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A review by mackreads324
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was recommended to me by several people, and while I can definitely understand why, I felt like it was good but not great. I really liked the format: presenting you early on with the promise of secrets revealed, and a story told through memories. The old-Hollywood backdrop was easy to be immersed in. And while our characters were not always loveable (I actually found Evelyn and Celia to be insufferable at times), they were flawed and human. I did enjoy how this book explored different types of relationships and love, with the idea that you can have multiple “soulmates” and that different types of love, romantic and platonic, are valuable.
My biggest problems with the book are surrounding the nature of the representation of the characters. For me, the first page where Reid is introducing us to Monique, a biracial woman, it seems off and cringe-y. The way Monique is described in regards to her racial identity seems inauthentic. Evelyn, a Latina woman, undergoes physical transformation allowing her to assimilate into Hollywood and pass as white. While the problematic elements of that point are glossed over, we instead are given several instances of people obsessing over the beauty of her “unnatural” bleach blonde hair and too-dark skin. I think there was an opportunity presented to dig deeper into Evelyn’s Hollywood-induced white washing and further develop her personal identity In that regard, and I think it was missed. And the way queer relationships are presented in this novel also at times seems performative. Reid is a straight white woman. And while I do not think that writers should be limited to only write about their personal experiences, I do think you have to avoid being tone-deaf, or else your characters will fall flat and you risk alienating your audience.
I also think that Evelyn being the primary narrator of the novel leads to the other characters falling into the background. Maybe I would have liked the book better if the other characters, like Monique and even Harry and Celia, seemed less two-dimensional.
My biggest problems with the book are surrounding the nature of the representation of the characters. For me, the first page where Reid is introducing us to Monique, a biracial woman, it seems off and cringe-y. The way Monique is described in regards to her racial identity seems inauthentic. Evelyn, a Latina woman, undergoes physical transformation allowing her to assimilate into Hollywood and pass as white. While the problematic elements of that point are glossed over, we instead are given several instances of people obsessing over the beauty of her “unnatural” bleach blonde hair and too-dark skin. I think there was an opportunity presented to dig deeper into Evelyn’s Hollywood-induced white washing and further develop her personal identity In that regard, and I think it was missed. And the way queer relationships are presented in this novel also at times seems performative. Reid is a straight white woman. And while I do not think that writers should be limited to only write about their personal experiences, I do think you have to avoid being tone-deaf, or else your characters will fall flat and you risk alienating your audience.
I also think that Evelyn being the primary narrator of the novel leads to the other characters falling into the background. Maybe I would have liked the book better if the other characters, like Monique and even Harry and Celia, seemed less two-dimensional.