Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

118 reviews

giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A very quick and enticing read. I'm pretty sure even the people that swear they "don't care for any of this celebrity stuff" are secretely devouring gossip like the rest of us mortals. It's only human to 'care' for people that seem unnattainable. On and all, The Seven Husbands... is an interesting read into the mind and world of movie stars. With the quick turn of the plot into a more serious human rights issue, although not clear at first, this book has definitively won a new fan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Car accident, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Biphobia, and Cancer

txikimandy's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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

3.75

I have a lot of mixed opinions about this book. It is always so hard to pick a star rating, and this book is no different.

I’ll start by saying I really enjoyed the plot. Emotionally, the book was perfect: it was heartwarming and heartbreaking, frustrating, funny, tense, gut wrenching, all at once. I cried several times while I was reading; the book has dynamic characters who you get attached to and feel for. The characters themselves are complex, and you don’t know if you love them or hate them, and you’re never sure what will happen with any given character or relationship. 

The writing and structure of the novel is where it loses stars for me. It is a parallel narrative, with much more attention given to Evelyn’s (of course); so much that I frequently forgot what was happening in Monique’s life, making it feel completely unbalanced. The timelines are obviously incongruous, and it felt very poorly paced because of that. Since time passed inconsistently in Evelyn’s narrative, but consistently in Monique’s, keeping track of real-world days/weeks felt impossible. The writing was cliche in parts, which, because Reid is an excellent writer in most of the novel, stood out to me glaringly. Nearly every time we switched back to Monique’s narrative, there was a cliche cliffhanger line meant to make you need to keep reading, which only made me roll my eyes. The big reveal was surprisingly predictable; I thought for sure I would be wrong and would be blown away by it, but I had been guessing correctly for a long time. The beginning of the book took about 130 pages to really capture my interest, which is far too many. The ending of this heartwrenching rollercoaster of a book felt too neat and tidy. I wish it was more realistic and emotional, but the morals and lessons of the book were essentially spelled out letter by letter.

Overall, despite the parts of the writing I didn’t like, I thought the book was really good. In much of the book, Reid is such an excellent writer that I’m having a hard time not overlooking the flaws I felt and rating this nearly 5 stars! Once the book finally caught my interest, I was captivated. I would say this book is a little bit overhyped on social media, but I would still recommend it for anyone curious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, Grief, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, and Car accident

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Sexual content, Addiction, Death of parent, Homophobia, Classism, Lesbophobia, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Outing

kateyjay's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring 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 book was beautiful, strong, complicated characters drive the story that felt so real I thought I was reading a biography about a real woman in the golden age of Hollywood. 

The flaws in all the characters drove a story of love and heartbreak that kept the pages turning late into the night and I was honestly devastated when it was over. 

The Author encapsulated the characters so well that I felt every triumph and loss right along with Evelyn and the final twist (which wasn’t really a twist) broke my heart and had me in tears until 4 in the morning. 
Will recommend this to everyone

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Car accident, Alcoholism, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Abortion

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Biphobia, Abandonment, Sexism, Infidelity, Grief, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcoholism, Rape, Abortion, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Outing, and Pregnancy

evalotteli's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Biphobia, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Abortion, Miscarriage, Blood, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing

msrudolph's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Child abuse

dontwritedown's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

Wow, I don't know why I put off reading this book for so long, I've been hearing it's accolades for years.

That being said with everything going on in the world, I needed to read this now. With the possible overturning of Obergefell (gay marriage), this boom reminds so many of why we can't go back. 

As a bit of a history nut I love how Reid took different aspects of Hollywood starlets and gave them to Hugo and other cast members. The obvious inspirations for Hugo include Rita Hayworth (who was not a natural redhead, was Hispanic, and famously had her skin lightened and widows peak plucked to get Gilda, among other roles) and Elizabeth Taylor (the multiple marriages, the parallels between Cleaopatra and Anna Karinina, and the numerous donations to LGBTQ issues towards the end of her life). Celia, in my opinion, just straight up reminded me of June Allyson (who ironically did play Jo in Little Women) and Olivia de Havilland. And Harry just straight up seemed to be a marriage of Rock Hudson and Lorenz Hart's story (one of which was mentioned).

The ending had me crying for so many reasons, this book is definitely one to pick up and is hella gay despite what the title might suggest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Infidelity, Outing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Addiction, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Body shaming, and Cancer

danicampbell0506's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Racism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Abortion and Cursing

pigeonpersona's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is phenomenal and made me feel so many emotions. I would quickly recommend anyone and everyone to read it. Nearly everyone could get something out of it. The progression of the story and the interactions of all the characters just kept me turning the pages faster than I often realized. A huge bravo to the author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism

Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use, Xenophobia, and Racism

dtierra's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow…this book. Definitely one of my favorites I’ve read in a long time. Evelyn is an incredibly complex character. The book makes that clear and wow, do they deliver on that claim. At the beginning of the book, I struggled to understand the narrator and her importance but was absolutely sold by the end. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking and wonderful. I don’t know if calling it a romance encapsulates the book. It’s absolutely a sapphic story but it’s about love, grief, loss, pride, and pain as well. Would highly recommend , lives up to the hype! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Addiction, Misogyny, Infidelity, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Rape, Death, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Outing, Abortion, Vomit, Terminal illness, Racism, Classism, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Blood, Infertility, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Medical content