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

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don’t know where else to include this, but normally I LOATHE first-person narration, and I actually didn’t mind it in this book. It may have been because the conceit of this novel is a woman narrating  her life experiences so first-person makes logical sense, but if you similarly loathe first-person narration, this instance is actually ok. 

Things I Enjoyed
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Diversity: this book featured characters from a variety of different backgrounds (ex. our two protagonists are both women of color) and their background actually factors in to who they are as people and how they live their lives rather than feeling like tokenism

Queer Female Love: it is not often you get to see love between two women get done much less well, and I think this book does a decent job at being a realistic and intriguing queer love story. 

Handling of Biphobia: I thought Jenkins Reid handled biphobia in a tactful way and I especially liked that it came from a fellow queer person as, at least in my experience, that is often the case 

What Could’ve Been Better
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Not Enough Queer Female Love: What keeps this book from being 5 stars for me is that I wish we could’ve seen more of Evelyn and Celia’s relationship. I suppose I can’t be too disappointed as this book is called the seven HUSBANDS of Evelyn Hugo and while it may have all been in the pursuit of one woman the emphasis is still on the husbands.  

Spoiler Tell Me More Tell Me More: this book was not about Harry or James or even really about Monique, but I do wish we could’ve learned more about Harry and James’s relationship and the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
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