Monday 23 July 2018

Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Adult, Historical fiction, Contemporary
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie 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 for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? 
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

My Rating: 5/5 STARS

My Review:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo starts off with a journalist named Monique being asked to do an interview with a famous award winning actress called Evelyn Hugo.  Evelyn Hugo asks Monique to do a tell-all biography of her life.  In the book you find out everything that went on in her life; her rise to fame, her famous accolades, the loves of her life and the secrets she has kept hidden.

This book...I really don't know where to start with it.  It was so much more than what I was expecting.  This book is definitely my favourite book of the year (so far) and probably one of my all time favourites.  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one of those books that really makes your heart wrench so much that you can't get the book out of your head.

Because the story is written like a biography of Evelyn Hugo, you get to see how her whole life played out.  You get to see every part of her life which is, I think, what causes the most emotional impact whilst reading because the character becomes such a real person.  Evelyn Hugo is definitely one of a kind.  I loved reading her story.  She can come across as a hard character to like, she can be manipulative and unkind with her words but when I was reading this book all these things became all the more reasons to love her character.  She is manipulative but you can really see why she did what she what she had to do and I loved how much she was willing to sacrifice to protect who she loved.  

Evelyn's love life was very fascinating to read.  One of the most heart wrenching parts of the book was reading about Evelyn and her true love and everything they went through, their love story was so beautiful.

While I loved reading Evelyn's life I also liked the parts of the story told in the present day.  We get to see the interactions between the older Evelyn and the journalist Monique who is doing her biography.  Those parts were also emotional because you get to read about Evelyn reflecting on her life and to see what she did and did not regret in her life.  Those chapters really had a bittersweet quality to them.  There is also the mystery of why Evelyn chose Monique to write her biography, which was an interesting aspect to the story.

Overall I thought this book was amazing.  It was wonderfully written and it had some great quotes in it.  The story of Evelyn Hugo's life is definitely unforgettable.  I'm so glad I read this book. 

No comments:

Post a Comment