Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
With scandals galore, relationships that are complicated as hell, and a beautifully written novel, my review for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will make you want to watch old Hollywood movies like it’s the glory days. The verdict on this book? Definitely go and pick up a copy now. You can thank me later.
Book Information
Evelyn Hugo is an icon. She’s a legend. She’s one of the biggest female stars of that century. She had seven husbands, all of whom are famous now themselves (if not only because of her). Which is why Monique Grant is completely baffled as to why Evelyn Hugo has asked her—an amateur writer with no clout—to write her memoirs. As Monique and Evelyn go through the story of Evelyn’s life, Monique learns just how human this icon is and learns a secret that Evelyn has been keeping from her in the process.
Review | Heidi Dischler
I know a lot of people loved this novel. I am no exception to that. I absolutely adored the characters in this book. Taylor Jenkins Reid has literally developed these characters in a way that made them so real, so human, that it was easy to sympathize with any wrongdoing Evelyn ever did. I usually don’t do that. I like the moral high grounds and Evelyn often wasn’t a part of that, but her character was so beautifully written that I couldn’t help but to love her and understand her and see how she saw things.
The plot, of course, was beautiful as well. Although, the character development was the highlight of this novel, the plot still had moments that made the character development go on the backburner. It wasn’t often, though, and the secret that Evelyn was keeping was a bit predictable.
Spoilers ahead.
Like I said. The ending was predictable. I knew Evelyn had to be dying and would rely on assisted suicide. I knew that Evelyn had something to do with Monique’s father’s death. However, Taylor Jenkins Reid was able to hide these things well throughout the novel. It was never explicitly mentioned that Monique’s father was dead, although, it was implied. The same with Evelyn’s illness. I still enjoyed the novel immensely, though, even though parts were predictable.
Overall, I felt this novel had a lot to say about what it means to be human and what it means to be flawed. I think it also did a wonderful job of portraying celebrities as real people who have real problems even if they are rich and famous. You can’t just look at a celebrity and think that they have everything together with their life and no problems. Everyone has problems and I think Taylor Jenkins Reid did a great job at showcasing that. Also, I am super excited about the movie adaptation in the works that Reid tweeted about!!
Source: Personal Copy
