jessicadr's review against another edition
- 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: Classism, Death of parent, Death, Car accident, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Suicide
Moderate: Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Alcoholism
darbylane's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Alcohol, Outing, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cancer, Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Biphobia
tdhuck'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? Yes
5.0
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
undecidedpersonality'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Medical content, Suicide, Biphobia, Child death, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition
- 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
Unfortunately, I can’t quite rate it 5 stars because Monique’s narration drove me crazy. She was a good character, but why did she have to narrate. Every. Single. Action?
Moderate: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
buildingtaste's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I won't star rate it, because I didn't actually read the frame narrative chapters once I saw that they were going to be in first person present tense. Maybe that side of the story earns the unusually high ranking this has?
Positives:
- very quick read.
- the section in Spain was lovely.
Spoiler
Read Evelyn Hugo, they said. It's about Hollywood and lesbians, you'll love it, they said. And... sure, it's ostensibly set in Hollywood, the characters are supposed to be actors in the tail end of the studio era into the new wave and new Hollywood period. But the author doesn't really seem to care about the setting much at all, except as a source of some emotional hurdles for the love story. If she had completely excised real history, relying on a sort of roman a clef version of renamed studios and figures, I could have rolled with it. But instead there were these rare nods to real figures and awards that sent me over-thinking. Evelyn compares herself to Celia and Ruby, but never thinks how her performance might stack up against Katharine Hepburn's turn as Jo March, or Garbo's as Anna Karenina. Her fictional film wins Best Picture in 1982, erasing Gandhi. The real history, where it comes in, is flippant rather than immersive. This Hollywood doesn't feel like it has a history, which is strange for a book that covers so much time, in a place that is so self-aggrandizing and nostalgic for itself. And the lesbians (ok, lesbian and bisexual woman, technically)... I had more time for. The rocky relationship with Celia came to a very poignant, bittersweet conclusion, and I loved their "marriage" in Spain before Celia's death. But the development before that was underwhelming, with their extremely short lead-up and the years they just spent avoiding each other. I wanted a lot more from all Evelyn's relationships than what I got. As it is, the book just seems like a series of quickly-sketched episodes, where despite her claims at being confessional, we get very little understanding of the central character.Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Blood, Outing, Sexual content, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault
gracieec's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Misogyny, Cancer, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Abortion, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Racism, and Blood
ellianderjoy's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Biphobia, Medical content, Sexism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Car accident, Pregnancy, Racism, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship
disneyfan_1711'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
5.0
Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Cancer, Death, Classism, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
idontread'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Biphobia, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Addiction, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Cancer, Grief, Incest, Outing, Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny