibly racist to having the only other two Latine characters being a maid and abusive father, the descriptions of "how Evelyn's blonde hair doesn't match her bronze skin" and Monique's fixations on being mixed race, it comes off as ignorant/insensitive at best and bigoted at worst.

It definitely feels as though Reid did not have any sensitivity readers or did any sort of research on marginalized groups or even listen to marginalized voices, which has soured the book for me and why I feel I can only give it a 3.25.

In the end, it's a solid book and the characters and their complexities and flaws are what make the book as good as it is with moments that made my eyes water. But, Reid is in desperate need of making sure her biases/ignorance don't bleed into her writing.

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jenniferbowman's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75


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stindex's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Oh wow boobs. That’s basically it, but even this review is more insightful than the whole book.

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poisonviolet's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective

4.0


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densorterytter's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-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

4.5

I fear my brain, and its biases, was somewhat deceived by the cover and title of this book. My mind immediately categorized it as what the Norwegians jokingly, but commonly, refer to as “husmorsporno»(*) literally translating to “housewife’s porn(see below) This beautiful story, certainly wasn’t that.

I found "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” to be really very engaging - and that without needing to rely on either shock value, heavy spice or any other stereotypical romantic trope. I found myself wildly curious, fully immersed, and unable to stop reading - and yet I wasn’t at the edge of my seat(without that being a bad thing!) My feelings while reading where: interested while still being relaxed and truly content with the pace of the story unfolding.
Simply put: I did not want the book to end - yet I had to know what came next.


(*)”Husmorsporno»: romantic/semi-spicy books by mostly non-famous authors targeting the wet dreams and hidden fantasies of somewhat bored, sometimes slightly lonely, and oftentimes mature women. Example: “Fifty Shades of Grey” had it not made it to the masses.
The books are almost always (only) sold in supermarkets near the checkout counter and features covers with shirtless men and swooning ladies(oftentimes in gardens in front of mansions) on the cover. Typical cover art:
https://images.app.goo.gl/SHem5ZRgU4hVokqU7

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sebradley29's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0


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crazybooklady89's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

4.75

It was a little slower than I would have liked, BUT this was an absolutely beautiful book! The storytelling was on point, and the way in which the author made us both love and hate Evelyn Hugo was brilliant!

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dolphinchick93's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

To love a woman like Celia St. James

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