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Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
27 reviews
itkimby's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Grief, Cancer, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child death, Suicide, and Pregnancy
whenmalanereads'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? It's complicated
5.0
"The world doesn't give you things, you takes things."
"That's what I traded my virginity for...a ride to Hollywood."
"And it will be the tragedy of my life that I cannot love you enough to make you mine."
"Make them pay you what they would pay a white man."
I have to be very honest. I started this book with the paperback copy and I couldn't get into it. It was slow-paced and I abandoned it for another book. This was last year.
I'm happy to say I came back and finished the book. Clearly. Just in audio book format. I REALLY loved the audio book. I adored the narrators and I was very endeared with the voice of Evelyn. It in a way reminded me of my nanny's voice. The way words would be inflected and the way the sassy attitude comes out in tone of voice.
I always loved the idea of this book and I'm glad I circled back to it sometime later. I found the old Hollywood glamour fun and exciting. I would think I knew where it was going and then be wrong. Which I appreciate in a book. Though about halfway through I did figure it all out.
While I didn't particularly connect with any one character, I found myself being drawn to almost all of them. Except Don. Iykyk.
I found times where the book was quite sad and I found times where I was laughing to myself. It was such a descriptive book that I really felt immersed into the world of Evelyn Hugo. I felt like I could have been at an Oscars event or on the red carpet or being a fan seeing her in an ice cream shop.
I thought her love for her friends and lovers was so genuine even though she could sometimes be going astray and I would find myself thinking "Oh my god Evelyn. Don't do that." It was interesting that Evelyn would go to the lengths she did to be with her one true love.
I fiercely recommend this book. It is well worth the hype and you won't regret it. While I do recommend it in audio book form, I think however you prefer to partake you won't be disappointed.
Graphic: Drug use, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Abandonment, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Terminal illness, Addiction, Abortion, Cancer, Car accident, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Cancer, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, Addiction, Death, Biphobia, Suicide, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Blood, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Terminal illness
kadyk59'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
4.0
Graphic: Outing, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Death of parent, Racism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Cultural appropriation
sareidle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
josie2k'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Chronic illness, and Infidelity
kedalrymple's review
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
lyeve'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent
fieldofhats's review against another edition
I got 3.5 hours into the 12 hour audiobook and couldn’t force myself to go any further. It pains me to DNF a Taylor Jenkins Reid book, but it pains me even more to give it one star. In all fairness, my true rating might be more like 1.5 stars, but it didn’t think it really deserved to be rounded up.
Let’s start with the good, if only because there’s so little of it. The story is split into two very distinct plot lines: Monique and Evelyn. We see much more of Evelyn, but Monique is the main character, or at least the one we see the modern world through. Her story is much more interesting. She has hardships and problems, and because she’s a normal person living in the normal world, they feel much more genuine. I was much more invested in her story than in Evelyn’s, and in a book that’s titled “The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo”, I feel like that’s an issue.
The drama is good. The troubles and hardships that Evelyn endured and eventually got through are universal and painful, but also particularly feminine issues, which makes this an undeniably feminist piece — the problem is, she’s a rich, powerful, Hollywood star. I have a much, much harder time relating to and sympathizing with a rich star than a common person. All of the things that Evelyn goes through, lower class people (like Monique, for example) also go through. Having the main character be a rich star just dampens and cheapens the story. Celebrity feminism is antithetical to feminism.
Furthermore, Evelyn is not a good person. Because she’s spent most of her life in Hollywood, she has this heightened sense of entitlement that I just have no respect for. She’s also manipulative; she guilts and practically bribes Monique into taking the biography job and admits that she’s okay with (and does) use people when it’s advantageous for her. She will also do absolutely anything to save her image. And maybe I could get behind that if she wasn’t either rich or a Hollywood star, but she is. Even if her image is destroyed, she’ll be absolutely fine, so I don’t have much sympathy for her. To properly enjoy a novel I have to like the main character on some level, and so this was a huge blow for me.
Yes, she is a powerful woman, and that image can hold a lot of weight regardless of anything. But when we sacrifice integrity and decency for power, we’re left with an awful character. I wish we could portray powerful women without them being rich and manipulative.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Misogyny
giulianalb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Sexual harassment, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, Terminal illness, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Sexism, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Grief, and Sexual content
sirenricobooks'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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Biphobia, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Death, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Abortion, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death