fanboyriot's review
- 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
“Doesn’t it bother you? That your husbands have become such a headline story, so often mentioned, that they have nearly eclipsed your work and yourself? That all anyone talks about when they talk about you are the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo?”
And her answer was quintessential Evelyn.
“No,” she told me. “Because they are just husbands. I am Evelyn Hugo. And anyway, I think once people know the truth, they will be much more interested in my wife.”
Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Mental illness, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Suicide, Classism, Emotional abuse, Biphobia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Child death, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Outing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Murder, Cancer, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Drug abuse
Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Self harm, Xenophobia, and Fatphobia
dirty_queer'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
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Miscarriage, Murder, Biphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Homophobia
gtwaddell'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
4.75
Graphic: Suicide, Pregnancy, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Blood, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Death, and Alcohol
mirandyli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Spoiler
Evelyn is so ashamed of her identities, to the point of changing her name and dying her hair blonde to hide the fact that she's Cuban, and eloping with a man to show the press she isn't in a relationship with Celia. She manipulates everyone around her and is not afraid to admit it. She does anything she can to be on top. As a result, she has millions of dollars but almost no friends, and she doesn't give a cent back to people like her until Harry and Celia decide to donate anonymously to the gay rights movement. She leaves her abusive husband and doesn't warn his next wife, despite knowing that she is being abused. Then she does a movie with him to boost his career.Spoiler
You can tell this was written by a very privileged white woman. "Brilliant, Kindhearted, Tortured Harry Cameron???" Excuse me, but he isn't that kindhearted considering he drunkenly killed Monique's dad! And Evelyn covers it up - a white woman covering up the murder of a Black man to protect his white murderer. And Evelyn claims to think that giving Monique the rights to her life story is not her trying to make up for that, but because she is wrapping up all her loose ends before she dies. Evelyn barely shows any remorse for it, and Monique forgives her. Excuse me what??? In the end Monique describes Evelyn as "complicated." She is not complicated. She is self-serving and evil.Spoiler
It seems like Evelyn and Monique were just characters created for diversity points. They are so unrealistically written. Monique's biracial struggles are very obviously written by a white person. She marries a white man and feels secure that he'll never consider her "Black enough." Lmao what??? Evelyn even encourages Monique to do whatever it takes to get to the top. This is not what solidarity looks like.Spoiler
I relate to the struggle of being closeted. I even relate to the second-gen struggle of being ashamed of one's heritage. But if I'm gonna read a book written about these struggles, especially one written by a white woman, I would rather read about someone who doesn't feel shame about who they are. I definitely don't want to read a book about a person of color stepping on the backs of other people of color to get to the top.Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death, Biphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Abortion, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Murder, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, and Sexism
lucille_c's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child death, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Child abuse, Classism, Abortion, Car accident, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia
kunma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler
Evelyn made up the scenario of her miscarriage, it obviously wasn't believable in any way because it wasn't even logical. It's not like the doctor would know before her she had a miscarriage.Graphic: Grief, Car accident, Sexism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Addiction
Moderate: Miscarriage, Biphobia, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Minor: Abandonment, Blood, Pregnancy, and Suicide
katiem716's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, and Murder
bookdragonenby'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
4.25
Spoiler
I hated how Harry died, wishing for him to live happily after John died. Evelyn was wrong on so many levels for how she handled Harry's accident, I sympathize with her predicament losing a soul mate is never easy. The raw look at assault and abuse that takes place in the book was eye opening for me at how normalized it was for people at the time to hide the abuse and assault that they were faced with. Evelyn selling herself over the years to become what she wanted, to leave her sad life behind. Is bravery and using the resources given to you wisely.Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault, Abortion, Addiction, Rape, Sexism, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Murder
mooninthebooks'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
4.5
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Murder, Child death, and Death
diddydumplins's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, and Abortion