!!!Spoiler Warning!!! If you haven’t read this book yet, I give away some key spoilers!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I read this book as part of the Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge 2019—check out how I’m doing!
I wasn’t sure this book was going to be for me. I don’t read things about movie idols and their illustrious sex lives and scandals. I didn’t think it was my genre at all.
But, I’ve heard so many people going on about how amazing it was that I wanted to see what all the hype was about. I’m so, so glad I did!
I can’t begin to tell you just how much I adored this book.
I loved every single second and I wish I could go back and read it again.
This book made me feel so much for the characters that I cried. A few times.
The world respects people who think they should be running it.
The story follows a reporter, Monique, who is hand picked to cover the story of Evelyn Hugo‘s life. Evelyn Hugo is the biggest name to ever grace Hollywood. She was a huge sensation and everybody loved her. She married seven times, and she’s always been a little reticent on giving the press any of the sordid details.
All that is about to change. Now, at nearly eighty years old, Evelyn is about to come clean. She wants to tell her life story in all its details. Monique is going to write a book that will sell for millions, and Evelyn is happy to tell all.
I could say so much more, but I really don’t want to spoil anything. It’s an amazing ride.
If you’re reading this and thinking, oh that doesn’t sound like something I’d enjoy at all, well I highly suggest you just give it a go anyway because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read and it was incredible.
I’ll tell you the truth about absolutely everything I’ve ever done.
The main bulk of the book is split into the seven husbands, with Monique writing down everything that Evelyn says. If you think it’s unbelievable to have been married seven times, you don’t know Evelyn Hugo! All the marriages make perfect sense. It really is amazing.
The writing is absolutely flawless and enthralling from the get go. You feel like you just need to know how things turn out, and what happens next.
Evelyn is no angel. She’s been cruel and downright awful for much of her life, but she’s being brutally honest with this story. At no point do we feel like Evelyn is an unreliable narrator. Why would you make yourself look quite this bad if you were? But, even though she’s clearly out for herself most of the time, she still manages to become a character we care for deeply.
But, it’s not just Evelyn we care about here, there are a few other characters that feature in this book that are worth a mention. Harry, or course, and Celia being the main ones.
It would take me years to figure out that life doesn’t get easier simply because it gets more glamorous.
There are quite a few issues covered in this book as well, but the main one would have to be gay rights in Hollywood during the last sixty or so years. This is perhaps one of the only book I’ve ever read that portrays a bisexual character accurately. Usually, bi characters are show as fundamentally straight but with a “laddish” way about them. That’s is not the case here. All the characters were wonderfully realistic.
Evelyn is a woman who isn’t shy about using sex to get what she wants. She doesn’t withhold anything if she thinks it can further her career, or provide some other sort of benefit for her. She’s absolutely shameless and I loved her for it.
When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things.
So, in conclusion, I recommend this book to everyone. Seriously, everyone. Even if you don’t think you’ll like this sort of thing. Just give it a go. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Villain Rating
And after all that, I’m struggling to pick a real villain for this book. Evelyn herself is guilty of some terrible crimes with long consequences, Harry is guilty for his fair share, too. But, neither of them are particularly villains, as such. I’m going to go with ‘Goddamn’ Don Adler. This guy is the closest to a baddie that we ever really got.
Don is guilty of ruining his marriage to Evelyn by being handy with his fists. He hits her regularly, and tries to control everything she’s doing. He throws tantrums when her career is more successful than his, and throws it in her face when he’s doing better. There just isn’t any winning with Don. A few years after Evelyn has moved on, however, Don makes a reappearance, and he’s a changed man. Evelyn manages to be friends with him, but I don’t think she ever forgives him. 4/10
Happy Reading,
Claire
Love the Villain 