bookedfortheweekend25's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Car accident
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Cancer, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Misogyny, Suicide, and Death of parent
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Despite this, Reid's bold writing is commendable. In the end, Reid experiments with writing, themes, and characters in reflective and admirable ways, and despite aiming so hard for the bullseye, she never hits it dead-on in truly groundbreaking or reflective ways.
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Car accident, Biphobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Cancer, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Abortion, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Fatphobia
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Terminal illness, Ableism, Car accident, Death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Mental illness, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abortion, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
First off, TJR is a white woman. I have very strong opinions about staying in your lane as a white woman, and TJR swerved all over the goddamn highway. Not only is the main character a Black woman, but the other main character is a Latina woman. Does TJR belong to either of those communities? No. And to yadda yadda their communities, TJR
Spoiler
kills Monique’s father in a horrific way so she doesn’t have that connection to her heritage(sources: google is free, but https://www.feministbookclub.com/taylor-jenkins-reid-is-back-with-her-bs/, https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8dJ54Fp/, https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8dJPbaD/, https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8dekrA8/, and https://shelit.com/2022/10/04/carrie-soto-is-back-and-the-problem-of-white-authors-creating-main-characters-of-color/#:~:text=Book%20influencers%20expressed%20concern%20about,character%20against%20an%20Asian%20character.)
Secondly, I’m bi. To this day, there are still biphobic members of the LGBTQ+ community that say we’re either not gay enough, or that we need to pick a side, or that we’re lying, etc (few and far between, but always a take I see in online spaces around Pride Month). And to have that thrown back in my face while I’m reading a book by a straight author? What the fuck? Celia is constantly being biphobic, and it doesn’t help that Evelyn is lesbophobic in the beginning. TJR wouldn’t know this, being that (again) she’s not a part of the community, but a lot of people use the term ‘gay’ as an umbrella term. Just like the pride flag encompasses the whole community, gay can be a term to mean any sexuality within the LGBTQ+ spectrum. But Evelyn reacts with such immediate vitriol to being called gay, it just leaves such a horrible taste in my mouth, especially when there is such animosity between certain corners of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s just not something a straight author gets to comment on, especially when they don’t understand the nuance surrounding that conversation.
Also the ending?
Spoiler
Not only are you writing perspectives that aren’t yours, you had Monique forgive the woman that killer her father???Anyway. Considering both of my major points cover basically the entire book, fuck TJR and no, I don’t care if Daisy Jones is a good show, or if Malibu Rising is a good book. I will not read anything else by this woman, and I’ll be getting rid of Evelyn Hugo as soon as I’m able.
Rating: 0.5
Would I recommend? Abso-fucking-lutely not.
Content warnings: Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Pregnancy
Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cancer, Homophobia, Blood, Car accident, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
ribbonroad's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Racism