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

emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Maybe I'm finally burning out on Taylor Jenkins-Reid as this is the third of hers I've read this year. Her stories are well crafted hugs and I get the sense she loves all her characters, and always finds redeeming qualities in them, even the ones you want to hate. Evelyn Hugo is a film star of old with seven husbands under her belt. She's a little bit Marilyn Monroe, a little bit Liz Taylor, and the narrative consistently tells us how edgy and difficult she is, while we see her be a warm hearted and intelligent protagonist. Her great love is fellow actress Celia, and the seven husbands are various ways for her to get close to and away from her great love as she tries to hide her sexuality in Hollywood. The book keeps alluding to a dark secret and much like other Jenkins-Reid novels wants you to believe peril is around every corner, even though the characters are all much too loved and too lovely to get what's coming to them. 

A strange exception to this is Celia, who does not come across well, and the book's modern day protagonist, the journalist writing about Evelyn's life. Neither character is very compelling and instead I found myself very much missing the daughter's point of view throughout.

Complex sexual relationships are navigated with an exploration of consent and trade. But this one didn't land right for me. It didn't sparkle like the previous Jenkins-Reid books I've read
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