Every once in a while, you come across a book and you think “This one is special.”
The last time I felt that was with The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and I felt it again with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Some books just feel like magic, and this is one of them.
Evelyn Hugo got a lot of hype on TikTok, and I always go into hyped books with a grain of salt, but I can say with 100% certainty that every word of this book is worth all of the hype it gets, its really just that good.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo tells the story of Evelyn Hugo, an Old Hollywood Star who is finally telling her life story through journalist Monique. Evelyn’s life was full of controversy, scandal, and well, a lot of husbands.
Monique doesn’t know why Evelyn chose her to tell her story, and the book swaps in and out of Evelyn’s life in the past and the present with Monique. I have to say that I didn’t enjoy reading Monique’s part of the books as much as I enjoyed reading Evelyn’s story and I found that it sucked you out of Evelyn’s narration, but I actually think that was the point. Evelyn’s story is soul-consuming and so addictive, that as soon as you come out of it you want to get right back into it.
The first thing you should know about Evelyn is that she is not a likable character. She is pretty ruthless, selfish, and would do absolutely anything to be on top. And I mean everything. You’re not really meant to like Evelyn that much, and she makes it very clear that she is not a good person either. But she is a very layered character, she is very human and flawed and in this sense, her unlikeable traits actually make her a very likable and enjoyable character.
I found myself absolutely fascinated with her, you could feel her energy through the writing and you just end up being drawn to her. I really felt like I was in this story with her!
What I like about this book is that the story is told in sections using her husband’s names (such as Poor Ernie Diaz and goddamn Don Adler) which I thought was a really nice touch as it gave the sense of what the husband was going to be like. She has her reasons for every marriage, even if some may be considered unethical, they all make sense and helps tell the story of a woman who so desperately wanted love, safety, and belonging with someone she couldn’t have.
I just adored everything about this book. I cried with this book. I laughed, smiled, had my heart broken, and lived through Evelyn’s highs and lows with her.
This is a very character-driven book so may be considered slow if you much prefer action and fast-paced reads, but for me this was perfect.
5/5
