Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

a pageturner. the seven husbands of evelyn hugo wasn't a perfect book, there was a lot to hate but there was also a lot to love. i couldn't put it down.

evelyn is an excellent character study. she's selfish, conniving, ruthless, ambitious, larger-than-life itself and so much more. as a supporter of women's rights and women's wrongs i had no choice but to stan. the evelyn chapters were the strongest aspect of this book, i felt like i was reading about the history of real people and i didn't want to journey to end. so i'll definitely check out the other works in the tjr universe. tjr provides an excellent view into the dark side of celebrity and entertainment culture.

whilst i think its nice that tjr attempted to depict the identity struggles of a biracial women with monique grant's character...i'm not sure if she had the range. monique was a mediocre journalist at best and anti-black at worst. the plot twist near the end felt under-baked and predictable. it didn't add much tbh.

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annanoblett1's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

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eleanorshellshtrop_mybeloved's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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jselliot's review against another edition

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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

This was probably one of my favorite books this year, honestly. Evelyn Hugo may be a star-studded icon, but also a person. And by the time the book takes place, people have forgotten about the personhood behind the legacy. The goal? An expose on herself.

Craft wise, this book handled the past- and present-tense shifts well. Past-tense, the majority of the book, applied to Evelyn's dish on her own past. The few present-tense chapters were centered around Monique in the contemporary aspect of the setting. And mercifully, it did not butcher common past-tense sayings in those moments. (A chief complaint of mine with the rash of first-person present-tense books that have come out lately. It's jarring.)

Without giving too many spoilers, I'd say that perhaps the most refreshing thing about Seven Husbands is that the narrative itself treats Evelyn like most books do male characters. Now, within the context of the period, she is absolutely treated as a woman of color and one who made her fame in the 60s through the 80s. Those times were not kind to women, nor LBGT people. But the way the narrative treated her like typical male characters is that it allowed her to make morally and legally wrong choices, and still be a complex individual without being vilified for it. She made mistakes and owns them. She's not perfect and is no longer interested in maintaining her carefully curated image. But she does have a story to tell, and what a compelling story it is.

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chavborromeo's review against another edition

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emotional 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

Alexa play "The lucky One" by Taylor Swift

"New to town with a made-up name In the angel's city, chasing fortune and fame And the camera flashes make it look like a dream

You had it figured out since you were in school Everybody loves pretty, everybody loves cool So overnight, you look like a '60s queen"

This book gave me a lot of feels. I feel like I'm riding a roller coaster. It feels like I really know who is Evelyn Hugo and I'm a fan ever since and now that I'm reading her biography, it feels like an end of an era😭 She feels real to me. I really forgot I'm reading a book.

Every flip of pages, I always tell myself I understand where she was coming from. Evelyn Hugo grew up in an abusive and not so good environment. Her mother died when she was a child so she was left with her abusive father. Thats why she really did everything to go out of "hell's kitchen" and fulfill her mother's dream. To be in limelight. I don't want to call her unprivileged because being pretty and sexy is a privilege. She have that privilege and she used that to her own advantage. And I can't blame her for that. In fact I understand her.

Before I'm firm believer of "if you want to reach the top, stop using elevator and learn how to use the stairs". But if you have advantage to reach the top quickly, wouldn't you going to use that? It may be immoral or disgusting but that's the only way she thinks she can do.

"And that you have to be willing to deny your heritage, to commodify your body, to lie to good people, to sacrifice who you love in the name of what people will think, and to choose the false version of yourself time and time again, until you forget who you started out as or why you started doing it to begin with."

She never claimed to be good. She's in between of good and evil. I won't say that I agree with everything that she did because most of the time I don't agree with her. But thats her life and she have the rights to do whatever she wants to do with it.

When it comes to marriage, marriage is just a paper. Whats important is your true love and faith with each other. But I don't think she needs to get married with some of them. Is boyfriend-girlfriend not a thing? Everything happened so fast.

Evelyn done a lot of questionable things in the past and she said she didn't regret those. But I think she gave more important to "fame" than to people she loves. And thats her biggest mistakes. Celia St. James loved Evelyn genuinely but she was idealistic. But i still love her for her understanding and patience. Evelyn's great love. Harry Cameron, the ride and die best friend of Evelyn and her different kind of soulmate. He was with her from the start. And I'm sad he died early.😭

Imagine the kind of pain you experienced witnessing everyone you love died and you left alone. That's why I can't blame her for doing that thing in the end. Also, with Monique's position. I don't know what to do. Knowing someone's going to end her life. You don't if you'll going to respect or save her.

Its really difficult to live in a patriarchal society. But I can't say she smashed the patriarchy since she was benefiting something from it. And somehow dangerous? Because some women may think to just succumb under patriarchy instead of resisting it??? And plot aside, I love how this book is beautifully written. The transition? Choice of words? The quotes? And the emotions it conveyed? Top tier. It made me feel empty and longing after I'm done reading it. Such a good book. I'm finally done hays.

PS. There's a lot of Taylor Swift song lyrics in the book though👀❤

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smiley_ari's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.0

It wasn’t perfect by any means. And the parts I didn’t like I REALLY didn’t like but the parts I did I LOVED and that was enough to make me fully enjoy this book.

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