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

reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel like I need to start this review with my state of mind coming into reading this book. I was so excited to hop on the Hugo train. It seemed to have it all: old Hollywood, glam with an air of mystery, and a young woman coming into her own career. It sounded truly up my ally and all of the reviews were remarkable! Maybe I’m just not really part the intended audience or, what feels more likely, maybe this was a book to read with other people and not alone. It’s been difficult for me to decide if my dislike of the book comes from dislike of the characters or of the structure overall. 

I really didn’t enjoy the long, uninterrupted chapters of Evelyn relaying  her story. One of the benefits of having Monique working as as a journalist would have been to use her ask some clarifying questions on behalf of the audience. Reid rarely uses the opportunity. Instead Evelyn, whom we come to know as a morally gray unreliable narrator that knows that what she ultimately wants is control, tells swathes of her story without break. Monique basically doesn’t do her job within the story or within the structure of the novel, missing nearly every opportunity to provide the reader with a chance to come up for air and weigh Evelyn’s actions through their own sense of morality. After reading this alone and then describing it to other people I realized the key thing I felt like I was missing was the option to discuss what other choices Evelyn could have made and how I felt about them. If you’re not reading with other people and Monique’s character isn’t being used as a tool to open up those questions I feel like you miss out on a huge part of the experience of the book. 

My favorite parts of the book explored Evelyn and Harry’s relationship, especially in the last third. Utilizing the real historical context of Stonewall as a pivotal point was especially moving and felt like the only time I got to know the softer side of Evelyn or was able to feel any empathy towards her. I didn’t see the twist at the end coming and it served to highlight the ongoing conversations we’re having about sexuality at all ages. I don’t believe, though, that it was integral to the plot to keep some those broader cultural conversations tamped down at the start of the book. While it felt accurate to the time to not discuss sexuality at all I think I would have felt more empathy and leaned into the grey of Evelyn’s character more if we had heard more about the conversations she was/wasn’t having with herself at the time. 

So much of this book felt like a missed opportunity to go deeper to me. Evelyn’s character is nuanced and interesting but you have to work hard to feel that way. Monique is under-utilized as a character and seems to be around exclusively as a device for the last few chapters of the book. I could have had so much more of a connection to this book if the audience was just invited in more by the structure. 
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