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takemyhand's reviews
141 reviews
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
3.0
3 stars
Slight spoilers but nothing major regarding the plot itself.
Following the hype on social media, I was more than excited to read this book. Safe to say, overall, it did not disappoint, and Taylor Jenkins Reid delivered what we can safely assume to be a classic in the future. Whether the writing style, or the complexity of the characters, this novel seems to check all the boxes it needs to be loved by everybody.
Despite being a good book, it would be ridiculous to write a review and pretend there are no bad sides to it. I do have to mention two things that have bothered me while reading, but that mostly have to do with the author rather than the plot itself. First is the usage of the 'd-slur' twice : I did quick research before writing this and found that TJR is a straight woman, who, as a result, even in the context the book is taking place, should not be using words that carry such meaning. I want to believe she did not know, nor think it was bad in and of itself, but after discussing it with many of my lesbian friends, it is what one on the internet would call 'problematic', although mostly harmful to a community she is writing for and claiming to support.
The second issue in this book, for me, would be the inclusion of an is*aeli minor character. I believe it was important for Monique's plot to remember the existence of another biracial person from her entourage, but out of all the white nationalities TJR could have picked, did she really have to go with that one?
Having said that, I absolutely adored this book (like the other hundreds of thousands of people who have read it before me) and it was wonderful to read about a woman so comfortable and confident in her bisexuality, not hesitating to call people out whenever they decided to use one half or the other for their benefit. I believe that by making these characters so headstrong in their ideas, TJR made them more human, more relatable to the readers in the 'real world'. It is always easier to connect to characters who don't always do the right thing, have questionable morals, or go overboard sometimes, because extreme feelings are still feelings and that broad panel of emotions is something we can all identify with.
One last thing before ending this, as I've mentioned before, TJR is a straight white woman who was given a platform and uses it for good to write about minorities but, please remember to support POC and Queer WOC as well, and to include them in your readings. There will always be nuances that are better told by the people in said communities.
Slight spoilers but nothing major regarding the plot itself.
Following the hype on social media, I was more than excited to read this book. Safe to say, overall, it did not disappoint, and Taylor Jenkins Reid delivered what we can safely assume to be a classic in the future. Whether the writing style, or the complexity of the characters, this novel seems to check all the boxes it needs to be loved by everybody.
Despite being a good book, it would be ridiculous to write a review and pretend there are no bad sides to it. I do have to mention two things that have bothered me while reading, but that mostly have to do with the author rather than the plot itself. First is the usage of the 'd-slur' twice : I did quick research before writing this and found that TJR is a straight woman, who, as a result, even in the context the book is taking place, should not be using words that carry such meaning. I want to believe she did not know, nor think it was bad in and of itself, but after discussing it with many of my lesbian friends, it is what one on the internet would call 'problematic', although mostly harmful to a community she is writing for and claiming to support.
The second issue in this book, for me, would be the inclusion of an is*aeli minor character. I believe it was important for Monique's plot to remember the existence of another biracial person from her entourage, but out of all the white nationalities TJR could have picked, did she really have to go with that one?
Having said that, I absolutely adored this book (like the other hundreds of thousands of people who have read it before me) and it was wonderful to read about a woman so comfortable and confident in her bisexuality, not hesitating to call people out whenever they decided to use one half or the other for their benefit. I believe that by making these characters so headstrong in their ideas, TJR made them more human, more relatable to the readers in the 'real world'. It is always easier to connect to characters who don't always do the right thing, have questionable morals, or go overboard sometimes, because extreme feelings are still feelings and that broad panel of emotions is something we can all identify with.
One last thing before ending this, as I've mentioned before, TJR is a straight white woman who was given a platform and uses it for good to write about minorities but, please remember to support POC and Queer WOC as well, and to include them in your readings. There will always be nuances that are better told by the people in said communities.
White Noise by Don DeLillo
2.0
I don't have much to say, simply because I've done all the analysis, as this was a mandatory reading for class. This was...a special novel to say the least, but I didn't hate it so, that's that.