Reviews

Spectacular, cinematic and memorable, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid tells the life story of a fictional famous legendary actress who has had seven husbands throughout her career.

Summary: Monique Grant has been hired by Evelyn Hugo to write her biography. Evelyn Hugo made her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s with the sole intention of becoming a star. Between that and retiring in the 1980s, she has had seven husbands and a secret.

Tropes/Genres:
• historical fiction
• set in 1950s to 1980s Los Angeles
• lgbtq
• sapphic
• bisexual fmc

Review: This book is a masterpiece. It's a work of art. No words can describe how in awe I am with this book. It's perfect. The characters are flawed, yet they're also perfect the way they are and have great depth.

Evelyn Hugo is such an interesting and enigmatic character. Even though she has done a lot of questionable and immoral things, I can't help but feel for her. She is such a strong woman and is unapologetically herself. Even with all the scandals, personal tragedies and heartbreaks she has faced throughout her lifetime, she faced them head-on and stayed resilient. That's just so admirable, which makes me respect her even though she has done plenty of immoral things. The way she tells her story, despite being matter-of-fact, just compels you to take her side. Evelyn Hugo is iconic.

I'm also absolutely in love with the way that Evelyn Hugo genuinely and wholeheartedly loved Celia St. James, a woman, during that period of time. She's the logical and rational of the two, determined to do whatever it takes to protect her and Celia's acting careers. Even though her methods may not be agreeable, particularly with the way they may have hurt Celia, I can understand why she did all that.

Celia St. James made me love and hate her at the same time. After all, I was on Team Evelyn Hugo. Evelyn was the main character, and I sort of based who I wanted to like on how they made Evelyn feel. She's so sweet and charming, and I can see why Evelyn fell for her. However, it irritated me how idealistic and illogical she was. She was determined to come out and shout to the world that she and Evelyn were in love, but that was a stupid move in the 60s. She has said so many nasty things to Evelyn to the point where I felt that she was toxic.

"That was how it was with Celia. When you denied her what she wanted, when you hurt her, she made sure you hurt, too."

I kind of understand that she was heartbroken, though. A part of me understands that she was hurt and wanted to express that. She hurt Evelyn intentionally in the process, but Celia is just human. Her character certainly adds emotional depth to the book. It sucks that she never truly appreciated the way Evelyn tried to protect them and their relationship in her own logical way. She was ungrateful and only cared about how she felt, as opposed to Evelyn who knew it might've hurt Celia but weighed the benefits and consequences and felt that doing what she did was the best solution. Anyway, I'm glad that over the years, Celia displayed some character development, which made me like her a bit more after making me think, "Evelyn is better off without her anyway." Love and other emotions are complex, and even though Celia can be hurtful, I think she truly was the best for Evelyn. They loved each other; they were just both equally headstrong. The complexity of such emotions in this book is what makes it shine.

I would like to point out that it's a recurring theme that Evelyn dislikes being called a lesbian and prefers being called a bisexual. After all, Evelyn has fallen in love with both men and women. Well, one woman. To call her a lesbian would cut away one half of her that is capable of loving men. At least three people in the book have made this mistake, and she called them out each time. I think this really speaks about a person's identity. To Evelyn, there's nothing wrong with loving a woman, but it didn't sit right with her to label her something that she's only half of.

Harry Cameron is probably the best character in this book. He's simply beautiful. He has been with Evelyn Hugo in every step of the way, supporting her even when the world has turned their backs on her. One can't deny the beauty of how he loves, supports and cares for all the people he cares about. He puts all his heart into every relationship, whether familial, platonic or romantic.

Monique Grant is a character from the present timeline who's listening to Evelyn's story along with the readers, recording it for the biography that Evelyn Hugo wishes to have published after her death. I love how her personal story is tied to her interactions with Evelyn Hugo in the present day. I wasn't that interested in the story because Evelyn Hugo was much too interesting, but I acknowledge the way Evelyn Hugo has helped her. I think it's powerful.

In conclusion, this book is a work of art. Every character in this book displays great complexity and plays a huge role in Evelyn's life. Not one character can be said to be redundant. I just love how this author ties this story up in a full circle. It's perfection, and I highly recommend this book to every reader in the world. It's a masterpiece.