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

emotional
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm not sure how to rate this... I read it within 4 days which is really fast for me, and I cried twice which almost never happens. 

Maybe it was the way the book was written. I really like the chapters where Evelyn and Monique interacted, but I still don't get if the other chapters were meant to be monologues by Evelyn, flashbacks, or chapters from the biography. And I feel like I didn't really get to know the characters apart from Monique, Evelyn and Harry. They felt rather two dimensional, even Celia and Connor. That might have been a stylistic choice because Evelyn's perception was very much centered on herself, but I still didn't like it. It diminished the effect of a novel that spans decades, something I normally love because I feel like I really get to know all the characters. 

And even though they were rare, I really hated these ominous foreshadowing bits like
I have no idea that in less than a week, Evelyn Hugo will finish her story, and I'll find out what this has all been about, and I will hate her so much that I'll be truly afraid I might kill her. 

Also the car accident and the big secret felt kinda forced, a bit like an afterthought to add more drama? 

But overall I enjoyed reading this book immensely so I'm really torn about how to rate and feel about it. 
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