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loongbooy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Grief, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Sexism, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Body shaming, Sexual content, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Cancer, and Suicide
kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: June 13, 2017
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intimate • Captivating • Complex
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon 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 is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
💭 T H O U G H T S
It's safe to say I was (extremely) late to the game when it comes to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It's also safe to say the hype is legit with this one. To be honest, I didn't exactly know what I had been expecting from the synopsis, yet what I got was so much more than I could have imagined.
Beautifully written in a distinct manner, TRJ captures the essence of old Hollywood perfectly - the glitz, the glamour, the sex, the drugs, the drama. There is a cinematic undertone running through the entire narrative. It is a story of loves lost and loves found. Of sacrifice and regrets. Of loyalty and betrayal. It includes incredible characterization of sexuality, soulmates, and friendship. The intimacy with which the story is delivered is so mesmerizing and unique.
And then there is Evelyn! Her character is one for the ages. She was complex and flawed, with an edge to her. Although I didn't always like her, I couldn't help but root for her. Her story was so compelling, and I wanted to savour the pages, yet couldn't stop reading. The supporting cast is also top notch, each with their place in Evelyn's life.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the reason I read. It's heartbreakingly beautiful. I laughed. I cried. I ached. TJR pulled me into Evelyn's realm and hasn't let me go. It's a story so profound, exploring sexuality, intimacy, and soulmates unlike anything I've read before. It will be an easy choice for my end-of-the-year favourites list, and has found a home on my all-time favourites shelf. It is also safe to say this will be my favourite book from this author, and I will continue to pick up everything she writes.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like complex, distinct characters
• TRJ devotees
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"When you're given an opportunity to change your life, be read to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn't give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that."
"People are messy, and love can be ugly. I’m inclined to always err on the side of compassion."
"People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me' - that's intimacy."
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: June 13, 2017
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intimate • Captivating • Complex
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon 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 is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
💭 T H O U G H T S
It's safe to say I was (extremely) late to the game when it comes to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It's also safe to say the hype is legit with this one. To be honest, I didn't exactly know what I had been expecting from the synopsis, yet what I got was so much more than I could have imagined.
Beautifully written in a distinct manner, TRJ captures the essence of old Hollywood perfectly - the glitz, the glamour, the sex, the drugs, the drama. There is a cinematic undertone running through the entire narrative. It is a story of loves lost and loves found. Of sacrifice and regrets. Of loyalty and betrayal. It includes incredible characterization of sexuality, soulmates, and friendship. The intimacy with which the story is delivered is so mesmerizing and unique.
And then there is Evelyn! Her character is one for the ages. She was complex and flawed, with an edge to her. Although I didn't always like her, I couldn't help but root for her. Her story was so compelling, and I wanted to savour the pages, yet couldn't stop reading. The supporting cast is also top notch, each with their place in Evelyn's life.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the reason I read. It's heartbreakingly beautiful. I laughed. I cried. I ached. TJR pulled me into Evelyn's realm and hasn't let me go. It's a story so profound, exploring sexuality, intimacy, and soulmates unlike anything I've read before. It will be an easy choice for my end-of-the-year favourites list, and has found a home on my all-time favourites shelf. It is also safe to say this will be my favourite book from this author, and I will continue to pick up everything she writes.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like complex, distinct characters
• TRJ devotees
• book clubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"When you're given an opportunity to change your life, be read to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn't give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that."
"People are messy, and love can be ugly. I’m inclined to always err on the side of compassion."
"People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me' - that's intimacy."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Death, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Grief, Car accident, Outing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Drug use, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Abortion, and Pregnancy
hannux's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Biphobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Car accident, Cancer, and Suicide
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, and Lesbophobia
gab_l23's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Abortion
Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Xenophobia
sophiemag's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Car accident, Suicide, and Death
Minor: Homophobia, Abortion, and Fatphobia
knitreadkate's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a great book to read if you're getting back into reading again, you will fly through the pages. I made the mistake of starting this on a work night and stayed up late enjoying the journey this story was taking.
I really enjoyed the reflective aspect of being gay, lesbian, bisexual and navigating this as a celebrity in the public eye through the 1950s to 2000s. There are culturally significant moments in the books where the characters have to decide how they want to engage to support LGBTQIA+ rights without affecting their own careers.
From Husband five onwards there was a rollercoaster of emotions and plots happening that I couldn't leave this book until the last page had been read.
What a sensation and what a book to start your reading journey on!
I really enjoyed the reflective aspect of being gay, lesbian, bisexual and navigating this as a celebrity in the public eye through the 1950s to 2000s. There are culturally significant moments in the books where the characters have to decide how they want to engage to support LGBTQIA+ rights without affecting their own careers.
From Husband five onwards there was a rollercoaster of emotions and plots happening that I couldn't leave this book until the last page had been read.
What a sensation and what a book to start your reading journey on!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Racism, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia
prairieraven's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The reader and main characters have a complex relationship. The sorry is told in both past and present viewpoints, the complexity of love, friendship, LGBTQIA lifestyles in the early Hollywood years through into the Stonewall riots. The storytelling is mesmerizing and well paced and detailed. Excellent, engaging and highly entertaining read
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Car accident, Classism, Pregnancy, Abortion, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Death
spacepiratequeen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
ro_lux's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, and Biphobia
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Drug use, Blood, and Body shaming
Minor: Pregnancy
Poliphobia, serial monogamyloverofeels's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
i'll start with the positive: i started and finished this book in a day, which hasn't happened in a hot sec, so the least i can say is that this plot grips you and doesn't let you go. (well, maybe a little during the rex north chapter. and during most of monique's chapters, especially the ones about her godforsaken divorce.)
a lot of this book is an ode to friendship, and those parts (AKA evelyn's friendship with harry) were fantastic.
also, as a former current and future "it's rotten work" "not to me. not if it's you" stan, the line "If you are intolerable, let me be the one to tolerate you" in ch 24 DID HIT as did several of the other lines between evelyn and celia. they are so flawed but i wanted them to be together so bad <3
TJR's prose isn't horrendous, although it isn't anything to write home about either. i found this compulsively readable, but there were definitely sections that stuck out to me as inelegant. in particular, the vivant article at the end sticks out to me; i simply cannot believe that garbage was supposed to be an excerpt from a book by a talented author. it read like a celebrity social media post.
i... really did not like this as historical lesbian/bisexual rep. i don't know that it was necessarily bad or inaccurate (except for the line "insiders are saying the two are quite a pair of... thespians" in ch 26. good lord). i'm having difficulty distinguishing between what was meant to be flaws in the characters and what was just flaws in the writing, but all i can say for now is that many of the parts that discuss celia and evelyn's interactions with the homophobic world in which they live / the LGBT community at large feel like they were written with the bare minimum of research.
for example: "i'll never forget the morning after the stonewall riots... celia... believed everything was going to change after that night. she believed that because gay people had announced themselves, had been proud enough to admit who they were and strong enough to stand up, attitudes were going to change." (ch 37)
some questions i have from the paragraph above: does celia, a character who has many short and long term relationships with other women, think that the stonewall riots were the first incident in which gay people protested? is she aware of gay rights organizations that started in the early/mid 1950s and lasted through the 1960s, such as the mattachine society (headquartered in her hometown, LA) or the daughters of bilitis (lesbian org headquartered in SF)? does she know about SF's compton's cafeteria rights of 1966? what about the raids of gay bars across the country that resulted in demonstrations and protest? how can celia think this is the first time that gay people have been visible and stood up for themselves?
it is also very frustrating to read about two highly privileged and feminine-presenting / straight-passing women talking about how gay people finally being visible would change everything. for many/most of the people who were actually at stonewall and similar protests, the problem was not that they were invisible—it was that they had no choice but to render themselves highly visible in a way that made the world want to kill them. their choice to do that and to participate in riots was, of course, still incredibly courageous, strong, and important, but it felt somewhat ignorant for celia/evelyn to reducing their experience to announcing themselves and being proud. their experience is just so, so far removed from that of the gnc working class people they praise—and maybe that's the point! but considering that TJR only mentions stonewall and the aids epidemic, it felt like a very shallow take on historical sapphics. there is a general sentiment throughout the story that it would be easier for them to be together if they were less rich and famous which i just really don't know about...
evelyn's peculiar description of luisa, her "help," is similarly uncomfortable. evelyn "envied how secure she was in her own skin. how unafraid she was to be her true self. she was proud to be luisa jimenez." luisa is one of the very few other latine characters, and we are told she is someone who evelyn deeply cares for, but she is only mentioned in the scene i quoted from, where she is from introduced, and then briefly when evelyn moves to spain and luisa disappears for the rest of the narrative. weird!
in conclusion: i liked the seven husbands of evelyn hugo! but it's not a literary masterpiece by any means, and it is deeply flawed in ways that make me hesitant to recommend it to anybody.
a lot of this book is an ode to friendship, and those parts (AKA evelyn's friendship with harry) were fantastic.
also, as a former current and future "it's rotten work" "not to me. not if it's you" stan, the line "If you are intolerable, let me be the one to tolerate you" in ch 24 DID HIT as did several of the other lines between evelyn and celia. they are so flawed but i wanted them to be together so bad <3
TJR's prose isn't horrendous, although it isn't anything to write home about either. i found this compulsively readable, but there were definitely sections that stuck out to me as inelegant. in particular, the vivant article at the end sticks out to me; i simply cannot believe that garbage was supposed to be an excerpt from a book by a talented author. it read like a celebrity social media post.
i... really did not like this as historical lesbian/bisexual rep. i don't know that it was necessarily bad or inaccurate (except for the line "insiders are saying the two are quite a pair of... thespians" in ch 26. good lord). i'm having difficulty distinguishing between what was meant to be flaws in the characters and what was just flaws in the writing, but all i can say for now is that many of the parts that discuss celia and evelyn's interactions with the homophobic world in which they live / the LGBT community at large feel like they were written with the bare minimum of research.
for example: "i'll never forget the morning after the stonewall riots... celia... believed everything was going to change after that night. she believed that because gay people had announced themselves, had been proud enough to admit who they were and strong enough to stand up, attitudes were going to change." (ch 37)
some questions i have from the paragraph above: does celia, a character who has many short and long term relationships with other women, think that the stonewall riots were the first incident in which gay people protested? is she aware of gay rights organizations that started in the early/mid 1950s and lasted through the 1960s, such as the mattachine society (headquartered in her hometown, LA) or the daughters of bilitis (lesbian org headquartered in SF)? does she know about SF's compton's cafeteria rights of 1966? what about the raids of gay bars across the country that resulted in demonstrations and protest? how can celia think this is the first time that gay people have been visible and stood up for themselves?
it is also very frustrating to read about two highly privileged and feminine-presenting / straight-passing women talking about how gay people finally being visible would change everything. for many/most of the people who were actually at stonewall and similar protests, the problem was not that they were invisible—it was that they had no choice but to render themselves highly visible in a way that made the world want to kill them. their choice to do that and to participate in riots was, of course, still incredibly courageous, strong, and important, but it felt somewhat ignorant for celia/evelyn to reducing their experience to announcing themselves and being proud. their experience is just so, so far removed from that of the gnc working class people they praise—and maybe that's the point! but considering that TJR only mentions stonewall and the aids epidemic, it felt like a very shallow take on historical sapphics. there is a general sentiment throughout the story that it would be easier for them to be together if they were less rich and famous which i just really don't know about...
evelyn's peculiar description of luisa, her "help," is similarly uncomfortable. evelyn "envied how secure she was in her own skin. how unafraid she was to be her true self. she was proud to be luisa jimenez." luisa is one of the very few other latine characters, and we are told she is someone who evelyn deeply cares for, but she is only mentioned in the scene i quoted from, where she is from introduced, and then briefly when evelyn moves to spain and luisa disappears for the rest of the narrative. weird!
in conclusion: i liked the seven husbands of evelyn hugo! but it's not a literary masterpiece by any means, and it is deeply flawed in ways that make me hesitant to recommend it to anybody.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Cancer, Biphobia, Alcohol, Outing, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, and Fatphobia