Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti

7 reviews

odorothy's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny and Domestic abuse

lindsayhotrod's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Death, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Misogyny

thebigq's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing fast-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

4.5

Incredible twists and turns. Characters felt real in their love for each other. Advika easy to cheer for the whole way through. Deft representation of love bombing and its toxicity. Truly a delight to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism and Pregnancy

mari1532's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I was able to obtain a copy of this book from my local library. I was beyond excited when I was notified that the book was available because I absolutely loved Ramisetti's first book. I promptly devoured this book in a single day.

Synopsis: Advika is a woman who has lost herself in grief. However, one faithful night while she is working her bartending job, which was only meant to pay the bills until she made it big as a screenwriter, she meets a mysterious man who might change everything. As Advika falls in love the burden of her grief starts to lift and she finally sees a way for herself to be happy again, but the man she's fallen for might have other things in store for her. 

Thoughts: This book had everything. A love story, mystery, grief, friendship dynamics, and even Hollywood drama. I loved the way that Ramisetti articulated Advika's grief. It felt raw and encapsulated the very real experience of grief where it washes over you in waves. Also, the way that Ramisetti managed to draw the reader through Advika's grief by integrating flashbacks was just a beautiful way to weave the narrative. 

I also really enjoyed the relationship between Advika and Olive. The way that they strengthen their friendship throughout the book is beautiful and Olive is so funny sometimes. The narrator of this book did a great job capturing her voice. 

If you were a fan of Ramisetti's first book or books that explore female friendships or books that explore grief I highly recommend this book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Death

babayagaofficial's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

Killer premise, clunky prose. The narrative voice doesn't trust the reader's ability to make connections or inferences, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. This needed one or two more editorial passes to cut overly explanatory narration and raise the stakes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Stalking, Abandonment, Racism, Classism, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Addiction, Violence, and Pregnancy

Spoilers:

I was surprised by the mildness of Julian's villainy and the film reel's revelation. Yes, it's all horrible; that said, since 2017 we've learned of such outsized monstrosity from Hollywood bigshots in reality that Julian's actual M.O. and motivation are almost quaint in comparison. They certainly don't live up to such a wonderfully sensational, splashy premise. And narratively, if a premise evokes Bluebeard? Then the husband's big secret has to be bigger than "it turns out he sucks." There should probably be a murder somewhere, at least. (If this were a different book, I might say it's implied that he murdered his second wife, but this book leaves just about nothing unsaid, so I doubt that we're meant to understand that.)

samcanuel's review

emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

2.25

I really liked the message behind this book, and I wanted to like it so bad because the premise is just so interesting, but I was not drawn in. The first 100 pages felt like they stretched on for eternity, and honestly the rest of the book was not worth it after that. I will say that the author did a fantastic job of creating a villain character who you absolutely despised. The other characters fell pretty flat to me. Overall, I wish this book had better execution because there were great themes about grief and empowerment that were somewhat lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage and Child death

Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Addiction, Stalking, Racism, and Misogyny

dianapiskor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

When I think of books about Hollywood, I think of glitz, glamor, and stardom. While this book had that, it was such an interesting concept to have the book centered around the relationship between Advika, an aspiring screenwriter and Julian, someone 41 years her senior and a very famous, very powerful Hollywood film producer. With it's blend of feminism, mystery, and drama, interspersed with a character driven plot, I cannot say enough good things about this book. 

The triumph of this book truly is how the author gets the reader to understand how Advika ended up married to Julian in the first place and the power dynamics that created this relationship. What struck me is the author's ability to make me understand Advika's choices, even if I didn't agree with them. This ability to create that connection, that understanding, was what made this book so compelling and engaging. 

This book also speaks to the author's ability to tell a story, especially when it came to her female characters. 
Each woman was strong in their own ways, dealing with the power, control, and manipulation of their relationship and carving out a way to gain their identity, in healthy and unhealthy ways. To understand these women, to have their stories told, even fictionally, when so many of these similar stories are dismissed, was another amazing part of this story and another reason why I loved the book so much. 

Overall, this was a great story filled with Hollywood intrigue, fantastic writing and storytelling, female empowerment, diversity, and mystery. This book is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Gaslighting, and Grief