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

funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It took me a while to get into this - not something I'd usually pick up I guess. I have to say Monique irritated the shit out of me and the way her existence is just used as a frame narrative for the real story felt... old fashioned at best and useless at worst. That being said - Evelyn's story got really fun once you realise how much she loves Celia and what she is willing to do to climb the ladder. She's cruel, stupid rich, cold, and still the book managed to make feel sympathetic towards her - she's a survivor of domestic abuse, she's a famous woman in the 50s-80s, she has a strong sense of self and what she wants and does whatever it takes for the people she loves.
All in all this doesn't really provide the complexity and/or poetics I'm usually interested in when reading but it was a pretty lighthearted break from my previous read with was an absolute avalanche of pain (Nightcrawling - 4.5 stars). Some of the topics in this - domestic abuse, being lgbt in the 50s-80s, womanhood as an actress in the studio system - are really heavy, but they don't really get treated with the careful approach you might expect.
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