Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Vseh sedem mož Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

1407 reviews

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

i could NOT put this book down. that said, i wanted to love it so much more than i did. and while i do love it. some parts of it just were not my cup of tea. i wanted to love evelyn and celia like everyone seems to but i just didn’t. 

evelyn is such an amazing character and i loved her very much. 

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-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

“Harry, I’m cynical and I’m bossy, and most people would consider me vaguely immoral.”

I read this book in one day and to put it into words, it felt like a whirlwind.
 
 Evelyn Hugo is two people: a Hollywood caricature of a starlet, simultaneously both chaste and “whore”, a walking contradiction constructed by society’s impossible standards to be both adored and despised. But she is also a queer, Cuban woman, a girl brought up in Hell’s Kitchen to an abusive Father who how the world expected her to act and used it to her advantage, carving her own way. In the end, however, it was not Evelyn’s career that brought her joy, nor her image as a ‘sex symbol’, nor her Oscar and her other various accolades. It was the friends she made and the loves she lost that she looks back upon in her final moments, that make our part-narrator, Monique, realise that she herself has to live her own life differently. Evelyn has that ability as a character, as a person: she makes you want to take action. 
 
I can’t explain the impact this novel had on me, because I’m still processing it myself. All I can say is that I enjoyed every moment of it (including the moments I cried hysterically or gaped at my Kindle). It’s one of those books that I’ve heard a lot about and hence expected the worst - I hoped I would enjoy it but I still set my standards low. It’s safe to say they were exceeded with merit. This is my first Jenkins-Reid read (see what I did there 😉), and it definitely won’t be my last. Thank you to everyone who recommended this to me, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen sooner!

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

Deciding to read this book was very daunting for me, not only because it is not a genre I typically read, but also because there is so much hype around this book. I was scared it wasn't going to live up to the expectations I had placed on it because of the love it has received from practically everyone else. 

But it did. 

This book was absolutely incredible. The writing was so good, I felt completely at home reading about a time period I truthfully don't know all that much about. I loved the characters, and I loved the plot. It was all done so well. I thought the snippets of articles that were dispersed throughout this book were really useful as a way to see outside of Evelyn's point of view, and really added to making the whole world of this story seem completely real. 

There were definitely some difficult topics covered in this book, but I think they were handled really well. In previous books I have read, these kinds of topics have been uncomfortable to read about, but that was not the case here. And it was also so nice to see different sexualities explored within a time we don't often see sexuality being  explored. 

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional inspiring reflective 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

this book was not at all what i was expecting and i couldn’t be more happy about that. i cried near the end, which may not mean much because everything makes me cry (that’s on my cancer rising) but it cut me deep. one of the most beautiful stories i’ve heard in a long long time.

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

i really liked this story, especially how it portrayed and informed how being a part of lgbtq+ was from the 50s to today. also how hiding and sacrificing to keep the truth away from the public left an impact on the relationships and people talked about. i think it was done just right.
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moreover i also liked how the book was composed. if you ever got tired listening to evelyn hugo talk about her life, you would get a chapter from the present every now and then. about every five chapter i would say. for me, i found this a great time to prosess what i just read and to fill up my drink, go to the bathroom etc.
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not only did i get this book rec. from a great friend, but also from book-tok. to be honest i am always a bit skeptical to books from book-tok. this because some of the ones i have read from there have been way too easy for me and contain boring stories. an image i have created on book-tok is that many of them are for the ones that have just started reading. maybe because they like that everybody else is doing it and it has become «trendy» in a way. or maybe because they finally found a community they like and have to start reading to «fit in» and contribute. both of these reasons are fine with me, don’t get me wrong, i just don’t think i fit into those categories, and have a trouble finding the videos meant for me. 
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however, this was not the case for the seven husbands of evelyn hugo. i found it easy to read, but also interesting and different from what i’ve read before. i can recommend to all. those who just started reading, and those relating to my book-tok experiences wanting a little more quality in their literature.

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emotional inspiring relaxing 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

I loved this book. 
The way you wouldn’t have known this is a LGBTQ+ book from the cover and the title, but it being a LGBTQ+ book is so funny to me.
Evelyn Hugo is a remarkebla woman and I loved following her life story. 
The book is greatly written and understandable (speaking as someone which English isn’t my first language).
The twist at the end had me shocked, I had to put my book down for a second.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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

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