A review by tankhalessi
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

<<SPOILERS>> This was not my favorite TJR (I often find her books are hit or miss to my taste). I felt like so much time was dedicated to the romance of Celia that she sacrificed the character development of all the male love interests-to the point that I didn’t find it believable that she was in love with any of them. Attracted to them, yes, but I didn’t get enough of a personality to really make me feel any sense of loss about the characters once their sections ended. I didn’t see Evelyn go through the growth she could have either.

There were some touchy subjects that I think deserved more time. The conflict of loving an abusive man, the emotional processing of having a child with a man one doesn’t love romantically—I think Reid had room to play with these ideas and didn’t, making it feel like they were elements just included to be a tagline of the story rather than to enrich it. 

Additionally, the “surprise ending” was very easily guessed, because we know so little about Monique that there’s really only one logical way she and Evelyn could have been connected. 

All in all, I think the character development was really lopsided and could have been distributed more evenly for a better story. I am giving this book 3.5 stars because the concept was fun and glamorous-I bought it as a lighter beach read, and I do feel like I got that out of the story, so I will still give more TJR books a try in the future.
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