Book Review: The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

        I love this book! I 1st borrowed this book from my local library and I refused to give it back for over 5 weeks. I couldn't stop reading and re-reading this book. This book is so good. So good!!! Like absolutely amazing!!! I was so surprise to find out this book didn't make the New York Times Best Seller List or won the Goodreads Choice Award for best historical fiction. This book is amazing and is probably one of Jenkin Reid's best, if not her best novel (Daisy Jones & the Six is also another amazing book that you should read by her). 

    The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows the story of Monique, a struggling writer on the brinks of divorce, who is asked to interview the great Evelyn Hugo.  Known for her dramatic roles as well as her tremulous private life, Evelyn Hugo is one of the world's most famous actresses and she wants monique to write her biography. Though stunned by her offer, Monique knows this will be great opperunity for her career and takes it. However, as Monique learns more about the enigmatic actress, she soon discovers the tragic way she and Evelyn's lives intersect.   

    There is so much I love about this book. However, like many others, Evelyn Hugo is my main and personal bias.  Monique may be the protagnist but Evelyn is the true star of the show. She is such an interesting and charismatic character. She does some pretty sketchy and terrible things but you still like her for doing it. I love her witt, her ambition , and her refusal to live by anyone else's standards but her own. She is so unapologetically herself and I love it. I love reading about her career and her rise to fame. The things she has to endure just to make it to the top really opened my eyes to the double standard that women have to deal with in Hollywood. I love Evelyn. It's just impossible not to.

    Also, all of the side characters are amazing. They were  Monique's story isn't as exciting as Evelyn but I still really like her arc as a character. My other favorite side characters are Celia, Rex, James and Harry. 

       Spoiler Warning: My only problem with this book is the ending. From a writer's perspective, I understand why Reid choose to end the book this way.  It's impactful and heartwretching and I doubt anyone is going to forget it anytime soon. But I didn't want to Evelyn's story to end this way and for a good reason. Evelyn's story falls into the category of the gay tradegy. Like the 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain, Evelyn's story ends in tradegy. I'm not going to say anymore than that as I don't want to spoil the book anymore than that. The tragic ending of this book kind of annoy me. However, this is simply because I am tried of LGBTQ characters' stories ending in tradegy. For a long time, this was the norm and we defiantly still see this trope today. And I am really over it. Still, I think Reid still did a AMZING job writing this book and I understand why she chose to end this book. It makes sense for the story but I'm just so tried of LGBTQ characters never getting happy endings. 

    Despite this one problem, I love this book. It's amazing. There really isn't much for me to say other than you should really add this book to your TBR if you haven't read it already. This book is also in the works of becoming a TV Series with Freedform & Touchstone Television (formerly Fox 21 Television Studios) picking up the rights. Reid is also going to be a screenwriter on the series. I can't wait as this book deserves to be told on screen.  Anyway, I give The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 5 out of 5 stars. This book is so amazing. It will defiantly make you cry but it is so worth the tears.