Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

128 reviews

ricardo_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Biphobia, Chronic illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Cancer, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, Abortion, Racism, and Miscarriage

luananki's review against another edition

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

4.25

i‘ve mixed emotions on how to rate the seven husbands of evelyn hugo. i was convinced that i wouldn’t pick it up - only because it’s not something i’d normally read but i loved it, i really did.
this book somehow manages to suck you in and does not let you go until the very last page. the writing is amazing and the characters in evelyn’s story felt very real. 
monique didn’t convince me though. i get that there had to be some story around how and why evelyn finally decided to tell her lifestory but i couldn’t find any interest in monique and her life. her story felt out of place in comparison to everything else in the book that felt so real and honest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Biphobia, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, Cancer, Child abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, and Infidelity

Minor: Eating disorder, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Pregnancy

cutepatzie's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

I love strong character like Hugo. The story was amazing, its a lot of things that we can agree with Hugo, and many that we will not. But I enjoy this book. Love seeing stories where characters are not black or white, but more complex and in the gray zone. It was nice to see the old Hollywood that was big and crazy back in the day. And also I love showing that being a girl is hard and will always be the battel with the system. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abortion, Addiction, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, Cancer, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Adult/minor relationship

lajoy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Misogyny, Suicide, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Child death, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Terminal illness, and Sexual assault

ccassidy98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Infertility, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Car accident, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, and Toxic friendship

bethy_joy's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Cursing, Infidelity, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Biphobia, Abortion, Suicide, Sexism, Misogyny, Racism, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Minor: Pregnancy, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

jselliot's review against another edition

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

This was probably one of my favorite books this year, honestly. Evelyn Hugo may be a star-studded icon, but also a person. And by the time the book takes place, people have forgotten about the personhood behind the legacy. The goal? An expose on herself.

Craft wise, this book handled the past- and present-tense shifts well. Past-tense, the majority of the book, applied to Evelyn's dish on her own past. The few present-tense chapters were centered around Monique in the contemporary aspect of the setting. And mercifully, it did not butcher common past-tense sayings in those moments. (A chief complaint of mine with the rash of first-person present-tense books that have come out lately. It's jarring.)

Without giving too many spoilers, I'd say that perhaps the most refreshing thing about Seven Husbands is that the narrative itself treats Evelyn like most books do male characters. Now, within the context of the period, she is absolutely treated as a woman of color and one who made her fame in the 60s through the 80s. Those times were not kind to women, nor LBGT people. But the way the narrative treated her like typical male characters is that it allowed her to make morally and legally wrong choices, and still be a complex individual without being vilified for it. She made mistakes and owns them. She's not perfect and is no longer interested in maintaining her carefully curated image. But she does have a story to tell, and what a compelling story it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Addiction, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Drug abuse, Abortion, and Abandonment

lilycakes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The way I'm literally sobbing right now-- 
This book was an incredible story about choosing love. I wish I could hug my family and loved ones tight right now, after finishing this book. I could not put it down, and man, did it gut me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Terminal illness

sheisfierce'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a slow start for me, but once I got into I enjoyed it! The main character stayed a little flat for me, and I saw the twist coming :( Overall the concept was interesting! I really think it would have benefited from an epilogue of reviews the book got and how it was perceived by the public #iykyk 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Biphobia, Alcohol, Death, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Grief, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Abortion, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Misogyny