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

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

1067 reviews

fierygecko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

I think this is the kind of book that deserves to -and should- be read twice. It is written uniquely; its incredible how different enough Monique and Evelyn’s storytelling styles are that you can tell who is the narrator of each chapter without ever being told. Each character is diverse, complex, and so fleshed out. Evelyn is a fantastic protagonist, partly because she has had a wild and morally gray life but also because she’s an unfiltered, brutally honest 79-year-old lady. As the reader you are never told to love or hate her; that is up for you to decide. I think that given the message of the story, you would decide on both. Monique is a lens for Evelyn’s story, almost. She processes Evelyn’s life through her own, and vice versa. She learns from Evelyn, and it’s so satisfying to witness. This book is about love, loss, and learning from your ex-Hollywood elders with a chip on their shoulder. I look forward to reading it a second time in the future.

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maritareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It felt like Carrie Soto was a copy of Evelyn, but why does this writer keep writing about white latin women and pretending the world sees them as brown?

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lulusreads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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

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astrangewind's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo tells an incredibly queer story from what seems like an incredibly heterosexual premise, which is something I can totally get behind. In fact, I was quite surprised by how gay this book turned out to be. Despite that, though, it was sad, and I couldn't stop reading once the pace picked up. Each husband had a unique flair and purpose in Evelyn's scandalous life, and the sections are executed well.

Despite liking the plot, I liked neither Monique nor Evelyn. I think Evelyn isn't meant to be a likable character; she herself even claims she's a bad person to Monique's face. That's the whole point of the book. She's beautiful, and cruel, and generous, and loving. All of these things at once. However, Monique was probably meant to be likable, but I found her mostly annoying, and her own story much less compelling than Evelyn's.

I am happy that this book is queer, and I'm happy that it's not just about being queer during puberty, as a lot of books with queer characters are. It's about being queer in Hollywood in the late 20th century, dodging the media and dealing with the AIDS crisis. That said, it bugs me that the only characters who treat Evelyn with any kind of respect are queer.

When Evelyn first meets Harry, she makes a note of it that he doesn't stare at her breasts, like all the other men do. It seems unfair for the one man to treat her like a human instead of an object only does so because he doesn't like women. Similarly, it feels unfair that the only woman who treats her with respect happens to be in love with her. Queer people can have platonic friendships with non-queer people.

Also, every mention of

Evelyn's

bisexuality reads like two people talking back and forth on a Tumblr post; it's over-explained and stilted, like Reid is afraid to offend bisexuals. It's fine, Taylor, I promise, to not repeatedly explain that bisexuality is liking men and women (Gasp!). Truth be told, though, that's my main gripe with Seven Husbands, and it's not that bad.

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moltedmilk's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

Beautiful story, I read this really fast and I am usually a slow reader. I loved how complex Evelyn’s character is. Such a good book

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badbadwolf's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

seastheday's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

I would have given this book 5 stars if Monique hadn’t been so terribly rude and annoying. I almost DNF’d the book at 30 pages because she was so horrendous. I don’t understand why she felt she could speak the way she did to ANYONE. She was caviler with words & didn’t interpret things correctly, ever. Evelyn had to continuously correct her. I know the reason why Evelyn didn’t drop Monique as a writer, but she should have just told Monique the truth. Then, gotten a better ghost writer for her memoir.

Now, I loved Evelyn. Her story was just constant heartbreak. It’s hard to reflect on the fact that she only truly WANTED two of the seven husbands. It was hard to watch her struggle with her sexuality vs society and it’s scrutiny. It’s amazing that she went through everything to just have a job she loved AND a partner she loved. But it was so hard to maintain that love and happiness. I’m so happy she got to live and love in Spain.
I also loved Harry & was devastated by how he passed. I cried abou the funeral. And it was tough to like Celia. But Monique I could absolutely have done without.

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