Review by startjpw23 - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

startjpw23 's review for:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

5.0

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Monique Grant is a journalist who recently started working for a prestigious magazine. She is in her 30’s. Her marriage is on the rocks. She is not happy where she is in her career. She gets called into her boss’s office. Her boss tells her that Evelyn Hugo, who is a popular and somewhat notorious movie star, wants Monique to interview her for an article that will be featured in the magazine. Evelyn Hugo hasn’t agreed to an interview in years. It would be quite the feat for Monique and for the magazine to get the interview. Monique’s boss is a little surprised because Monique hasn’t been at the magazine long. But she agrees that Monique can do the interview. It turns out that Evelyn wants Monique to write her biography. Monique starts a series of interviews with Evelyn Hugo. The story goes from there. Evelyn Hugo started acting in the 1950’s. She is a complex, interesting character. I didn’t agree with some of her decisions. But I was always interested in her story. Monique’s story takes a bit of a backseat. But I was also invested in her story. The book talks about the tightrope a woman had to walk to become a star in Hollywood. There is misogyny, racism, and homophobia in the book. There are some mild sex scenes. There is spousal abuse. There is an off-page threesome between 3 fourteen year olds. There is an off-page abortion. There are deaths and grieving. There is a serious auto accident. There are people with serious medical conditions. There are queer relationships. I loved the book. I think Taylor Jenkins Reid writes beautifully. I recommend the book to someone who wants to read a book that talks about what it was like to be an actress starting in the 1950’s. A book with two complex, flawed, and interesting main characters. If any of the issues I mentioned is a problem for you, you may not want to read the book.

Content Warnings