Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

83 reviews

junglejelly's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cancer, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Child death, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Abortion

saricostanzo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Outing, Self harm, Sexism, Car accident, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Biphobia, Cancer, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

giulianalb99's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

3.0

Este libro no fue para mi. Es entretenido pero sin más. Debido al bombazo que ha tenido y sigue teniendo me lo esperaba mejor pero alomejor es porque no me gusta leer romance🤷🏻‍♀️. De todas formas, para pasar el rato no está mal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Sexism, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Grief, and Sexual content

kelburke's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Biphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion

adalinemccormick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Biphobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia

Minor: Fatphobia, Abortion, Terminal illness, and Mental illness

anniefwrites's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. TJR’s writing style is always vivid, reflective, and engaging. Following characters as flawed as Evelyn and Celia was an exercise in restraining judgment in a good way.

I did sort of see the twist coming, though not in the exact way that it occurred. I think it didn’t quite land for me because in general,

I wasn’t drawn to Monique’s character and preferred to stay in Evelyn’s story. And I think at times Reid could have pulled back on spelling out connections and emotional changes—I think the reader is smart enough to put it together themselves based on her specific details and descriptions. (I also had some qualms about a white woman writing the fictional stories of two women of color—it seems like she did her due diligence, but it also feels like a moral gray area that I’m not quite equipped to unpack as a white person.) Still, Reid’s worlds always feel so real you swear it’s nonfiction. I’m always willing to read her again.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Minor: Racism, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia

bookaddictlt's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.0

Oof. I need to go back to my rule of not touching hyped books. This was… not great. The characters were one-dimensional. Monique was useless, serving only to reinforce the story of Evelyn in primarily problematic ways.

Most of it read like Reid set out to see how many trigger warnings, toxic behaviors, and problematic representations as she could. Off the top of my head, the book includes misogyny, abuse, grooming, sexual assault, disordered eating, death, racism, homophobia, suicide, and miscarriage/infertility.

The “twist” was neither surprising nor necessary. The primary relationship of the book is one of the most toxic things I’ve read trying to pass as romantic.

While the problematic items weren’t overt, they walked the line of falling to extremely problematic easily.

I have not read any of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s other novels, but after some research, feel the need to call out how she is on the verge of becoming problematic herself, not just her novels. She is a wealthy, cis, straight, white woman who has opted in her last few novels to only write POC and LGBTQ+ characters. She states it’s to help with inclusion efforts, which is a good intent. I believe her. However, the publishing industry is riddled with the strangling of Own Voices not being published. Reid’s books are decidedly successful. As such, she is now in a position where instead of furthering inclusion, she is part of the problem by proving to publishers they can both make money and not make strides to actually diversify publishing. Add to that that her POC characters' stories are problematic and stereotyped, and she is quickly starting to profit off the appearance of diversity without making a positive impact.

Overall, the book is written well enough. The story is not for me. I don’t like trauma for trauma’s sake, I find it neither shocking nor exciting when written that way. I will most likely not read any other of Reid’s books, and will definitely not buy new as she is not an author I care to support.

This hyped book is just that - hyped. Don’t waste your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

Minor: Car accident, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Alcohol

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

An utter, earth-shattering masterpiece. “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is both a stripped-down version of the bitter reality of Hollywood through the decades, and a glamorous tribute to unequivocal love and loss.

It’s quite shocking that it took me so long to read this, though I suspect a lot of it had to do with the fact that I had such high hopes and had heard so much unadulterated praise. Ever the pessimist, I was afraid it would disappoint me.

I’m VERY GLAD to report, that it did not disappoint me at all, and actually was much more than I hoped for. An incredible epic of a story-within-a-story, a biographical account of a fictional starlet with many marriages and headlines, but only one true love kept secret for most of her life.

I love TJR’s writing, her layered and complicated story building eclipsed only by the bold and complex characters she creates. Evelyn isn’t supposed to be someone you just love, but she is someone you absolutely root for, despite all her flaws. Because there’s Celia, the truth behind it all. (And Harry, whom I adored so much.) 

One of the best novels I’ve ever read that accurately tackles the duality of humanity and fame, with a central focus on the LGBTQ+ community. Phenomenal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Drug use, Outing, Physical abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexism

Moderate: Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Abortion, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Eating disorder

katiea714's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Addiction, Alcohol, Classism, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical content, Sexism, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, and Terminal illness

loongbooy's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Sexism, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Body shaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Cancer, and Suicide