#evelyn hugo was not written from experience

[mercurygray]

Currently Reading - April 2024

Currently Reading:

Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer. On my list for a long time.

Winged Victory: The Army Air Forces in World War II, by Geoffrey Perret. I'm really liking the birds' eye (ha!) view of the Air Forces in general - he's touched on plane development, strategy, and the reason why different groups focused on different things. Good ground stuff.

Norway to America : a history of the migration, by Ingrid Semmingsen, translated by Einar Haugen. For Fred.

Luck of The Draw, by Frank Murphy. Currently reading in the sense that I got it from the library with intent to read and it's on my nightstand.

Currently Watching:

Shōgun (FX) - I need to re-read this book.

Manhunt (Apple TV) - started for Tobias Menzies, stayed for unhinged Anthony Boyle and the storytelling, which is so tight you could get a dime through its wingtips.

Franklin (Apple TV) - Listen, Apple TV's got a lot of primo period drama right now and Rev War is only like, one fandom obsession ago.

Just Finished: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins-Reid. This was fun. It was just fun.

When I Think Back: World War Two Letters of Fitje Pitts, by Tilghman Pitts - This was so so good. Fitje is a super entertaining writer. Big fact I got from this one is that bomber bases were full of animals. Everyone had a pet.

Battlestars & Doughnuts: World War II Clubmobile Experiences of Mary Metcalfe Rexford, by Oscar Whitelaw Rexford - This is a memoir written by her husband? It's small, but still has a lot to say.

Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II, by Philip Ardery - Ardery flew with the 389th and was the command pilot during the first of the Ploesti raids. This was a lucky find at the book rescue and for $2 I'm glad it's in my library.

Beartown, by Fredrik Backman. This was really depressing. It's good, but I will not be watching the show or seeking out the following book.

In Reserve:

Debs at War, by Anne De Courcy

Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters 1940-1942, by Miriam Barford

Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines: The Unknown Heroines of World War Two, by Sally Van Wagenen Keil

[poppletonink]

BOOK REVIEW: The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"I'm under absolutely no obligation to make sense to you."

If Taylor Swift's Slut! was a book it would be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - the life story of a reclusive Hollywood actress, the stories of forbidden love, pain, and heartache that made her hide away from the world.

The words heartwrenching, addictive, and shocking do not even begin to describe the experience of reading this masterpiece woven and written into existence by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The talent she holds is immense and incomprehensible. She can make the reader weep over a fictional actress - a woman who should be loathed for her lack of remorse and the terrible atrocities she committed; who is also merely a woman craving the love she struggled to garner her whole life.

Evelyn's story is of the brutal nature of female ambition and the way in which we are treated for it. Just like fictional women before her, be it Lady Macbeth of Shakespeare's timeless tragedy or It's a story of a woman painted as a slut for doing what she had to in order to survive as an actress in the cold-hearted, but glamorous grasp of Old Hollywood.

It is also a story of identity and assumption - how we as a society are too quick to create labels to brandish someone and put them into a box. The representation in this novel is wonderful, and the message told through this diversity is one that should reach out to the corners of the earth in order to be heard by all. Evelyn Hugo is a bisexual, Cuban American woman and she is powerful within her identity. She also perfectly sums up the point of this book in her own words: "I'm bisexual. Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box."

Reading this book is an experience that will leave people feeling heartbroken, as though their very core has been ripped to pieces. Simultaneously, it will leave them feeling invigorated, with a fresh wave of empowerment flowing through them. The lessons that are entwined into the pages of this novel are profound and important - they are lessons of love, feminism, and power. This is a book that people should not go without and one that should be declared mandatory reading worldwide.

[stuiie]

I will NOT pass up the opportunity to talk about far from you! I started it years ago and forgot completely about it but picked it back up last week and I ADORE it!! It was definitely heart wrenching and I may have (i did) shed a lot of tears.

It was a very well written book and had just enough warming parts to compensate for the wrenching ones. I loved how the story was taken and Im not quite sure how to get into specifics without spoiling it. But I did very much feel like I was on the edge of my seat for the whole book, in fact, I was pretty much dead to the world for a whole day.

AND I LOVE THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO!! I actually wore a green dress and had my hair dyed red for my high school graduation (ouch, didn’t realize it had been that long!) and had a little photoshoot with the book!! My friend called me evelyncelias love child and I took that as the highest compliment.

Stuie, you are too sweet and I hope you are doing well! Sending you virtual hugs 🫂

-🌙

I can’t even begin to forgive myself for letting your beautiful message sit unanswered for so long, and for that, I’m truly sorry. Life has just been so hectic lately—my job, which I usually adore, has become quite demanding and, honestly, a little draining. But enough about me and my ramblings, because your message truly made my day! It brought me so much joy and should have been at the top of my priority list to respond to. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

First off, you’ve completely sold me on this book! It sounds amazing, and I definitely need to add it to my never-ending list of must-reads. But, honestly, reading is such a joy for me, so adding this to the top of the pile isn’t exactly a hardship 😁. I can already tell it’s going to be a fantastic read, especially since you’re a fan of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo—seriously, what a masterpiece! I practically inhaled that book, barely able to put it down. It felt like devouring a slice of birthday cake: impossible to stop until it was all gone!

And oh my goodness, the photos you mentioned—amazing! 😍 I can only imagine how much fun you had, and your friend sounds like such a blast. Honestly, reading about your experiences and recommendations has been such a treat.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing these delightful little snippets of your life, your thoughts, and your likes. It’s been such a joy to read, and I’m beyond excited to get started on your book recommendation 🥰.

Sending you the biggest virtual hug, you wonderful, delightful human! May your day be filled with nothing but happiness and sunshine! 💖

[colorisbyshe]

i really don’t want to read the seven husband of eleanor hugo but i want to know what happens. why is it so bad like i assumed it would be but i need to hear the exact specific shitty details!!! (if you don’t mind sharing)

*Evelyn Hugo, not Eleanor

(Scroll down to my TLDR section if this is too much)

But... to start off, I need to stay that it's written by a straight, white woman and it is about... a lot of women of color. And the "soulmate" relationship in the book is about a lesbian and a bisexual woman and the bisexual woman is best friends with a gay man.

So, the author is writing about a lot of things she doesn't... really have experience with. I've given my complicated opinion on "Own Voices" which is that it CAN be okay to write outside of your own identity but the onus is on you to get it very, very right. This book... doesn't.

But beyond it just handling race and sexuality HORRIBLY, including a weird line where a gay man admits to always ~a little bit~ wanting to sleep with the bisexual lead and the biracial interviewer admitting she preferred her white husband because he never made her feel like she wasn't black enough (which is VERY odd for a white author to throw in, it made me viscerally uncomfortable).

The book is just... not good. It is EVERY SINGLE "Old hollywood wasn't glamorous, you have to sleep your way to the top and sell your soul" cliche but like... updated to include gay people. The main character's first marriage has domestic violence and her "soulmate' relationship with teh lesbian has the EXACT same patterns of abuse except it's emotional abuse and not physical abuse nad it's just... excused as like? Oh, you know how she can get sometimes...

There's a weird plot where the lesbian is UPSET that her bisexual gf won't be out (WHILE THE LESBIAN GF IS ALSO CLOSETED) IN THE 60S. She's like "Okay, so we might be jailed or forcibly institutionalized and lose our careers, but if you REALLY LOVE ME, you won't be closeted" WHICH IS INSANE. ANd part of the patterns of abuse in the relationship.

The book is fucking boring. It's slog of cliches just mixed in with "But I love this woman so much" even though their love is never really established, just stated. And what we see is the abuse.

There's a VERY weird plot twist where the main character reveals the interviewer's (black) father didn't die from driving drunk. Instead, the black father wa sin a relationship with Evelyn's white gay best friend and the white gay best friend drove drunk, KILLED the dad, and Evelyn moved his dead body to make it seem liek her dad killed himself.

And she knew it was her dad because... he VERY conveniently wrote out a letter saying "I'm a dad, I love my kid, I am also gay for you, but my wife is my platonic soulmate. My name ___. I love you" and the white guy (WHO WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED HER DAD) had the ltter in his pocket?

A VERY weird contrivance.

More weirdness: the book stops, COMPLETELY, to go on SEVERAL like basic diatribes about how like bi erasure is bad, the word whore is used by men to control women, and other like... baby's first feminism lectures. And it feels SOOO proud of itself.

It also stops to be like "You know every historical event between the 50s and present day? Yeah, Evelyn was on the right side of hsitory EVERY time despite being money hungry, dehumanizing to other people, fairly fucking awful to her (Latina) staff, and never once mentioned her politics until the author remembered she was alive during stonewall and the AIDS crisis and that she needed to maek sure you knew Evelyn cared."

The injection of real world events kinda curdled my stomach. Also, the author made sure to say that it was MEN at the frontlines of Stonewall and it's like ???????????????????? Okay, work. Also, die maybe?

The characters are all horrible people but not evne in interesting ways. There's no like complex politics to it. There's not even real nuance to it. It's just like "Evelyn likes to use people but she had to, so it's okay." Which I could get with if she wasn't so otherwise FLAT.

Also, I know this isn't a well organized complaint list, but can I say it is INSANE that the ENTIRE book is about how Evelyn has HUUUGE honkers and htat's why everyone gravitates towards her or forgives her or wants to use her. And then she gets breast cancer and the interviewer thinks "Isn't it funny that the things that got her so far are killing her" and I knooow it's meant to be some like ironic twist of fate thing but idk... it really feels like misogyny. It feels like comeuppance or some weird shit and it made me UNCOMFORTABLE.

TO PUT IT BRIEFLY:

The book is insanely boring and cliche. It is every "Hollywood is SCARY" cliche ever but thinks it's differentiating itself by involving LGB people and people of color but, because it is written by a straight, white woman, it cannot do that well. Every time it tries to smugly diatribe about sexuality, gender, race, class it gets it wrong and makes you feel like you're slowly going insane.

No one cahracter is interesting. The main romance is abusive but doesn't know it's abusive, despite spending entire chapters on how ANOTHER relationship is abusive.

The book is soulless. Isn't particularly well written. Thinks it's smarter and more charming than it is. No one is likeable. No one is funny or sweet.

It runs on shock value but nothing is shocking. IT's the same stupid mistakes over and over again withou tanyone EVER realizing what the REAL mistakes are.

It's bad.

[khaleesiofalicante]

A big plot point in Arthur’s storyline in LBAF V is repeatedly hinted in IALS.

this is going to keep me up at night. Any hints?

Also thankyou for all those facts. I was having a very rough day but it made me feel positive. I feel so inspired by seeing how far David and Max have come. I love stories that span over several decades. I wasn't there when you were writing tlnd so that experience of reading the whole thing all at once was very different. In IALS i feel like I've watched Max and David grow and it's so beautiful.

The last chapter with Alec gave me a lot of insight about Max's character too. You love Max and David so much and i feel so happy for you because they're characters that you made and they're so well written. They're both such good parents even though their motivations are somewhat different. Max had amazing parents and knows what it's like to be loved and he just wants to share that with someone which is why it's so painful to see how much time he lost with his kids. But the fact that even after spending so little time with him his kids basically worship him show just how great of a parent David is for making sure that they knew how much they meant to Max. Even though we don't know his entire story it's clear he was in so much pain but he still made sure that his kids were safe and had a secure life. That is what a good parent does.

Even if this fic was improvised, It is one of the coolest things I've ever read. Also the fact about IALS Max somewhat representing Other Max made me so happy. Jaden can suck it.

Love, Yana

ps. Book Recommendation: Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Hints. Hmmm. I mean, it’s there from the very beginning so 👀 And thank you thank you thank you for the analysis. It made my day 🥺🥺 and thank you for trusting me this journey 💚 And I love Evelyn Hugo 😍😍 I found this tiktok a while ago and I had it bookmarked because I thought it was pretty cool 🥰🥰🥰

[stephanieromanoff]

Angel to wispy for the ask game 😘

Oh my 😂 okay

angel; do you have a nickname? I have several. Here people either call me Stephanie or Steph, and irl people call me Be, Beba or Betine.

awe; how old are you? 21.

bloop; spirit animal? I think it’s wolf.

blossom; favorite book/movie/song? Fav movie is Mamma Mia, book is Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and song currently is Lift Me Up by Rihanna.

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child? A bear.

breeze; most precious childhood memory? The day my cousin (who I consider the sister I’ve always wanted to have) was born.

bubbles; do you have a best friend? I do, more than one.

buttercup; showers or baths? Showers.

butterfly; dream destination? Mexico.

buttons; are you religious or spiritual? No.

calm; favorite scent? Home.

candlelight; what did you dream about last night? I have no idea.

charming; have you ever been in love? I don’t think so.’

cozy; eye/hair color? My eyes are dark brown and my hair is currently ginger.

cupcake; favorite flower/plant? I don’t have one.

cute; what did you get on your last birthday? Alcohol and a card.

cutie pie; most precious item you own? My lesbian flag.

cutsie; what makes you happy? Being around people I like.

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free. When I traveled with my cousin.

daydream; how do you want to be remembered? As someone who made a difference.

daylight; favorite album of all time? I don’t have one.

dear; zodiac sign? Scorpio ♏️

delightful; concerts or museums? Concerts

dimples; have you ever written a letter? Yeah

dobby; dream job? Criminal psychologist

doll; how do you like to dress? Stylish and comfortable

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences? No

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos? I do, 6

drizzle; do you believe in aliens? I believe there’s other beings around the universe

euphoric; talk about someone you love. One of my best friends. She’s been there for me since 7 grade and though we’re very different from each other she’s still like a sister to me

fairy; do you have a pet? I have 2 dogs

fluffy; ocean or mountain? Ocean

forever; where do you feel time stop? Idk

froglet; are you a good plant owner? I don’t really like plants lol

garden; how many languages do you know? 4

gem; who are your favorite tumblrs? You wifey

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice? I don’t really have one

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not? I like when they’re polite

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself. I like my eyes, that I’m always on a good mood, I’m very optimistic, I like my hair and that I’m usually very calm

heart; silk or lace? Lace

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it? Tea. No milk and no sugar.

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why? People watching ig, I’m not really into birds

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep? Rain

jewel; what's your favorite kind of weather? Not too hot or too cold and sunny (if I need to leave my house)

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends? Watch movies or shows and hang out with friends

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more? I usually giggle

kinky; do you blush easily? Yeah because I’m pale af lol

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most? Having a family with my future wife

kitty; what's your favorite time of the day? Afternoon

ladybug; what's your favorite artist to listen to when you're sad? I don’t have a preference on music when I’m sad

love; what is your favorite season and why? Spring because it’s more beautiful considering the flowers and stuff, and also because my birthday is on spring

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream? I don’t really eat macaron, but my favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry

magic; what are five flaws you have? I’m lazy, I procrastinate a lot, I can get angry very easily depending on the person I’m angry at, I get annoyed by people very easily as well and I don’t trust easily

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks? Cool darks

munchkin; what do you look for in your significant other? Loyalty and someone who is fun to be around

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date? With someone I really like doing something I really like

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself? Listening to music

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life? I have to learn how to say “no” more often. It will definitely save me from uncomfortable situations.

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more? Bake

prince; how would vou describe vour handwriting? I feel like my handwriting is pretty if we’re comparing with kids handwritings, but too childish if we compare with adults

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play? I used to play piano and guitar, and I wish I still played piano and learned how to play drums

prinky; how do you relieve stress? Listening to music

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/ vegetable? My favorite fruit is strawberry and I don’t have a favorite vegetable

rainbow what was the last line of the last book you read? I don’t remember

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far? My high school graduation

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you? Figuring out I’m a lesbian

shine; art or music? Music

shimmer; do animals tend to like you? Dogs yes

smitten; do you collect anything? Funko pops

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with? 2

snuggle; what is your favourite candy? Brigadeiro

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind? No

sparkle; do you wear jewelry? Earrings and sometimes a necklace

spooky; sunrise or sunset? Sunset

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones? I prefer without headphones

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child? Wizards of Waverly Place

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house. My bedroom

soothe; digital or vinyl? Digital

squeezed; who do vou miss right now? My friends from uni

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends? The same I value in a romantic partner: loyalty and being fun

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing? Practical

sweet; do you find it easy to open up? It really depends on who I’m opening up to

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any? I love kids and I’d love to have some

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they? My mom

toot; what is something you find unique about yourself? That I try to see the positive side of things in every situation

tootsie; what kind of friend are you? I’d say the clumsy one

treasure; what was something that made you smile today? Seeing my favorite cousin

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl? Early bird

whiffle; if you could have a magical power, what would it be? Teleportation

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out? Doing stuff at home

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup? No

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person? Tidy

wispy; do you like the place where you grew up? do you think you will live there when you get older? I don’t dislike it, and yeah I’d live here when I get older

Thank you for sending this, wifey 💚

[ohjoyce]

2022 in books

It’s been a good year in books. More waves of covid = more time spent inside reading, away from crowds of people so silver linings and all that.

Happily, I’ve also been lucky enough to have lived with and befriended fellow keen bean readers and we’ve swapped our lil paperback collections back and forth. One of my top 5 favourite feelings has got to be watching someone you know read a book you love. Up there too is chatting with a friend about a book they’ve lent you as you read it for the first time. Chef’s kiss experiences.

This year, I elected to read almost entirely for pleasure. I switched jobs two times and worked on getting into a consistent fitness routine of going to the gym 3 times a week so was not looking for anything else challenging or intellectually stimulating to do in my free time. Unfortunately, Canberra does not have very good libraries so I didn't have access to a huge variety of options. But, the library of friends came through with the goods.

Without further ado, a list of my 2022 in books in chronological order that I read them.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet

Quite an interesting and thought-provoking exploration of race and the extent to we are able to choose who we become. Two mixed-race twins growing up in 1950s America experience very different parallel realities as one chooses to capitalise on her lighter skin colour to pass as white. Raised questions of material comfort versus cultural integrity have no clear answers but makes for compelling food for thought.

How We Love by Clementine Ford

This book is slight departure from Clementine Ford's usual stuff-- more tender and vulnerable. Each chapter is about one of the loves in her life and it's as much a letter to a past and future selves as it is an ode to non-romantic love. I also went to her ‘Secular Love Sermon’ aka How We Love book tour show in November of this year which was maybe the best event I went to this year. Here’s to love as bearing witness to life and telling stories always.

The Dry by Jane Harper

Before this year, I hadn't read any of Jane Harper's books. This year I read them all. Goes to show how addictive and effective they are as crime thrillers. The story unfolds and weaves together to reach such a satisfying conclusion. I can't really say too much without spoiling it but Jane Harper has a wonderful way of characterising the Australian bush landscape as a focal point in her novels.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

Incredibly unmemorable. It was pleasant but I can't remember a single thing on reflection.

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Not one of my favourite Jane Harper novels, but as always a great page-turning read.

After I Do by Taylor Jenkin Reid

An interesting exploration of love after marriage and the reality of the highs and lows that starts after most romance stories end. As can be clearly seen from the other books by the same author I kept picking up after this one, I really relished this unconventional premise.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkin Reid

I picked this up because the cover was kind of pretty and I was on a lunch-break walk to Civic Library and this was the best pleasant surprise. Something about this novel reminded me of getting deliciously absorbed into a book during school holidays — falling asleep reading and then reading again first thing in the morning. I have a big soft spot for self-made underdog stories and eldest/only daughter protagonists.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkin Reid

Absolutely devoured this story of old-school glamour, love, and disappointment. Nice and neat tie-in with the narrator/journalist’s own modern day sub-plot.

Entire ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas.

Faerie smut that fits in just about every trope of men written by a woman for the female gaze in a good way. Very fun.

Love Stories by Trent Dalton

Touchingly earnest, Trent Dalton shows us that in hard times, sometimes the best thing to go is to choose to go soft. To choose to show and share the hurt and highs of loving and being loved that are the only things that'll matter in the end. This got me through a chaotic and draining month I worked in family law. I cried a lot.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Again, a lesser favourite but good fun nonetheless.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

This one is up there, so good I reread it a week ago. The perfectly placed red herrings, the family tension, and small-town grudges and secrets. 10/10 times. I particularly enjoyed how men's mental health, loneliness, and isolation were prevalent themes. Jane Harper also sprinkles easter eggs throughout her Faulk novels which subtly intertwine the characters from her books which is fun to spot.

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

There was a lot of online hype about this book, and the author is behind a twitter account I used to follow called 'SoSadToday' (yeah, I know bahaha). But the rather triggering portrayal of disordered eating and punitive calorie counting made this one a pretty stressful read. There was also zero sense of closure at the end, only confusion.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

A very sweet and delightful rom-com read for those of us who are sometimes sick of the overly predictable cookie-cutter romance novel. The protagonist is very relatable and is all in all a refreshing palate cleanser to the saccharine netflix christmas holiday movie tropes.

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

Absent of any particularly astute life advice at least in any productive sense but deeply comforting that the era of being in your twenties is as chaotic as it is character-building and all of it is normal.

The No Show by Beth O'Leary

Slightly over-complicated plot-twist but props for originality and side-plot which I may or may not have become more invested in than the main plot by the end.

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

A fun, quirky, alternative rom-com read with colourful characters and the evergreen message that it's more than ok to be a cosy offbeat weirdo as long as enjoy it.

No Matter Our Wreckage by Gemma Carey

Written by a now-Canberran dwelling lady academic researcher, this book reflexively documents   her own childhood sexual assault and abuse. Which is to say things get very real and very dark at points. But, Gemma Carey refuses to let her story go untold and that courage glues together what is an otherwise tragic and deeply personal patchwork of recollections and tribulations.

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Honestly, I can't say I'm a big Sally Rooney fan but sometimes you are having a mid time and simply want to escape into someone else's even mid-er time this hits. I can't explain it any other way.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

I tried to listen to the audiobook of this story and didn't make it very far but when I found a copy of the paperback, I got through it quite readily. Cosy as all Beth O'Leary novels are, if the obstacle-boyfriend can be a bit characterised as a bit obviously shit.

November 9th Colleen Hoover

If you miss the days of scoffing down random wattpad stories as a tween, this is perfect.

Love and Virtue by Diana Reid

I spent on year studying at the University of Sydney in 2017 and used to always wonder what went on behind the hedges of the overpriced colleges where presumably people with very rich parents lived. This book is almost definitely a very accurate window into the answer. Having studied law and arts at Usyd herself, the

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Wtf!? Truly I was relentlessly gazumped and then bamboozled. No sense can be made of this one, it's beyond sense.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

I've just finished this book, it might be my last read of 2022. A very sweet and escapist read (mostly for me, as a mathematically and scientifically challenged legal professional lmao). Though I will say I enjoyed Ali Hazelwood's other novel The Love Hypothesis a smidge more.

Whew, that was quite a test for my memory. Any outstandingly great or shitty reads for you in 2022? KEEN TO DISCUSS as always.

[solar-halos]

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo: the weird stuff

mk. this reminded me of the west side story discourse where someone said it was really disappointing that characters like anita really wanted to assimilate because it showed how they were putting whiteness on a pedestal. but can i tell you a secret?

i can’t think of anyone on my non-white side of the family that doesn’t put whiteness on a pedestal. the first thing my dad did when he came here was assimilate. when you’re told that anything other than whiteness is weird and strange and undesirable, you’re going to do everything in your power to distance yourself from that. obviously, my dad and the rest of his community is at fault for perpetuating that attitude—for actually believing that whiteness inherently has more value than their actual identity—but let’s not ignore the root of the problem: in the US, white people—especially wealthy white people—like you more of if you assimilate. that’s not to say that they’re gonna respect you, or even be fucking nice to you, but i think it’s very understandable why people like my dad or fictional characters like anita thought that assimilation was their only option to live the american dream. i know im not explaining this very well, because i have no idea what its like to move to another country and immediately get picked out as “other,” so this is just me saying what i’ve noticed from observing people in my family

with that being said, it absolutely makes sense why evelyn repressed her cuban heritage for so long. monique is a separate issue, because i think the author wrote her very poorly from the get-go (like, seriously? killing off her black parent but then keeping in the white patent is such a tired trope, but it might even be something she did subconsciously bc she’s obviously not going to be familiar with writing the dynamics of a biracial family other than the very basic blurbs of “everyone disapproved of my parents relationship” that was regurgitated throughout the entire story)

anyway. back to evelyn. it was really disappointing that her cuban identity was consistently only mentioned in passing throughout the entire story. i thought we were gonna be building up to something—anything—but all that happened is that evelyn moved to spain. which is another thing that’s so fucking crazy to me. dialects can be tricky, and the author certainly acknowledged that, but i have friends who grew up with mexican spanish being their first language that cannot understand different dialects from places like argentina and (you guessed it!) spain. and then saying “mexican spanish” and “argentinian spanish” is an oversimplication in itself, cos there’s plenty of dialects within that.

i don’t know. i guess what i’m trying to say is that, at first, in the 50s, it really makes sense why evelyn completely ignored that side of herself. i thought it was bc she couldn’t afford to think that way, but now it’s just obvious that the author had no idea how to develop that storyline bc she’s not cuban, she’s not hispanic, she’s just a white woman writing a cuban character. and, honestly? im not going to claim that i’ve exclusively written what i know, because ragging on her for writing a character she’s not exactly like would be so hypocritical of me. i write annie cresta as a woc all the fucking time, even though i’m white passing, so i’m not going to sit here and say that the author should only write people that look like her. but the stuff i include about annie that i’m not personally familiar with is either based on experiences i’ve witnessed or feelings im familiar with (like the feeling of not really fitting in to either side of my family, or even feeling like i “belong” too much to a certain side), so i think that maybe she should have tried to put more effort into that. i’m not sure how, because i know studying something doesn’t atomically mean you know have a personal connection to it, but i feel like it could have made evelyn’s experiences feel more organic. she kind of reminded me of rita hayworth, except, yk, rita hayworth was kinda just white mixed with white. but it was the 50s! anything that wasn’t all-american was somehow a threat, so maybe she could have gone down that route? like, yeah, rita was still white, but she still got a whole chunk of her identity erased. like im not sure what specific type of white the author is but maybe that would be more in her ballpark

also. i tried not to read other people’s thoughts on this bc i didn’t want it to heavily influence mine but i saw someone say that she catered completely to the male gaze with her relationship with celia. and as a queer woman, im gonna say i don’t think so. like, there was a weird moment where evelyn said that celia’s obsession with her tits mirrored all the straight men she’s been with before, but i took that as a 1950s-not-really-concerned-about-the-nuances-of-sexuality thing. but reading other people’s opinions i will admit that maybe that wasn’t the authors intent when writing that, so maybe it was just a happy coincidence that she wrote something like that in a very hostile time period so that she could just use the “but it was the 50s!!” excuse if someone started questioning it. also, someone said that the last thing on a woman’s mind when kissing another woman is how different they are from men, but i think we’re gonna need the older sapphics to weigh in on this. like, again: it was the 50s. evelyn was fucking scared. she had no idea what bisexuality was. and then she’s suddenly kissing a woman. she’s kissing a woman, even though she “should” be kissing a man (1950s rhetoric), and that’s scary and celia is so different than anyone (men) she’s kissed before, but it somehow works? like she’s softer and has a more feminine figure and is nothing like a man, but that doesn’t matter to evelyn bc she loves her anyway. that’s what i got from her immediately comparing celia’s figure/physique to don’s. she wasn’t necessarily comparing it to say which one was better; she was pointing out how, despite all those differences, the kiss still felt right anyway. it felt good anyway, even though everyone (aka the homophobes) said it shouldn’t

so i guess what im trying to say is that evelyn ignoring her heritage and making homophobic comments seemed more like a product of her time and internalized hatred that she needed to work through. for me, the problem arises when she doesn’t work through it because the author had no idea how to approach the issue. and im sorry maybe this is internalized queerphobia on my part, but i really didn’t have an issue with how evelyn and celia’s relationship was portrayed. like i mentioned in my first post, the stuff they said to each other was genuinely so romantic. i’m not saying the portrayal wasn’t flawed at all, because i could certainly tell that the author probably wasn’t queer while i was reading it, but i’d take this to “love, simon” any day. like i know that author is bi, so i did enjoy “leah on that off beat” in middle school, but her writing about gay men gave me the same vibe as the author of this book writing about sapphic lovers 😭😭 like it was cute i guess (from what i remember) but you could tell that this was uncharted territory for both of them

however, i do understand that a white woman writing poc into her stories is taking away platforms for woc women to write woc characters. people are always like “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” which i don’t think is true. like i said, writing annie cresta as someone who isn’t white passing even though im white passing myself is kinda the same thing as what this author is doing, but i think something that makes or breaks how u do this is writing about what u personally know, even if it’s just a little bit, so you have something to build off of. (i’m also adding a disclaimer here saying that even though i am writing what i know, that absolutely doesn’t mean there isn’t room for nuance. what im doing is flawed in itself, too. there’s no defending that, either. it’s just more authentic to me than writing about an all-white family, bc id have no idea where to start. but this isn’t even about me sorry im just trying to say that people acting like its impossible to write characters that aren’t exactly like you in a way that’s still authentic isn’t really true, it’s just harder)

as i was saying, the author is writing about what she knows, too, but since she’s just white, she’s not gonna know much unless she goes out of her way to try. i just don’t understand why she didn’t go down the rita hayworth route. it’s the approach i personally would have taken. because, even though i dont know what its like to be spanish—this author probably doesn’t, either—the experience of being Othered bc of very minor deviances of anglo saxon beauty is something i can relate to. i never say “my hair is too light” i always say “my nose is too big.” that’s not exclusively a nonwhite problem, and i think that’s where the author messed up. she shouldn’t *only* write what she knows, per se, but she should definitely be writing about things she’s familiar with. and i know im talking about myself way too much, but i just think it’s weird that even though im someone who isn’t technically only white, i still would feel more comfortable writing a person from more modern history that is (annie being in panem gave me a lot of leeway), so i don’t know why she felt comfortable writing a person that isn’t

uh oh. this post got very very long. but i guess what im trying to say is that evelyn’s struggle with her identity was less authentic as the story progressed, and that was solely because the author didn’t know how to make it feel organic, which is super unfortunate. also, new talking point: no fucking way would harry and evelyn be like “welp. the only way for us to have a bio baby is to raw dog it.” like WHAT? again i’m sapphic and i like men but if that were me we’d have to figure SOMETHING out, im not having actual sex with someone when i have a girl. like idk just the thought of putting the work in is nauseating to me, she literally just needed the sperm so harry could have jacked off or something. tbh i don’t rlly wanna think about this. maybe it’s the asexual in me

conclusion: if i’m having these thoughts, as someone who is kinda white, how much more severe is it for people who aren’t? like atp the author needs to just stop writing hispanic characters it’s like a theme for her and no one is ever fucking happy about it

[celiastjamesoscar]

hi grace its been so long!! how have you been since we last spoke? 🤍

7 husbands of evelyn hugo finally arrived today!! im so excited to start reading it, im taking the day off work tomorrow to go up to the winter wonderland in london so i think i will read it on the train but it will only be for 20mins! :)

i was playing badminton today with one hand because of my splint and omg i tripped over again 😭 honestly i dont know whats happened to me ive suddenly got so clumsy

buggy was a nightmare today he went out of the little dog door we have and managed to escape through the fence early this morning at around 4am, into our neighbours garden and went through their open gate onto the street only to come up to our front door.

we have a ring doorbell which detects movement outside the house and rings automatically as my mum is very paranoid about someone breaking in, anyway because he kept running around on the drive it kept setting off the doorbell, honestly hes so annoying, he woke me up and i had to go outside in the cold and chase him to get him back after he kept running away from me

however i was watching the 3rd hangover movie yesterday and my mum was in the living room with me and when she glanced up at the screen to see chow and stu breaking in with the collars she now wants to get rid of the lil doggy door 😭

It has been entirely too long since we have last spoke my love! I’ve been doing good; I’ve almost finished my first semester of college. How have you been? Is your hand doing any better? 🤍

You’ll have to let me know what you think about it! It’s such a beautifully written book, so I hope you love it. Be safe on your train ride and have fun!!

Girl 😭 you are going to have to live in bubble wrap so you don’t trip anymore

Buggy is a menace and he must be stopped. Little dude went through all of that trouble just to go to the front door? I admire his dedication to torment you guys

I want to meet Buggy 😭 I need to experience his level of craziness at least once in my life. He was honestly running in front of that ring doorbell just to aggravate you guys and especially since he ran away for you. I envy him

I will never have a doggy door because of that scene in the Hangover and because of that one criminal minds episode where the killer got in through the doggy door. Your mom is a real one for wanting to get rid of it

Also, I’ve been working on your reporter!reader fic, and I’ve gotten a little over 11K words for it!

[isalms]

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - the (fictional) woman who took Hollywood by storm

What is it like to listen to a famous movie star's life and write her biography? In the book , an unexperienced journalist - and I as the reader - learn just that. In this post I talk about my experience with reading and discussing this novel for Book Club!

Welcome to my first book review! In this post I will discuss the first book I read during my ALMS course - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I am reading this book as part of one of my support groups, the Book Club! Join me as I write down scattered notes from my reading sessions, and thoughts that I gathered during my Book Club meetings.

20.9 The introductory Book Club meeting!

Today I had my first meeting with the book club. For this meeting we had all prepared by thinking about our reading habits and preferences, which we then discussed together with the whole group. I have always enjoyed reading, and I used to read a looooooot. Nowadays, when I'm busy with school and work, I find myself reading way too little. Like many others in the group, I hope that taking part in the Book Club will motivate me to read during the course, but after it ends too!

I ended up in the Romance group, because Fantasy books and Classics aren't really my thing. I was unsure about the Romance genre at first, because to me, Romance can be difficult to discuss with others. However, after discussing ideas with each other, we decided to read a book called The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. According to our short research, this book not only focuses on romance and love, but on some social issues as well. It was also on some of our group members' wish lists, so it was an easy choice at the end.

I'm excited to start reading the book (once I get hold of a copy) and I'm especially looking forward to our first Club meeting! Hopefully the book is as good as people say, it seems to be on many young people's favorites list.

2.10 A check-in after 43 pages

I finally started reading the book today! I was able to read about 40 pages, enough to get an introduction of the characters and the structure of the novel.

The novel follows Monique Grant, a mostly unknown journalist battling with her split from her husband of 11 months. Monique works for a paper, and gets unsuspectedly contacted by the famous actor, Evelyn Hugo. Hugo is a movie star known for her many scandals and marriages – seven to be exact – and she wants to conduct an interview with Monique. This is the first time in decades that Hugo agrees to do an interview, which makes Monique and the paper she works for very excited.

Monique meets up with Hugo at her lavish apartment, where she reveals that Monique is not writing a cover for the paper, but instead writing Hugo's biography – which is to be published after her death. After some thinking, Monique agrees to listen to and tell the story of Evelyn Hugo.

After the first 43 pages I'm already hooked. The way this novel is written keeps me wanting to continue, and I found myself breezing through the pages very quickly. So far the story has been about Monique and Evelyn meeting each other, and I'm excited to learn about the life on this huge movie star! I will definitely keep reading soon.

3.10 Already 132 pages in

I could not leave the book alone for too long, so today I sat down to keep reading! I was able to get through about 90 pages before I had to allow myself to do other things.

So far, the perspective has been that of Monique's, but now the story is being told from Evelyn's perspective. The book is divided into section based on the man Evelyn Hugo is married to at the time, which starts with her first husband Ernie Diaz. This section explored Evelyn's back story and how she found herself becoming an actress in Hollywood. There, she meets her second husband Don Adler.

The story so far shifts between Monique's perspective, her thoughts and daily life after her meetings with Evelyn, and Evelyn's perspective, where she tells the stories of her life and her journey with each husband. I like the balance between the two perspectives, especially since Evelyn's story gets very deep and heavy at times.

There is already so much to talk about with this book, and I'm excited to both keep reading and prepare for my next Book Club meeting. I have really enjoyed reading, doing it in English has not proven to be difficult. I also think reading a novel will help me improve my own writing, especially the short story I am working on for my Creative Writing support group!

9.10 Already through 204 pages

My plan to read the book in small chunks over multiple days hasn't really worked out. I find myself waiting for the right moment to sit down, and once I do find that time, I spend over an hour reading.

So far, I have learned a lot about Evelyn Hugo and her life as a Hollywood star. I have learned about a few more of Evelyn's marriages, but most importantly that Evelyn isn't actually in love with any of them. Her big love is in fact a woman - her old co-star Celia St. James. Or should I say was, since Evelyn ruined her relationship with Celia when she was trying to protect them both.

13.10 The first Book Club meeting!

Today we held our first Book Club meeting! During our meeting we discussed the book so far, focusing on the plot, the characters, some larger themes and our reading experiences so far!

All of us had been able to read at least 120 pages before the meeting, and agreed that the book was easy to read and very hard to stop reading. I'm glad my fellow group members enjoyed the book as much as I did, as it made it easier to discuss.

During our meeting, we focused a lot of time into talking about some bigger themes portrayed in the book, such as homosexuality in 50s and 60s Hollywood, as well as other norms that have changed since then. It was particularly interesting to discuss these things with others, because I got new insight and perspective from them, and I started seeing certain topics or characters in a different light.

This meeting was also good practice for speaking English. Our group only consists of four people, but we all have different skill-levels in different areas of the language, which lead to us also helping each other. If someone was struggling to find the right word to use in English, we were able to help them and translate from Finnish or Swedish!

I'm looking forward to our next meeting, which we planned for the 23rd. We are all eager to keep reading, so we couldn't let the time before the next meeting drag on for too long! I am especially excited to learn how Monique's and Evelyn's lives intersect, as someone in the Book Club mentioned that this very thing was teased in the blurb.

19.10 My thoughts with 100 pages to go

After a short break, I am back to reading! Over the last couple of days I have made a lot of progress, reading half of the remaining book.

So far the story hasn't taken any major, unexpected turns. Evelyn is continuing her story, talking about her latest marriage to Harry Cameron. Harry has been Evelyn's best friend throughout the whole book, and he continued to be that during this marriage as well. That is because Harry is gay, Evelyn is bisexual, and they got married to protect themselves in a time when homosexuality wasn't accepted. The two even have a daughter together, and live together as a family.

Evelyn also gets back together with Celia, her great love, only to lose her once again over a movie-performance with her ex-husband Don. Although tragic at times, the story of Evelyn and Celia is very beautiful, highlighting what love should feel like even when it has to remain a secret.

With only 100 pages remaining, I am eagerly waiting for something big to happen in the story. Something is coming, it has been teased many times, and I'm very excited to learn just what will happen next.

20.10 I finished it

Yes, that's right, I finished the last of the book in less than three hours. I simply couldn't stop reading the last pages.

The first half of the last 100 pages felt somewhat uneventful. Evelyn gets married to a man who doesn't love her as much as he loves the idea of her, which makes her rekindle her love with Celia after a decade (finally!). The two of them move away from Hollywood, settle down in a town where no one knows them and Evelyn marries her last husband - Celia's brother Robert - to inherit Celia's life after she passes away.

In the last 100 pages Evelyn goes through a lot of loss - Celia, Harry and her daugher, Connor. Out of these, the most heartbreaking one to me was the death of Harry, because not only did Evelyn lose her soul mate and best friend in that car accident, Monique lost her father. This was the big twist in the story - Harry had been seeing and in love with Monique's late father James. This was revealed at the end of the book, and I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear or two.

The book was wonderful to read. It stayed interesting throughout and I never got bored, even at times when not much of importance was happening. The twist at the end was unexpected but still made sense, which made the whole story even better! I'm so excited to talk about it during my next Book Club meeting.

23.10 The second Book Club meeting!

We met for our second meeting today! All of u shad finished the book and we discussed everything about it - how much we liked it, the characters, the plot, the ending etc.

Before the meeting I was very much in love with the book. It was the first novel I have read for a while, and I thought everyone else would agree. However, after discussing with the others, I realized the book wasn't actually as amazing as it had appeared.

I still like the book, as did everyone else, but we came to the conclusion that it could've been better. There were some parts in the book that weren't explained much (for example multiple years just glossed over), while the book simultaneously didn't leave anything up to the reader's imagination. There wasn't really any mystery in the book, everything was explained, and I think one of my peers said something that really made me realize this.

"I finished the book a few days ago and haven't thought about it since.

It's true, I also hadn't thought about the book since I finished reading it. I remember reading my favorite book (it's called All the Bright Places, btw) and thinking about it for days if not weeks after finishing it. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was so easy to read and didn't leave me with anything to think about after I read all of it, which is a little disappointing.

We also questioned some parts of the plot, which we didn't feel were necessary in the novel. I haven't even mentioned Monique's divorce from her partner David in this post, that's how unnecessary that storyline felt!

There were some other parts we questioned too, but that being said, we still enjoyed the novel. We would all give it a 4/5 star rating.

During our meeting we decided to keep our club going and to read another novel. Stick around for my next Book Club post, where I will be discussing my experience with my next book!

[fiendslothful]

1, 2, 12?🖤

1. How many books did you read this year?

I think about 6 or 7 books at the most, or 4 or 5 at the least. I honestly remember like reading only 4 books this year lol.

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Yeah, two things this year. The first book I reread was The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue. This was kind of an overdue third reread. I got it when I was 14 and I understood none of it. I reread during Easter because we went away for those days. It was a nice time :). Plus at the same time, my sister and I were watching Emma 2020 on the motel's tv and we just kept rewatching it over and over. It was a nice companion piece to the book despite the difference in era, plot, cast, aesthetic, progression, etc.

The second book I reread was The Poet X. I got it out again at the library and I remembered why I loved it in the first place. I'm not Dominican in any way like the lead character is, but god I saw so much of myself in her, especially this time around since the last time I read it about three ish years ago. It was a really good book, I reccomend it :).

12. Any books that disappointed you?

(Incoming rant-ish and spoilers)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was disappointing in a few aspects, though not in the way I thought it would be. When this book first came out, everyone gushed about how diverse the book is and how great said diversity is. Like, I agree it has good diversity, but my god is some of it poorly written.

Now, the queer characters in the book? They're fine, they're great even. I have issues with one of the characters, but that may be a topic for another day. It's not them who I have an issue with, but I have an issue with the poc characters in the book, mainly Monique and how she was written.

In the first page of the first chapter of the book, we find out from Monique that her boss Frankie is black and that she herself is biracial. And the wording of how she describes her boss and herself to me is...off? Like, here's the quotes.

"I'm not sure that you'd say she was coventionally attractive–her features are severe, her eyes very wide apart���but she is nevertheless someone you can't help but look at and admire. With her thin, six-foot-tall frame, her short-cropped Afro, and her affinity for bright colors and big jewelry, when Frankie walks into a room, everyone takes notice." — Monique about her boss, page 4, Chapter 1.

"...And if I'm being honest, there is something very inspiring about having a black woman running things. As a biracial woman myself–light brown skin and dark brown eyes courtesy of my black father, an abundance of face freckles courtesy of my white mother–Frankie makes me feel more sure that I can one day run things, too." — Monique about herself, page 4, Chapter 1.

Now, it could be just me feeling like this, but the way these quotes are written and worded is just off to me. When I first read those quotes, I had to stop reading and try and process what the hell I just read, because as someone who question her identity as a Māori girl sometimes and where that places me in both the world and my family, not once have I ever thought of myself like this or described myself like this..

Really, it's only Monique who talks about race this way. Yes, there are a few bits in the book where Evelyn talks about her identity as a Cuban - American woman that rang just a teeny bit hollow, but the writing of that side of her character is, to me at least, a lot better than how Monique's own struggle with her race is written.

After having read the book, I looked up reviews for the book on Youtube, and most of the reviewers were white girl fawning over how amazing the representation was, and how diverse it was. And it just frustrates me because they just don't know or care. They gush about the representation, but when they do, they barely mention Monique (literally most of the time everybody would just say "Monique is biracial" and move on) or just completely don't mentuon her at all.

I had looked up the author, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and found that she was white and straight. As I was looking for stuff about the book, I found some reviews and an interview with the author. In those reviews, they mostly agree with me in that the writing of race is overall off. In the interview, Taylor Jenkins Reid said some interesting things that I'll let you read for yourself:

The interview.

One of the reviews.

Another review.

I am more frustrated with this aspect of the book, but I am disappointed in the end because the book is so well written and well told, so when it cuts to racial issues, it feels jarring to me. Despite this, I really liked the book. Now idea how I would rate it.

[lesbian-helen-gansey]

10 Favorite Books of 2021

Making this list made me realize that I read a lot of books this year that I just felt meh about, which was kind of disappointing, but these are the really good ones! About 70% of what I read was fiction, and about 70% were written by women. This is also where I once again add the caveat that I’m terrible at summarizing books, but I do have good taste. You just have to trust me. 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book is about four celebrity siblings who are hosting the party of the summer, and the narrative takes place over the course of the party as everything starts to go wrong. It’s my favorite kind of book in that it’s about people’s relationships with each other, which all books are kind of about, but this one especially. The bond between siblings, the pressure each of them feels in their role in the family, how can you be responsible for each other when no adult has been responsible for you etc. Calling all Lynch Siblings Lovers. (Adult fiction)

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

This is not a feel good read. This book made me very sad, but Alan Hollinghurst is one of, if not my favorite writer, so it’s worth it. I’ve never read another author that describes the specificity and complexity of human emotion the way that he does. This book takes place during the 80s in England, and is about Nick, a gay man, who moves in with his friend’s wealthy conservative family. It follows his experiences over the course of several years of trying to exist as a gay man in this time and find meaningful relationships with people without being able to be very open with any of them. It’s very character driven and is about Nick’s emotional experience as he tries to figure out who he is and how he fits in the world. Hollinghurst is such a talented writer and the book really shows off his craft. (Adult Fiction)

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

This is a super interesting book about how structural racism in America has led to the country’s economic inequality. It talks about the history of a variety of policies including housing and social safety programs and how people would rather destroy these programs entirely than see Black people benefit from them. These is really accessible nonfiction as it’s very narrative based. (Non-fiction)

The Crying Book by Heather Christle

If you love the web-weaving style posts on this website, than this book is for you. This book is all about crying -how we cry, why we cry, what it means to cry-, and Christle weaves together science, philosophy, and her personal experience into something that reads both like a personal essay and an extended poem. It’s really creative and beautiful. I don’t think anything else like it exists. Every page had a quote I wanted to remember. (creative non-fiction) 

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

A group of old college friends take their annual New Year’s Eve trip to a secluded hunting lodge. It seems like their personal drama and the secrets they’re keeping will be enough drama to keep them busy for the trip, until someone is killed. A snowstorm means no one can get in or out of the lodge. New secrets, old friends, someone dead, no help on the way. (Adult fiction)

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

It seems almost unfair to say I read this book In 2021 when what really happened was that is took me over a year to get through this audiobook, but I did finish it in 2021, so I’m saying it counts. This book is about a boy, Theo, whose mother dies in a terrorist attack at an art museum. It follows him trying to come to terms with this trauma as he becomes an adult. He also stole a painting, which is both the entire point and not the point. This book is very much an exercise in craft with extensive descriptions that Tartt can only get away with because she is such a talented writer. A book that’s worth the effort. (Adult Fiction)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 

Another TJK! This one is about a famous movie star, Evelyn Hugo, during the golden age of Hollywood. She is looking back on her infamous life and career through the lens of her seven different husbands. I cried more reading this book than any other in recent memory, but in a good way, obviously. I agree with all the popular praise of this book that talks about how vivid Evelyn’s life seems, that it seems like she must have been a real actress. For all the times I got emotional, this was a really fun read, mostly light and easy. (Adult fiction)

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

This year I got really into domestic thriller type books, I think in part because they tend to be quick and easy, and they also really center around the lives of women. This book is about a young mom, Sophie, who recently moved her family to a small town in Texas. Her new life isn’t what she thought it would be, and she becomes fascinated with the gorgeous and wealthy Margot. As her friendship obsession with Margot becomes more intense, she begins to spiral into a world of sex and violence she’s not sure she can get out of, or even really wants to. (Adult Fiction)

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Steifvater

This was both a very thoughtful and heart warming book that made me very happy. I just thought it was the sweetest thing, and I really loved it. It’s about a family who preforms miracles and the people who seek them out. After a miracle goes wrong for one of their cousins, they reconsider if their traditions are as true as they think they are. Also, people fall in love. Maggie Steifvater has such a knack for creating complex, loveable characters, and this book is no different. (young adult fiction)

The Girls are All so Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

This is by far the craziest book I read this year. If you want to read about girls being evil to each other and villainous behavior, this is the book for you. Told in two timelines, Amb is attending her college reunion and is being threatened with revenge for what she did her freshman year. It’s about the pressure women feel to compete with each other and the way that projecting your insecurities onto others can make you into the vilian in the story really quickly  (Adult Fiction, cw sa)

(I feel like everyone on here already knows I loved Call Down the Hawk and Mister Impossible, so It feels redundant to put them on the list, but those too!!)

[pebblysand]

Hi!!! Happy travels! (is that thing in French or English?) soooo, I see you're going to read Evelyn Hugo, and this is my official request that when you finish it you come back here and give your opinions on it! I have A LOT of feelings/opinions about it, but I'd like to hear from you! Have a nice day!

hey anon! thank you! i don't think "happy travels" is a saying per se, but the french is "good travels", so i get what you mean <3.

okay so i'd actually started evelyn hugo this summer, and finished the rest on the plane yesterday, so i'm happy to report back! spoilers below the cut.

i gave it a 4/5 in my own little book rating system, and overall, i really, really liked it.

what i loved:

i loved how queer it was (which i wasn't expecting), but also how realistic it was in terms of queer stigma - not only with its time, but also with the film industry in general. i loved the conversation where one of them is like "elton john's been out for years" and the other one is like "yeah, elton john isn't living off his straight sex appeal though." it's kind of true. say a male-gaze beauty icon like megan fox was to come out as gay, i'm not sure she'd be as marketable, etc. so, in sum, i loved that aspect of the book. i loved the struggle everyone experiences with the sexuality, and how hard being in the closet also is, lying to everyone all the time. i thought this was great.

i also loved the way the book deals with the passage of time, and the phenomenon of getting old, especially in the public eye. i love how it blurs over whole sections of evelyn's life, in a "life just happened" sort of way, because that's also the truth, isn't it? years just pass sometimes.

i also very much loved (i think this might actually be my favourite thing about the book) how much value it puts on friendship, and chosen families, rather than biological families. i thought this was very unusual and refreshing, in adult literature. children's literature often puts a lot of value on friendship, then it all becomes about romance, and what the fuck do these people do with their friends, you know? and i felt like the relationship between harry and evelyn in this book was every bit as important as her relationship with celia, and treated with the same level of care and respect, which i very much appreciated. the fact that the happiest time in evelyn's life seems to be when they were all living in manhattan together felt so very precious. i frankly started bawling (in public, on the plane lmao) when harry died, and didn't stop until connor died. that's also perhaps something i wasn't expecting about this book. it is sad.

what i loved... less:

the reason why this book is a 4 ⭐️ and not a 5 ⭐️ is two-fold.

first, whilst it was well-written (and, if i ever manage to write an original work of fiction to this level, i will be very happy), the style didn't make me go "wow". the prose was great, it was lively and definitely enjoyable, but it didn't have the jaw-dropping factor i sometimes find in novels like incendiary or normal people. those are my five-stars, and this just wasn't to that level.

second, and most importantly, i just didn't like the end. i felt like the final reveal fell... flat? at least, for me. if the story of monique's father was going to be the front and centre of her relationship with evelyn, i would have wanted more... context? on her life, on her parents? i feel like if that was going to be The Story, then why spent all that time on her failing marriage? when the reveal happened, i was like "wait, who is james grant?" ���. i just wasn't as shocked as i feel i should have been. i feel like this part of the story was unnecessary, didn't really answer anything, and if the gayness of her own father was going to be the question, then this reveal should have occurred maybe mid-book, and given monique more time to react to it/sort it out? idk. i just felt like the evelyn story was so beautiful and intense, it could have stood on its own, without that final reveal.

additionally, i'm a bit annoyed that nothing was said about the way that monique seemed to think moving the body in the car was Perfectly Okay until she found out the dead guy was her father, at which point she freaked? i would have loved for her to have a conversation with evelyn (or at leats it be addressed somehow) about how morally reprehensible actions against people you don't know, often feel a lot more justifiable than morally reprehensible actions against people you do know. this was totally not addressed, and it frankly pissed me off.

so yeah, overall, i really liked the book, but it had its flaws. but i'm curious, what are your thoughts? ❤️

[feysandfeels]

Top 5 standalones, gimme some recs babes

Sarah sugar of my life, you are indulging me so! Yes boo, I will give you recs because if there's anything I can give in life is this.

Top 5 Standalone recs:

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. If you've read the Sun is Also a Star, then this book is like its big sister. Beautiful story about race, gender, migration interwoven with a realistically hopeful love story

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab. A stunningly written book in what makes humanity endure. A book that gives voice the most heartbreaking and beautiful aspects of our existence. A love letter to our need to be seen and heard and remembered. A walk through a statue garden.

Circe by Madeline Miller. I think few books will stand the test of time like this one. A story you can come back over and over and over again because like Circe we are bound to this earth and our time in it offers infinite experiences during our finite time, infinite versions of who we are and who we could be. Nothing compares to Circe and i think after a year in this pandemic her story and the way she relates to loneliness is very telling.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six, both by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Each one is a standalone on a secluded mysterious Hollywood actress from the golden age who commissions a writer to work on her biography and on a band that broke up during the height of their fame in the middle of their best tour but no one knows why until decades later when they are finally telling the story, respectively. The audio book for Daisy Jones is AMAZING, feels like a documentary/podcast. These book are the conversation on Love that I think everyone should read in order to truly understand this deep emotion. I cannot recommend them enough.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. Dark Academia vibes, smart, sexy, intriguing, thought provoking. I devoured this book and I think it's very accesible to all audiences because the reflections it enables come from simple ideas that have crossed our minds at one point or another. Even when the characters are very direct on their archetypes they aim to dig deeper on what we think of them and the limits or classic characteristics of their type. This book like Addie LaRue is a whole aesthetic and vibe and just chef's kiss. Also secret society about the caretakers of the Library of Alexandria... like c'mon enough said.

BONUS: I'll give you the sun by Jady Nelson. It's been a couple of years since I read this but it's beauty, tenderness and growth have stayed with me. The story about grief and love and growth (again) is so true and real that it helps us understand those processes too. Oddly enough it is a heartbreakingly happy book.

Also The Secret History by Donna Tart.. but that is like a modern classic. It's amaziiiiiiiing and the characters are just a whole other level of engaging. Combined with a story on human nature and the limits of curiosity is just *chef's kiss*

Ask me my “Top 5″ anything

[bookaddict24-7]

REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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85. When We Were Them by Laura Taylor Namey--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Namey does it again, but with some extra tears this time. What an absolutely beautiful story of friendship, family, love, and grief. These are the kinds of friendships that most people aren’t lucky enough to experience in their lifetime. I knew the heartbreak was coming but it still didn’t stop my tears from coming. And that decision at the end? I’m not lying when I say that I cried TWICE while reading this book. Also, I loved the mention of some of them being Cuban and including Spanish and the family togetherness that comes with being Cuban. This author wowed me with her last book and I’m so glad I was able to read this one, too! She’s definitely an autobuy for me! If you want a story about three close friends and their experiences together through hardships and grief, you might enjoy this one. This has a love story inside of it, but this story is more about the friendships that help build us up and help us grow.

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86. When All the Girls Are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault--⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was entertaining because of the intriguing mystery and the occasionally spooky moments. I found myself truly curious about what the MC would find in her investigation. While it wasn't my favourite ghost story, I can appreciate it for the tropes it explored, mainly the boarding school, mean girls, and sounds in the night themes. But the thing about this book is that it was just...a bit of fun on my way to my next book? I'm not even 100% sure what to say about it in this review.

I WILL say this though: the ending was both a good and disappointing twist. I'll admit that at one point there were so many characters that I lost track of them all. So that affected me in trying to solve the mystery before the twist, but alas, I was taken by surprise. I was disappointed because it didn't go the way I wanted, and it was at the same time good because I didn't see it going where it did. Anyway, this is a good read for those who don't want a super scary ghost story set in a boarding school! You'll be able to read this one in the dark.

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87. Violeta by Isabel Allende--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ugh, this book was SO BEAUTIFUL. Basically, as I explained to a friend of mine, this book will feed that craving you may have had after finishing SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO. Steeped in history and full of characters that felt so real that I had to fight the urge to google them afterwards, Allende's novel was a work of art. I have never read anything by this author and the first thought I had while listening to this audiobook was "I wonder what it would be like to read this in Spanish?" (Now I want to get the Spanish edition to read). We follow Violeta from the moment she is born until the moment she dies (not a spoiler, just an inevitability) and this woman lived such an incredibly full life during tumultuous moments in American and South American history. I literally just finished this like twenty minutes ago and I'm still sitting beside her as she breathes her last breaths. If you read a beautifully written book this year, let it be VIOLETA. Also, be prepared to find yourself invested with all of the characters Violeta meets and grows with. One of the saddest and most beautiful things about books like this is that you have the pleasure (or displeasure) of meeting these pivotal characters and then know them until their deaths. This aspect of books like this feed into my fear of passing time and how we are all momentary stories in each others' lives. Anyway, read this. It's gorgeous. One of my favourite reads of the years. Hands down.

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88. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins--⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m not much of a thriller reader but the premise for this one really caught my eye. This was an enjoyable read that I think would be great for the summer! It wasn’t perfect and had various flaws (like the characters and the going back and forth from the past to the present.) I will say, however, that I surprisingly didn’t see that twist coming. After it happened, I smacked myself because I should have but the characters played the whole thing off really, really well (or otherwise, there’s a plot hole or two in there somewhere.) I’m a sucker for anything relating to small and uninhabited islands, so this was an intriguing aspect. They definitely teased us about the sharks though, I’m not going to lie. Maybe I should read more thrillers by this author?

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89. The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I first came across this book at work, I was immediately intrigued by the simple cover and the synopsis. Despite its length, this book had me hooked until the very end. One of the weirdest things in here, which I'm surprised I haven't seen more of in newer fiction, is the casual mention of the pandemic and the aftermath. It was jarring seeing the narrators refer to it so casually because, honestly, I've found that a lot of authors have preferred to treat the topic as something that doesn't exist in their fiction. Other than that, I quite enjoyed this and the way the characters grew from their experiences. The author begins the book with a trigger warning and the idea that this book deals with a personal topic: Domestic Abuse. The parts where we see it in action are disturbing and incredibly sad, especially when you take into account all of the players involved, the victim blaming, and the incredible gaslighting happening from people in power. I also really liked that we got multiple perspectives because this story is more than a linear one. I enjoyed seeing the wave of metaphorical destruction one decision caused because it led to so much growth. A couple of things took away from the rating, though. First, I do wish this was a scarier book. There was definitely the potential for scarier moments (and I don't mean body horror, or zombie-like activities). There were definitely some eerie and stomach turning moments, but I feel like this would have benefitted from more psychological horror, maybe? The second thing is that we don't truly see a lot of The Violence. Maybe that's what the author was trying to do; the lingering fear of whether or not you have could possibly be the real point. I think The Violence is also a bit of a metaphor for some of the topics explored and it is a plot device, which is fine, but I would have liked to see more of it outside of the metaphorical stage. Anyway, I enjoyed this and it's definitely for those who enjoyed slightly longer subtle horror. Also, if you want a bit of social commentary in your horror novels, then this one could be for you!

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90. A School Frozen in Time Vol 3 by Naoshi Arakawa & Mizuki Tsujimura--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This volume was a lot creepier, which I find fitting considering how close we are to the end. I like that this volume also touches on the different kinds of pain and grief that we experience when faced with our own unique circumstances (unique in how we feel and how we handle said situations). There was one character in a flashback that I wanted to push into a muddy puddle. She’s one of those people who sees someone being bullied and says “I’m no hero, it’s not my problem.” Anyway, onto the final volume! (I think I know who the person who put them in this situation is…let’s see if I’m right.)

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Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

[thetypedwriter]

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic Book Review by V.E. Schwab 

I should really trust myself more. 

Do you ever have that one gut feeling or you just know yourself and if you’re going to like something or not?

That was my experience with A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I’ve read only one other V.E. Schwab novel and it was Vicious-you can read my review on it HERE. 

And while I by no means disliked Vicious, I was also not nearly as enraptured as everyone else seemed to be about the novel and about Schwab pieces in general. 

So when another Tumblr user recommended A Darker Shade of Magic I figured that I owed it to myself, this other user, and to Schwab to not write her off entirely and read something else she had crafted, even though I knew deep down inside that I probably wouldn’t like it. 

Buttttttt, the opposite has happened before, like with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 

However, once again, while I by no means detested the book, I was less than enthused by the work and the reading experience as a whole. 

As a sort of flimsy disclaimer, I do generally tend to read YA and when I delve into adult fiction it’s often hit or miss with me as I usually feel bogged down by repetitious details and boring descriptive paragraphs that I find unnecessary and the main reason why adult fiction is so slow and banal (in my opinion). 

So, the amount of YA I read and the tropes and pace that comes with that kind of material is on me as I’m simply just very used to books working that way. But, once again, there have been outliers and I truly think that only so much of my boredom and dislike can be explained away due to what I’m familiar with. 

Onto the actual novel, A Darker Shade of Magic is really the story of two characters, Kell and Lilah, two separate people from literally two different worlds. You see, Kell is an Antari, a rare being that can tap into the pure magic of the world and wield it to his liking, allowing him to pass between the veil separating the worlds.

Lilah, on the other hand, is a conniving thief with the stereotypical heart of gold and tragic backstory. She inadvertently finds herself in possession of a magical stone and in the troubling presence of Kell himself, leading her on an adventure between worlds as they try to restore the stone to Black London where it belongs. 

Along the way, Holland, the only other Antari, is out to get them both and the stone, dripping blood in his wake, the stone itself is too powerful to resist with disastrous consequences if you don’t, a darkness of sorts is infecting the different London’s and the people in it, and political machinations run abundant and bloodthirsty as worlds crash for the first time in years. 

It sounds very action-packed and intriguing and for some of you it may very well be. 

For me personally, though, I just could never buy into this world that had been slowly crafted and built upon. Schwab does a great job of creating the world(s), the people in it, and finely tuned details so that each London had a distinct flavor with their own set of issues and conflict. 

I just didn’t care. 

Kell and Lilah were fine as characters. I found Kell to be whiny more often than not and he would constantly tell himself that he would stop doing something (like taking items from one London and bringing it into another) and then never follow through. It also irked me that Kell was this all mighty, all kind and altruistic person. I found that boring. 

Lilah, on the other hand, I liked a great deal more. It’s a bit tiresome to me that Kell and Lilah will no doubt develop feelings for one another, but it’s far from the worst pairing I’ve ever seen. Lilah is fierce and I often liked her lack of empathy and her cruelty, which I found much more realistic than Kell’s humble persona given her backstory and her circumstances. 

All the other characters didn’t even make a blip on my radar to be honest. 

Holland is evil. I got the impression that Schwab was trying to make him be one of those I-once-was-good-but-pain-carved-it-out-of-me-characters, but it just didn’t work for me. I found him empty and shallow and I didn’t have enough information about him to really care about his actions and motivations. 

The twins from White London, Astrid and Athos Dane, are almost comically vile and corrupt. Once again, I’m sure Schwab has a backstory on the ruling twins and their iniquitous ways, but I just couldn't shake off the indifference I had while reading this entire story. 

Rhy was simply there for comic relief and not much else. 

The writing itself was good and decently paced, although I did find some parts, particularly bits of Kell whining, to be monotonous and wearisome, the rest of the story was written just fine with some bits of well-timed action and riveting fight-scenes. 

However, none of it was enough to shake off my apathy. 

At the end of the day, the story and its characters failed to suck me in and engross me. I wasn’t attached to anyone and I didn’t feel the particular need to read the story at all. Towards the end, my motivation was more about finishing the book so I could move onto something else than it was actually reading the conclusion and wrapping up the tale. 

This book wasn’t for me. 

I tried, I truly did, and gave myself, this user, and Schwab the benefit of the doubt, but this was strike two. It’ll take a prodigious amount of convincing to get me to read another Schwab novel, and I certainly have no interest in reading the rest of the Shades of Magic trilogy.

  All that being said, even though this book and perhaps this author aren’t for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you or to your liking. If adult fantasy really tickles your fancy, this could be your great big love. Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt as I know I’m biased towards YA and my familiarity with that. If you don’t fall into the same category as me, it’s highly likely you’d really enjoy A Darker Shade of Magic. 

Recommendation: If all you read is YA like me then this is probably not your cup of tea. If you’re on the fence, then check it out from your local library free of charge and give it a spin. You might find that you crash and burn or that you’ve found the next exhilarating series to add to your magical fantasy repertoire. 

Score: 4/10