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pianokeys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Cursing, Miscarriage, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Addiction, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Physical abuse, Outing, Death of parent, Mental illness, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
vic_to_ria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I think huge parts of this was a great depiction of what 1950-70’s female movies stars had to experience or sacrifice in order to make it big and that beauty was a dangerous weapon if utilized appropriately.
I will say the husbands get way too much run time at points and the last 1/4 of the book is so packed full of plot but it doesn’t necessarily feel rushed as the whole point of the book was following her progression as a movie star and by that point in the book she was retired.
Overall it was gut wrenchingly beautiful and heartbreaking and a drama filled read that captures your attention.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
harper11's review
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Racism and Suicide
emjay2021's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I thought the parts with Evelyn far outshone the bits with Monique. But we do discover by the end why Evelyn chose Monique specifically, and the book earns back a little bit with that ending.
I thought it was an excellent yarn, and the way the story was told (first person narrative by Evelyn for the most part) was a wise choice. You really do feel like an old movie star is telling you about her life.
There’s nothing particularly earthshaking in here, but that said, I was pleasantly surprised at how much of the narrative addressed social issues like homophobia, racism, and sexism. I was also a little surprised at just how moved I was by the ending of the book.
I enjoyed this at least as much as Daisy Jones and the Six, maybe a little more. I didn’t listen to it as an audiobook but I bet it would be a good one.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexism, Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion and Racism
wardenred's review against another edition
- 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
All of these things you’re so desperate to know, I promise I’ll answer them before we’re done. But I’m not going to answer them one minute before I want to. I call the shots. That’s how this is going to go.
Well, this was… a source of lots of mixed feelings. I absolutely adored Daisy Jones & the Six earlier this year, so I expected a lot from my next book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, especially since I’ve heard so many good things about this one. But where with Daisy Jones, the “written mockumentary“ format added a lot to the story, here, the “writing Evelyn’s memoir“ framing device fell flat for me. I feel like I see where the author was going with it; it offers that extra smoke screen, a level of separation between the reader and the larger-than-life movie star. Unfortunately, it ended up feeling more like a gimmick and, more often than not, a distraction.
It didn’t help that Monique was one of the most uninteresting characters I’ve “met“ lately and did absolutely nothing interesting as a journalist. It was also cringy how from the start, given this unique opportunity to write Evelyn’s tell-all, she immediately jumped to the husbands angle and the “Who was the true love of your life?“ question, especially since that question was asked before she had any hint of Evelyn being queer. Here you sit in front of a woman who’s been a cultural phenomenon for decades, her creative work influencing generations, and the main thing you want to know about her life is… which man in her life defined her? Meh. Honestly, even with the fact that Evelyn’s actual true love was a woman, I find this approach cringy, because while love is important, we all exist outside of our relationships, too, romantic or otherwise. Or rather, we exist in many relationships at once, and outside them, and between them, and to define one person solely through one specific romantic relationship is odd. Not to mention that I generally tend to roll my eyes at that “one true love“ concept, because it’s possible to love more than one person in a lifetime, and no one love should diminish or erase others.
I do feel that the story itself eventually did a good job of addressing these things. Evelyn does make a point of reaffirming that while Celia was the love of her life, she had genuine feelings for some of her husbands, too, and she also loved other people in a non-romantic way: Harry, Louisa, her daughter, her mother’s memory. So in retrospect, that heavy-handed pushing of the “so which husband was the most important, hmm?“ question as the central thread for the memoir was a very smart choice: create a faulty premise, contradict it with a follow-up. But something about the way it was presented at the beginning grated on my nerves.
I mostly enjoyed the character development here, even though, with the exception of Harry, there was hardly a single character that I liked. Evelyn was quite interesting; I liked how she didn’t shy away from admitting her flaws, and how while she didn’t hide that there were pretty awful things in her life that shaped her into the person she is, she refuses to paint herself as the victim and makes it clear that she made her own choices with what happened to her. She’s not a particularly likable character, but definitely a strong and compelling one. Harry was both interesting and likable; I admired how he toed the line between Hollywood cynicism and personal kindness, and how he was always there for Evelyn but also pushed her when she needed to be pushed, and pushed against her when he didn’t agree with the choices she tried to make for everyone. Celia, frankly, often annoyed me, but I did like how she was presented in the narrative: how Evelyn always spoke of her with so much love, but also showed enough of her flaws for the reader to be able to see them way before they got acknowledged. There were a few other characters who got to show up multiple times and grow and change over the decades in way that inspired no real sympathy in me but made me want to know what happens to them next. On the other hand, there were others who were barely more than slightly fleshed-out stereotypes.
What strikes me as odd was how little acting and film-making there was here, for a book about an actress. Evelyn talks a lot about the consequences of being a Hollywood star: the fame, the money, the recognition, the Oscars. But it’s only rather late in the book, and only for the sake of one specific plot point, that the actual *art* of it all gets some real attention. It was a stark contrast to Daisy Jones where songwriting and performing music took up a huge part of the narrative. Perhaps that’s because as a writer—also a creative artist—Reid had more to draw from as she wrote about people creating art, but a character’s who’s a performance artist was harder to tackle.
Overall, I liked it more than I didn’t, but I also felt like this was a queer story written very much with a straight eye, and in the last part of the book, it was all getting kind of… repetitive and needlessly dramatic for my tastes. I also wasn’t a big fan of the many rather obvious life wisdoms / truisms being presented as these life-shattering revelations. And I maintain that a lot more could be done with that framing device.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Sexism, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Car accident
Moderate: Racism and Abortion
celery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Vomit, Outing, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Addiction, Cancer, Classism, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
kaleidoscopemoon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Sexual content, Infidelity, Misogyny, Outing, Sexism, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Abortion, and Sexual violence
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, and Suicide
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- 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
I can see why this is such a popular book and I think it lived up to the hype.
I loved this book. It was such a good read. The writing was wonderful and I enjoyed the plot, there were a few twists that I didn't predict. The characters were good and I enjoyed the relationships. I enjoyed the 1950s to 1980s Hollywood setting with the glamour, fame and problems with fame.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Biphobia, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Racism
Minor: Cancer, Abortion, Misogyny, Sexism, and Eating disorder
ahsirgverse's review
- 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
Graphic: Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Lesbophobia, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Racism and Death
Minor: Car accident
wavykt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’m seeing that there’s to be a Netflix adaptation of the book. Books to movies don’t always turn out well, but I think this could be done very well if given a good budget. Nervously excited to see what comes of it.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Car accident, Child death, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Terminal illness