The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo...Worth The Hype?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Contemporary
☆☆☆☆.5
Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo doesn't talk to the press anymore. She just doesn't. So when Vivant, one of the world's most famous magazine companies gets a call from her, asking specifically for Monique Grant to do a piece on her, they're all confused. Monique is a complete rookie. Why would Evelyn want to talk to her? When Monique arrives to interview the world's most famous starlet for the Vivant piece, Evelyn tells Monique that she is dying, and she wants Monique to write her auto biography. A tell-all. She's going to dish the dirt about her whole life, all 7 of her husbands, and the one true love of her life.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid has been all over the book community for years now. It has over 1 million goodreads ratings with a 4.47 average rating! I think it's safe to say that people like this book. It is also safe to say, in my opinion after reading this book, that it is a beautiful story. I loved reading it, and I have a lot to say about it. So, lets get into it!
I need to take a few sentences to acknowledge Taylor Jenkin Reid's writing. It was absolutely stunning. She was able to describe simple, mundane things in the most descriptive and exciting ways. I personally loved this and it made the book oodles more enjoyable.
Evelyn tells everything honestly and truthfully. She is not ashamed of who she is, or of the things that she has done. She has been through so much, and she is written in a way that makes so much sense for someone who has been through so much. She is someone who has learned so much through what she has been through and is finally ready to say it.
Evelyn Hugo is such a firecracker of a character and I am here for it! I loved her development, inner conflicts, and overall humanity. She felt so real to me, and sometimes I have to remind myself she isn't. Her closest people, Harry and Celia, were also amazingly written. I felt like I truly knew and understand the other characters, and their significance to her. The entire story is told through Evelyn’s memory, and it is so clear that Celia and Harry are such an important people to Evelyn. Taylor Jenkins Reid did a wonderful job of emotionally connecting to the reader, at least with me, and I found myself feeling very strong feelings towards certain characters.
I also loved how every single character had a role, and influenced her. There we no "filler" characters. Speaking of, lets just talk about the plot for a minute?? This book was never slow, things we always happening and I loved it. Nothing felt rushed, but everything felt fast. I don't know if that makes sense but that's how I'm going to explain it. This book takes place over a much longer period of time then most books do, and along with that, it had a lot of details. The way time moved, and progressed just felt seamless and clean. It was never annoying or anything like that.
I honestly can't say too much about the plot without spoiling it, but it will break you and put you back together and then break you again. It was a lot of fun.
The reason I knocked off .5 on the rating was kind of stupid but I am going to stand by it. This book was emotionally wrecking, ok? But I wanted more. It felt like a little something was missing. Maybe I'm just stubborn about my 5 star ratings but it's staying a 4.5.
Some Quotes!
"First you have to push people's boundaries and not feel bad about it. No one is going to give you anything if you don't ask for it. You tried. You were told no. Get over it. And the second thing, when you use people be good at it."
"You're an idealist and a romantic and you have a beautiful soul. And I wish the world was ready to be the way you see it. I wish that the rest of the people on Earth with us were capable of living up to your expectations. But they are. The world is ugly, and no one wants to give anyone the benefit of the doubt about anything."
"I'm not a good person, Monique. Make sure, in the book, that that's clear. That I'm not claiming to be good. That I did a lot of things that hurt a lot of people, and I would do them over again if I had to."
"No one is just a victim or a victor. Everyone is somewhere in between. People who go around casting themselves as one or the other are not only kidding themselves, but they’re also painfully unoriginal."
"Make them pay you what they would pay a white man."
To Conclude...
To answer the question we all came here to answer. Is it worth the hype? I would say yes! This book is 100% worth your time and it is an absolutely stunning story. I highly recommend. Make sure to comment if you have read this or want to. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!
Xoxo,
Opal
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