Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

AN INSTANT FIVE STARS!! This was one of the best books I've read in a long time and truly had me captivated from start to finish. When Monique Grant is handpicked by film star Evelyn Hugo to write a piece for a magazine, she has no idea why she would be wanted for a piece like this or why this celebrity that she doesn't know would pick her rather than a more seasoned writer. Then she finds out that Evelyn wants her to write her biography. Evelyn was famously married to seven different husbands, and it is a common question for people to wonder which one she loved the most. This book uncovers the answer to that question while revealing a different Evelyn than anyone had ever known. This book dove head-on into the themes of identity, love, truth, and authenticity, and hearing about how Evelyn grew and changed through each of her marriages was enlightening while showing her complexity as a person. The constant revelations throughout her life as an actress helped build her character well, and the plot twist at the end was one of the most shocking that I have ever read in a book. I found myself falling in love with some of the characters while despising others, and I found this book to deeply affect me emotionally, especially toward the end. This was wonderfully written and an incredible introduction to Taylor Jenkins Reid. I will be raving about this book for a long time!

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kk_gotit_goinon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious slow-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

3.0

Sweet and entertaining with one heck of twist at the end. Slow paced but I didn't mind.

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clovetra's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

oh wow
this was a very conflicting book. but one i ultimately fell in love with.
let me start with the positives, as although i can't find too many negatives with this book, they are quite jarring.
first, going into this book, i thought the "lgbt+" tag was queerbating. did i know the story? nope. that was just my opinion. and boy am i happy i was wrong. i loved how unapologetic characters like harry and celia are, and it made my little heart sing.
i also loved jenkins reid's style of writing. this is my first time reading a book of hers, and i can confidently say i'll be reading other works of hers. this was scrumptiously written, and i adored every second.
one final note is that evelyn is a protagonist you love to hate, and that is one of my favourite tropes, if not my *favourite* trope, so this book gets big ticks from me.
now, on to the parts where this book failed.
a white woman so clearly writes this. explaining evelyn's heritage in the start and ending of the book, plus the way monique's race is described made me feel a bit sick if im honest. it was.... Not Good!
also the biphobia in this is fucking disgusting. i don't care if due to this being a historical fiction book its time accurate, as a queer reader it was fucking vile to see celia dunk on evelyn for the 50th time because she likes men and women. i wasn't too mad with how harry was portrayed up until the end. also im sorry did the d slur need to be included? im a lesbian and i feel that that word is reserved for black lesbians only. seeing jenkins reid throw that word out like nothing made me sick. and not in a good way reflecting the narrative, it soured me towards this book. i felt similar to this in regards to the misogyny & sexism present, as well as the extreme domestic violence portrayed. yes, it is reflective of the times this book is following. it still should've been written with some tact.
this book was very conflicting. and even writing this review i am still largely conflicted on how i feel. but, i will say, even if i find a book shit, if i don't want to put it down, in my mind its worth an additional star. and i actually could not get this book off of my mind.

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violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Content Warnings

hanhantap's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective sad

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

Third reread the charm?

Just kidding. This book still haunts my every waking thought. Evelyn is that bitch after all. Meant both affectionately and otherwise.

Here's to continue the bullying campaign to make everyone in my life read Seven Husbands. Gonna slide into the DMs like I am part of a goddamn MLM.
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Original review from 2021:

There are few books that have made such an impact on me in so many different ways. I finished it two days ago and still processing it and I think I will be processing it for a long time.

Moments came where I was reading Evelyn's actions as a friend would after finding out what she did, but not out of judgment. Out of concern. I cared about her, her well-being, and her love. She is a flawed person but not a bad person.

I miss these characters so much already, further proof that Taylor Jenkins Reid could write out a note of insults about me, and I would love it.

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creationwing's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective tense fast-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

4.25

A fun book I finished in a little over 3 sittings. I'm not sure it needed 3 narrators, and I echo the thoughts of the other reviews when I say the Monique portion of our story could be dropped without affecting the main allure of this book. She wasn't fleshed out enough to have the Devil Wears Prada learning from your mentor win moment. We had a lot of insight into what was going on in her life, sure, but the character of Evelyn is so full-bodied that our understanding on Monique in turn feels more like the author is telling us who she is and telling us to root for her only because we're told she is an underdog with talent. Her career is summarized in a few paragraphs when we get Evelyn's through the whole book.

The twists both with her father and Evelyn's ultimate decision were far too predictable. The main character having written an article on euthanasia was a little too neat and on the nose.

Overall, however, the author did a very good job establishing a voice for Evelyn and making me care about her character even if I wouldn't have liked her as a real person.
I love the

found

family in the story, and realized how much I had grown to enjoy the book when I felt I cared for the characters in it. I also really enjoyed the depiction of queerplatonic relationships, but I agree with other reviews that the story lacks any platonic relationships that matter.

I would recommend this book, with the caveat that you'll probably find yourself skimming past the parts about Monique.

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