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jrascoe's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Physical abuse
Minor: War, Genocide, and Death of parent
themightygabbers'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? No
3.0
Unfortunately, midway through the book, the storytelling becomes much more like what you would find in a textbook; a simple recounting of events with some character thoughts and feelings thrown in from a distant view. Hedy's take was interesting enough to make me want to finish it to fully understand her history, but it was laborious and the author's choice in their ending was wholly unsatisfying.
Moderate: Antisemitism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Minor: Genocide
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, Classism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Ableism, and Child death
slahlum'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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Rape, Classism, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
fifteenthjessica's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
I did enjoy reading this, which based on my rules means it's a 3 star at least. However, I don't think Marie Benedict's execution did everything the book blurb lead me to expect from this book by a long shot. I assumed this would be divided between Hedy's relationship with Austrian arms dealer Friedrich Mandl and her time in America as an actress/inventor. The first part was done well, as I watched with concern as the young Lamarr (then known as Hedy Keisler) fell in love with a much older man in spite of the red flags, in part because her parents encouraged her, hoping this would protect their family from the threat of anti-Semitism from Nazi Germany. The second half seemed more focused on her rise as an actress while she heard about how her home country of Austria fell and relegated the inventing work that Hedy did to very short montages...even though it seemed like the climax of the story was somewhere in the very brief interludes of her inventing work with the pianist George Antheil. Perhaps the worst failure is that you have to read the Author's Note to know how important frequency hopping is to modern technology, which seemed pretty important. Perhaps an epilogue about her and Antheil receiving acknowledgement for their invention would at least execute that part?
The characters are interesting, although I often wanted more time with many characters. Even Mandl, who I immensely disliked for his manipulative and abusive tendencies, seemed to vanish off the face of the earth after Hedy's escape, which (while perhaps what really happened) struck me as implausible given how controlling he was. Lamarr and Antheil's working relationship and friendship is important, but the damage done to their relationship by Lamarr's fear that he did see her as just a sexual object like so many others is resolved in less than a page. Mrs. Mayer, the wife of the head of MGM Studios, is interesting and instrumental in keeping Hedy from being another victim of her husband vanishes once Hedy's career gets off the ground.
Graphic: Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Death, War, Sexual violence, Genocide, and Drug abuse
mybookish_era'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
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, War, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
db_cooper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Rape, and Domestic abuse
a_mo_zing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Antisemitism
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, and Toxic relationship