Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 391 pages
Release Date: June 13th 2017
Publisher: Atria Books

Plot: Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

My Review: So lately I’ve been having a tough finding a book that I really enjoy. Lately a lot of the books I’ve been reading haven’t been holding my interest. I am so happy to say that finally changed with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to pick this book up. I’ve had it for a while just sitting on my shelves. It is currently my favorite read of 2018.

This book held my attention right from the very beginning. It’s about Evelyn Hugo, who is a very famous movie actress. She is finally ready to spill all her secrets about her glamorous life to this unknown journalist, Monique Grant. Monique is unsure why Evelyn picked her but realizes this is too good an opportunity to pass. Here begins the roller coaster ride you go on that is this story.

First let me talk about these characters:

Evelyn: I loved Evelyn even though I wanted to dislike her. I feel like it was impossible to dislike her. She did whatever ever she could so she could become a famous actress. She always had a plan for everything which I found amazing. She ended up doing a lot of fucked up things as well. She knew how messed up everything was but she would do it all again in a heartbeat just to get herself where she is today. She is a very complex characters.

Monique: I really enjoyed seeing Monique grow throughout this book. In the beginning of the book she’s very nervous. She isn’t sure why she was picked to write the biography to begin with. As the book goes on you see her take what she’s learned from the stories Evelyn told her and use them in her own life. I couldn’t help but cheer her on the whole way through.

The Husbands: To the media it seemed that Evelyn Hugo had a lot of loves in her life. To Evelyn these men were so much more. I don’t want to say too much about her husbands. I did enjoy they each were unique in their own way. It was so interesting to see what drew Evelyn to each man. I did only like one husband. I feel if you’ve read the book it’s pretty easy to figure out who that is.

Next I would like to talk about the media aspect. In this there are some online and newspaper articles. I thought they were such a great touch. One minute Evelyn is telling her story about the one husband and then the next minute there’s an newspaper article being written about it. It fits perfectly with celebrity culture. We’re so obsessed with celebrities that we need to know everything about them. However, not everything is how it seems. I always looked forward to them.

Lastly, let’s talk about that ending. I’m not going to say much about it. I don’t want to spoil anything for you. All I will say is Taylor sure knows how to write an ending. I didn’t want this story to end.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book. I should have known this was going to be the book for me. I am really into celebrities and Hollywood. I should have realized that sooner but better late than never. I definitely can see myself rereading this story at some point. If you hadn’t read this book already I highly recommend it. You’re not going to want to put it down because it is that good!

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Have you guys read any of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books? If so, which one is your favorite. Do you plan on picking up this book anytime soon?

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