Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Célia’s biphobia that isn’t treated as such in the book and is instead treated as a fair reaction. I also find it ridiculous that you would have an actress jealous of another actress filming a sex scene. That makes no sense for an actor and Celia was supposed to be a good one

. I also don’t find the final plot twist to be shocking or as big a deal as the book makes it out to be, so it just falls flat. But I loved the story, it was engrossing and exciting and had me not wanting to put the book down. I also must say I have learned some life lessons from Evelyn. A great read, all in all.

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thebookwhale's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

Ooookay let's see.

This book, I absolutely love the concept and the idea. I mean, I love historical fiction, especially when it's sapphic, and this story about Evelyn and also about the film industry is amazing.
I liked that we were introduced to Evelyn through Monique who is writing her biography.
Though, Monique's story felt entirely unnecessary. It felt like it was only there to fill the book, and I would give this book a 5 star review immediately if it weren't for the absolutely unbelievable plot twist.

Spoiler

like no. I literally screamed out of frustration (over the writing) when I read this part. Like what is this
"oh you remember the guy I left at the car accident? Yeah that's your father."
Yes, we were waiting for the explanation on why Evelyn chose Monique, but please, it was just so forced. I would have believed it more when the reason was something like "I liked the article you wrote about the struggles of suicidal people".

Also, I just couldn't care less for Monique as a character. I didn't care for her failed marriage or anything, but I understand that we needed to see the influence Evelyn had on people back at her time and also in the present.

Now, let's talk about Celia and Evelyn. I don't get why they are shipped everywhere on social media. Personally, I found both of them extremely toxic together.

Spoiler

Evelyn telling herself that her career is more important than Celia and Celia demanding that Evelyn leaves everything for her, it's just not good.

However, this is not something that took away stars at my rating, since I think the relationship is showing that not everything is gold in a celebrity's life and that they have struggles as well.
I think what made it even harder for them and had a huge impact on how the relationship went is the taboo that was (and is) on gay relationships. It's interesting to see how the world evolves on queer rights during that time period and also how the importance of Celia's and Evelyn's career in comparison to living out who they are changes throughout the book.

So overall, this was great and the only thing that stops me from a 5 star review is Monique. I didn't like her, I didn't care for her, she felt unnecessary, and I was inclined to skip the parts where she was talking with Evelyn ( I didn't tho).
Still, a great book that's worth a read.

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idontread's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

to anyone who saw me crying alone in the airport lounge while reading this no u didn’t

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giannasoph's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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anneschreurs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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cc24680's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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foxo_cube's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

With the hype this book got, I was optimistic enough but cautious not to get my hopes up too high. It started off neither weak nor strong, but when it got going, it <i>got going</i>. What a fucking book!

It's sort of a framed narrative: the present-day parts of it are from the perspective of Monique, but Evelyn's past - which makes up the bulk of the book - is recounted by her as they sit in her office recording. As Evelyn tells her story and they spend time together, Monique takes some aspects of Evelyn with her, becoming bolder and more forthright. There are cute little newspaper clippings and the like from the time period being spoken about, too, which mostly serve to show the view of complete outsiders divorced (ha) from Evelyn's perspective entirely.

Honestly, I do just adore Evelyn. She's not exactly a beacon of morality, nor does she pretend to be - she knows how to manipulate the people and places around her and does so, compromising herself and others if she sees fit to do so. But that's kind of what makes her so compelling. She's calculating and smart and, overall, dedicated. Most of all, she feels real. Larger than life, for sure, but like a whole person. I'll never not be amazed at fictional characters like that, that make you forget sometimes that they're not real people. Also, she's a bisexual Latina queen. Interesting to me was the aspect of herself who wanted to connect more with her identity as a Cuban, having buried it for the sake of her own marketability. I related to that sense of estrangement to (part of, in my case) one's ethnicity, because I was raised in the UK and barely know my Tico family, and I do cling to any little bit of connection I can get with it.

A big part of the plot is Evelyn's relationship with her sexuality - the internal struggle she has with keeping her career together while not wanting to deny herself her adoration of Celia (and attraction to women as a whole). Owing to the way Evelyn is as a person, and Celia's own flaws, the turbulence of their relationship doesn't feel ridiculous or like conflict has been put there for the sake of it. It's an intense relationship in a time that was unaccepting, and that inevitably strains things. They do just love each other so much, though.

Spoiler

I'm so glad that they were able to live out Celia's final years together without conflict and judgement. Their little wedding together in their bed was just the cutest!!

Really, this book is about love in all of its forms, and I am a sucker for that. Evelyn experiences platonic, familial, and romantic love at different points; she discovers the feeling of lust early in her relationship with Don; she is loved as a concept and not as a person by Max; she uses a total lack of love to her advantage in a few of her marriages; she experiences a whole load of emotions over the course of her daughter's life. Even her whole reason for getting Monique to write her biography is influenced a lot by love.

The ending is bittersweet, as seems fitting. It was one of those books that I closed and was like, "well. fuck" and had to take a minute. This is one I look forward to rereading again in the future - although what a shame I won't be able to experience it for the first time again!

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