Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti

3 reviews

fujo_cat's review against another edition

mysterious reflective 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

3.5

Overall, this was a nice read and felt satisfying enough, albeit cut short. 

If you enjoy domestic mysteries and Hollywood settings, you’ll probably enjoy this. Expect a light mystery with heavy themes. 

If you are looking for a non-white author or non-white cast/protagonist, this is also a very good choice! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Classism

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Death, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Miscarriage, and Infidelity

viireads's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

first half was an absolute 
D R A G ughhhhh

(I had to physically force myself to get to the part about the the will)

but as soon as the lore with Nova started being dug up it got fast paced and I was enjoying it

I guess I just kept on going to see how it ended (which ultimately i didn't end up liking much mainly because of one certain element

the child

)

⭐⭐⭐
3.0 stars for the following reasons: 
• feeling represented and also seeing the diverse cast
• second half of the book was very gripping and definitely a page turner
• realistic portrayal of modern day friendships
• the ending gave me a lil hope for myself because other than the aforementioned element everything else in it was tied up nicely 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, and Stalking

Minor: Emotional abuse

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.)