Once again, I gave in to the hype, and I bought a copy of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid for myself. I couldn’t avoid it. Not only was this book praised a lot when it came out, so was the author. And I had to see for myself if I agreed with everyone. Now, after two years of its publication, there are rumours about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo becoming a TV series, and the internet has gone bananas!! About the adaptation, I still don’t have any thoughts, but about the book, I have a ton.

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid Publisher: Washington Square Press Pages: 389 Genre: Historical Fiction, LGBT Publication: 13th June 2017

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Synopsis:

Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready, to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write her story, no one understands why. Not even Monique. They don’t have any relation to each other, how does Evelyn Hugo even know about her existence?

Although Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. So Evelyn starts telling her story from arriving in Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s without forgetting the seven husbands along the way. She talks about everything she went through, every heartless decision, unexpected friendships, and the only person she ever truly loved.

Like any other hyped book, the chances of living up to all those praises are very hard. And the more you build up the idea that is a great book, the harder it is to meet those expectations. And I went with big expectations! The synopsis sounded interesting but not exactly a book that I would pick for myself in the bookstore. Although everyone was loving the story so much that I was expecting it to be a new favourite. And I came out slightly disappointed.

Diving into Holywood in the 1950s was an amazing ride, and it was sad how quickly the story had to move on to later years. For the first time, I would prefer a slow narration instead of a fast passed one. I got so caught up in the drama and the husbands that in a blink of an eye the story was already in the 1980s and quickly approaching the 2000s. And those years close to our present kind of broke the idea of Evelyn being real. She was a 50s Hollywood icon, the Marlin Monroe of her world, she could be a real person, like the ones you read about in the golden age of Hollywood. I know she is a fictional character, but while the story is set even before my mother was born, it felt that Evelyn could be a real person. While in a contemporary scenario, where I’m alive that idea chatters because I know that there isn’t a scandalous Hollywood actress called Evelyn Hugo. If the book took place entirely in the past, it would feel like a biography. And I’m down for it!!

Evelyn’s story was addictive, dramatic, scandalous, and very bumpy. Like Evelyn says, she is not a good person, but I love her for that. She is well aware of the person she has become over the years, and the person she had to be to become Evelyn Hugo. She is a strong character, and despite the shit she has done and the people she has hurt, she doesn’t apologize for the person she is. Evelyn might regret later on how her younger self was caught up in all the Hollywood glory that she didn’t care about anyone else, but she knew that she had to be herself instead of being any other way for others. She really is a complexed character, and that makes the story a thousand times better.

One thing I wasn’t expecting to not like about this book was Monique’s perspective. And even though the book is called The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, the protagonist of the story is Monique. But… I didn’t care for her at all. Her perspective started and finished the book, and had a few small chapters scattered throughout, usually in between each of the husbands. The story shifted the perspective to help justify Evelyn’s actions and, at the same time, to give more details about Monique’s life. Although, I didn’t read enough about Monique to be interested in her, in the first place. And in the middle of Evelyn’s drama, Monique’s life isn’t as interesting and actually quite… boring. Monique is a young journalist trying to get her big break while she is going through a divorce. In another story where Monique wasn’t next to The Evelyn Hugo, I would probably enjoy it a lot more. She is a sweet girl trying to do her best and is by far a better person than Evelyn, but Monique always felt so dull and pointless to the story.

There is also a mystery set from the beginning of the book over why Evelyn chose Monique to talk to about her life. I guess that mystery was supposed to keep the reader interested in the present, but it didn’t work for me at all. Buy the end, I stopped caring about it, and once Evelyn had finished her story, so was I with this book. That mystery was a big fail in my opinion. It felt like it was created just to give a plot twist, something even more scandalous than Evelyn herself. Although it didn’t add anything to the story, and the whole idea behind it doesn’t make sense. The mystery isn’t something that is built up from the beginning, it is just occasionally mentioned to remind the reader that there is something big to be revealed. But it wasn’t a big revelation for me.

This book would be a new favourite of mine if it was Evelyn telling her story in the past and leaving the present for another contemporary romance novel. Despite everything I said, I adored Evelyn, and I still enjoyed this book. It’s not a favourite, but it’s up there on the list of the best books I read so far. If you enjoy drama and scandal go for it, you won’t be disappointed.

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