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

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

11 reviews

cesca1994's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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gokurakuji's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

started this book during my 1-hour commute home in tokyo and finished it before bed. i was completely enraptured and in love with this story and universe.

i felt bereft leaving the world of evelyn hugo and found myself trying to remember which of her movies i had seen.

a 4-star i deeply loved and will recommend but i wouldn’t call it a 5-star all time fave.

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rokinjaguar's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Personal enjoyment: 3/5

A very well-written book. Easy to read, enjoyable, interesting. The characters felt very complex, with distinct character traits and real flaws. It was well-paced and kept my interest the whole time. I liked the newspaper article inserts, that was cute. It was cool to read about the relationship between

Evelyn and Celia. I rarely come across that kind of thing in the books I read. I didn't really like them together because they were horrible to each other at times, but it felt genuine and realistic, and I enjoy reading about types of experiences I'm not generally familiar with.

However, the writing annoyed me and the only character I really liked was Harry. There are a lot of "sound bites" in the book that I think were put there to make the book quotable, but it ended up feeling like I was being told how the world works and how to be a good feminist. It was very much telling and not showing, and it majorly detracted from the book in my opinion.
At first I only noticed it in Evelyn's sections and chalked it up to her telling her story and wanting to share the wisdom she's learned in her very full life. It added to things I didn't like about Evelyn as a person but I did appreciate about Evelyn as a character. However, later in the book there's a reveal and the reporter reacts to it and the flow of the book screeches to a halt while the reporter tells me how fury works. Dude, tell me how it works for YOU, don't tell me how it works for everyone, it comes across as arrogant and completely undermines the tone of the scene. It should have been personal and emotional, I should have been led through the descriptions to feel what Monique felt and be in her shoes, but instead I felt like I was being dryly lectured by someone who thinks they're an expert in psychology. Completely ruined the moment, which was a shame because there was another emotional beat that Reid was able to write effectively just a chapter or two before that.
So I think Reid's writing is just not for me. I didn't feel trusted to come up with my own thoughts, I felt like I was being told exactly what to think. That being said, if that stuff doesn't bother you, it's a very interesting and enjoyable novel. I don't regret reading it, but I will not be reading anymore of Reid's books.

Update: After thinking about it a little more, I changed the review from 4 to 3.5/5. The issues I had with it are what have stayed with me, mostly that it was written in a very modern tone, to the point where it felt like the characters were just different colored masks the author wore while she told me her thoughts on various issues. Still an enjoyable and interesting read, but less competently done than I first thought, once the fun and excitement faded.

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