relysiathekraken 's review for:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

3.0

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

This book has a lot of good, that I think is unfortunately clouded by a lot of bad. 
The good stuff: I find the story of Evelyn Hugo herself very compelling, though in truth Evelyn feels like a biographical mishmash of the lives of Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Crawford more than a real and vibrant character in her own right. But the portrayal of LGBTQ people in the golden era of Hollywood is honestly very interesting.
The bad stuff: The narrative framing of Evelyn's story through a tell-all interview felt clunky and unnecessary. Monique is both bland and annoyingly wide-eyed and naive (I was shocked when its revealed that she's actually 35; her internal monologue sounds like that of an early twenty-something, taking on the world for the first time). Also, the twist of fate that connects these two characters (

the fact that Monique's dad was killed in a drunk driving accident by his lover/Evelyn's ex-husband, Harry, and that Evelyn covered it up

) is revealed so late in the book that Monique is given almost no time to explore or come to terms with her feelings. It honestly feels like the twist was thrown in just to make the plot feel shocking, not because it has real repercussions for the story. At the end of it all, no one is changed by this revelation: not Evelyn, not Monique or her family. It serves no purpose, other than giving the audience a probable reason for why a no-name journalist would be writing the biography of one of the most famous movie stars of all time.
All in all, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a fast and fun read, but it thinks it's a lot more clever than it is.