Pages:401
ISBN: 978- 1501161933
Genre: Historical Romance, Psychological fiction
Quote : “The world doesn’t give things, you take things”
I am back with the review of Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo written by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It turned out to be one of the five star reads this year for me. Was I not waiting for a different and unique book like this from years! I am happy that it got the hype and I read it following the hype.
So let’s get into the overview of the story and then my review will be below it.
A little overview of the story: Here we follow Evelyn Hugo now aged 79, who has been a big name in the Hollywood from the ’50s. On the other hand we follow Monique Grant, who is a reporter for Vivant magazine. Monique waits for a big opportunity in her work and her marriage life is also not working well, her husband just left her. But she gets an opportunity of a lifetime when Evelyn Hugo – the biggest name of Hollywood once, wants to be interviewed by none other than Monique. Evelyn wants Monique to write her biography. Monique is not doing great in her work, so why her? Monique starts suspecting the situation. Why Evelyn Hugo just wants her to interview? Is Monique related to the big star in any way? You probably need to read it to find answers, I won’t ruin the mystery for you.
Evelyn Hugo gets interviewed by Monique for the biography. She tells her about her seven husbands and how she got started and made her way to Hollywood herself, about her true love. The actress hides many secrets that she needs to put out in the world.
Quote #2: “Don’t be so tied up trying to do the right thing when the smart thing is so painfully clear”
My review: As I said, this book got the hype again during the release of “Daisy Jones and the six” last year (2019) by the same author. No doubt, it turned out to be the book that stands up to the hype.
Talking about the characters; Evelyn is such a strong character to read about, she is stubborn, takes out the work from everyone however she wants to, unstoppable, had a scandalous and messy life but still more simple(or more human like) than what people thought of her. I just want to read more about such strong and messy characters. Our second main character, the interviewer Monique, when we start she lacks confidence, she doesn’t stand up for herself but as we move more into the story, she just breaks her shell and gets stronger. I just loved the character growth.
The narration is great, all the tabloids that I saw in between made the ambience of the story stronger. Also this book was different for me in a way that it gave me a new perspective to how I see the relationships in books. As it was in the story, many characters were temporary but still I was on board just for Evelyn Hugo. Till now I just felt that if the side characters are not focused on well, it won’t work out for a book. But this book completely removed that thought from my mind. So I just loved that it changed one of my views. It’s well written.
Also there are many wow moments in the book. And the biggest question, Why only Monique? The climax! Oh god, I never thought that answer to this question will leave me dumbstruck. I never saw it coming and I was totally satisfied at the end. This book turned out be amazing in many ways. Also the LGBTQ+ topic was also described perfectly.
At a point Evelyn tells Monique that her story should be reached well. And I say, yes it did. This book is one of the best book I read so far this year, I just wanted to know more of about Evelyn. Also if one who has read it might want to know which husband I would like to see with Evelyn forever; it’s Harry Cameron.
So it was a five out of five star read for me.
P.S. This are my views on the book and no intention of hurting my dear viewers.
Photo credit: I, me , myself
~Kashish~
A New World 