Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

240 reviews

readingizbiz's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

The writing was easy to follow and almost read like fanfictions to me (not in a bad way. nothing has made me cry like some fanfics have). The beginning I was like “ugh why was this recommended I’m done with booktok” but toward the second half I liked more. It is an interesting way to talk about old Hollywood. The switch from current to Evelyn in the past was a bit annoying to follow at times on my ebook version unsure about physical copies. It wasn’t bad. Wasn’t the best thing ever. I enjoyed myself. That’s all that matters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Biphobia, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Homophobia

chaoticlawful26'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

A beautiful and tragic story about the LGBTQIA+ experience from the 50's to the modern day through the lens of a daughter of Cuban immigrants trying to make it big in Hollywood. It's an amazing story that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I will definitely read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Alcoholism, Cancer, Abortion, Addiction, Homophobia, Child death, Body shaming, and Biphobia

williamabookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Domestic abuse, Cancer, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Grief, Homophobia, Death of parent, Biphobia, Death, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

madalina0_0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Abandonment, Infertility, Infidelity, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Violence, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

infjkiki's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Death, Biphobia, Alcohol, Racism, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

town_scar's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, Misogyny, Medical content, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Lesbophobia, Blood, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Outing, and Racism

Minor: Vomit, Drug use, and Pregnancy

kirsten1999's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Car accident

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Drug use, Gaslighting, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide, Sexism, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Body shaming

captainclark's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

fantastic book covering all the nuances and beauty of unconventional love and relationships and marriages, the deep complexities of humanity and emotions, its just so beautiful. these people are fantastic and horrible and i love them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cancer, Outing, Suicide, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy, Fatphobia, Abortion, and Gaslighting

kedalrymple's review against another edition

I was very excited to read this book as it seemed to tick a lot of the categories of what I like. Even the start seemed to be more engaging than a lot of books. However, it didn’t take long for the language to start to feel uncomfortable, specifically when discussing race and body image. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that this is an author who is writing popular fiction with the goal of it being picked up by Hollywood. It seems odd that the author would choose to develop main characters of different races, gender identities, and body types than her own, and do so little work to actually research what it is like for people who identify with those traits. Sadly it came across as stereotypical, heteronormative, and  sexist. Clearly this author is trying to fill her books with the types of characters that Hollywood is desperately seeking to  “include” but is skipping the hard work necessary to check her own priorities and privileges beforehand even attempting to write about a character from a different culture than her own. How disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

vr_alyssa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Immersive read! Once I like a book, I'm generally not great at putting it down. But this was different. It wasn't an 'I need to finish it asap and so I secretly skip sentences/paragraphs'. I just wanted to be in the story, so I would take it out of my bag, even when I only had 2 minutes. Or I'd pick up the book when my partner needed to go to the toilet while we were watching a movie, just so I could get in a page or two.

As a reader, you're basically both reading a fictional biography about a famous movie star as well as the interviews leading up to the creation of said biography. Which means the reader knows certain things are coming (I mean, you know it by the title too, she clearly had seven husband, so you know the first marriage doesn't last). But there are a few other things the reader learns to expect early on in the story. I found those hard to predict, despite knowing that they were coming. Furthermore, there wasn't necessarily a need to figure it out (which I usually have with books, such as Fourth Wing recently), I could just let it happen as it happened. And, of course, when revealed, the information caught me completely off guard, to the point of mumbling 'No no no no no' aloud for a while.

I am not entirely sure how I feel about the way it portray the industry. Yes, Evelyn had agency (at least somewhat), but she's still being used and limited. Differently than men. The book leaves it to the reader to form an opinion on it and fill in the gaps. Sometimes I worried that the book made it seem like she had more agency than she actually did, but it worked for me.

It was a very interesting and lovely reading experience, to say the least. Best way I can describe it, is that it's human.

Life lessons by Evelyn Hugo:

• "Be wary of men with something to prove." (76)
• "... praise is just like an addiction. The more you get it, the more of it you need just to stay even." (83)
• "No one is going to give you anything if you don't ask for it." (95)
• "You can desire someone especially when you don't like him." (111)
• "It is OK to grovel for something you really want." (191).
• And so on

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Terminal illness