Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

237 reviews

rat_girly's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

After a slow start I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I liked how the story prompted me to reflect on the development of queer acceptance over the decades, and gave me a new appreciation for queer people who came before me. I loved the themes of found family, community, and the different kinds of soulmates and love we can find in this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Infidelity, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Outing

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, Infertility, Incest, and Drug use

akirma's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing sad fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Biphobia, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death, and Outing

laneelizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

With so many heavy topics discussed in this book, I really think Taylor Jenkins Reid did a beautiful job showing us the complexities of each one of them. Along with the simple complexity of just being human. This book covers the story of a woman from 13 years old to her death at 79 and everything that happened in between including what leads her to Monique Grant to write her memoirs, ending the book with a connection between the two you will never see coming. I never expected to relate to a movie star from the 50s but hearing Evelyn's story reminded me of my own life and it's amazing how the author did that so beautifully.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Outing, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Pedophilia

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Blood, Abortion, and Miscarriage

rory18's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

A really lovely book, and the plot is tied together well. My only complaint is that at times the emotional scenes between the central pair seem a little stilted, as if the author isn't very confident at writing a love story between two women, although it still feels authentic. A captivating book, and it says something that its appeal transcends genres so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Misogyny, Biphobia, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Outing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Violence, Cancer, Death of parent, Racism, Terminal illness, Suicide, Death, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Police brutality

amyhab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Car accident, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

gretchenrojas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

Best book to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Abortion, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Alcohol, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Rape, Addiction, and Mental illness

Get ready to cry

keiiiiiiii's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Infidelity

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Infidelity, and Car accident

owlish1's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, and Homophobia

madanxiety's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad fast-paced

4.5

I really liked the premise for this book. I haven't really read a book like it. The author could've just written the fake autobiography of Evelyn Huego, but it wouldn't have been nearly as compelling. Even though Monique's role in the book was relatively small compared to all of Evelyn's story, it was essential and kept the book engaging. On top of this, the book is a charming queer romance that explores the unique experience of bisexuality and the vitalness of found family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Abortion, Racism, and Biphobia

annalpurcell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I don’t know where else to include this, but normally I LOATHE first-person narration, and I actually didn’t mind it in this book. It may have been because the conceit of this novel is a woman narrating  her life experiences so first-person makes logical sense, but if you similarly loathe first-person narration, this instance is actually ok. 

Things I Enjoyed
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Diversity: this book featured characters from a variety of different backgrounds (ex. our two protagonists are both women of color) and their background actually factors in to who they are as people and how they live their lives rather than feeling like tokenism

Queer Female Love: it is not often you get to see love between two women get done much less well, and I think this book does a decent job at being a realistic and intriguing queer love story. 

Handling of Biphobia: I thought Jenkins Reid handled biphobia in a tactful way and I especially liked that it came from a fellow queer person as, at least in my experience, that is often the case 

What Could’ve Been Better
—————————-
Not Enough Queer Female Love: What keeps this book from being 5 stars for me is that I wish we could’ve seen more of Evelyn and Celia’s relationship. I suppose I can’t be too disappointed as this book is called the seven HUSBANDS of Evelyn Hugo and while it may have all been in the pursuit of one woman the emphasis is still on the husbands.  

Tell Me More Tell Me More: this book was not about Harry or James or even really about Monique, but I do wish we could’ve learned more about Harry and James’s relationship and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Sexual content

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide