Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

130 reviews

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

jasslynavila's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

stinkeypasta's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75

Harry >>>>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Classism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

bookishfaye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

I really don’t know how to rate this book. On one hand, I loved Evelyn’s narrative voice & I did find the story as a whole captivating. However, I knew about some rough representation going into this, & absolutely the Latinx, black/biracial, bisexual, & lesbian rep in this book all were deeply questionable, upsetting, & frustrating. Harry Cameron was the main redeeming quality of this book at times for me & the ending of his story tying into the plot twist in the end made me utterly sick to my stomach.  

Using the murder of a black queer man as the main gotcha moment in this book was so wildly upsetting & I’m really bothered by how swept under the rug that is.

While this book does bring up important talking points, there is just so must harmful ignorance in the writing of the book that I don’t think I could in good faith recommend it to another person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

readinglitwithbritt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Simply put, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo lives up to the hype. 
I loved it so much that once I finished, I immediately went back to the beginning and read it over again. I got it from the library after being on the waitlist, and now that I returned it I am so excited for someone new to get to experience the wonders of this book. I definitely will buy this novel to refer back to and reread since it made such an impact on me. It covers a variety of concepts in a nuanced way, one notably being bisexuality (and within that, a memorable distinction between sexuality and sex from Hugo’s perspective as a bi woman). I also thought it was important to note how sexuality was understood and how people were treated during a time period when it was especially dangerous to be out. Rooted in history (U.S. history, LGBTQ+ history, and the ups and downs of Hugo’s personal and professional life), a lot of the content is really challenging to read, so make sure you check the content warnings beforehand and take breaks if/when you need to. I loved how the characters are given a multidimensional portrait and you will get to know (and maybe even love) them—flaws and all. The plot continued to build and thicken and I was on the edge of my seat predicting and anticipating what would happen next. This book is perfect for a LGBTQ+ specific club or class because there are so many conversations to be had given the content/themes explored, the intersections of identity, and the style of Reid’s writing that leaves you fully immersed in the story. There are also thought provoking questions specifically made for book clubs at the end, which will foster quality, in depth conversations. All in all, I cannot recommend this novel enough. If you’ve been considering picking up this book, this is your sign to go for it. Drop your TBR list and read this novel as soon as you can!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: Abortion, Classism, Miscarriage, Outing, and Pregnancy

minsreadingnook's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense 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

3.75

3.9*
Thoughts:
The more I thought about the story as a whole, the more my rating dropped lol but If you would’ve asked me while I was reading the story, I would’ve given it a 5*. I feel like the ending was somehow… lackluster. I don’t know why to be honest, probably because I was just not ever invested in Monique as a character. Or maybe I just expected so much.

Connor’s name just reminds me of Connor Murphy but I love the way motherhood was portrayed.
Evelyn was such an interesting character to read. I devoured this book because of her.
I don’t like Celia that much but the nice parts of their relationship was pretty cute. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Toxic friendship, Death, Grief, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Pregnancy, Rape, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion

sammyb's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, and Biphobia

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Abandonment, Sexism, Infidelity, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcoholism, Rape, Abortion, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Outing, and Pregnancy

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Whatever I believed this book was going to be, it wasn’t. Evelyn Hugo proves that complex characters are imperative in good literature, if for no other reason than to remind us of our own humanity. The twist at the end, while alluded to several times by the narrator Monique, was completely unexpected for me. The last forty pages are full of such sorrow while also being filled with joy and love. This book can teach us all a lesson about exactly what is important in life and about not taking our best things for granted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual harassment