The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
CAUTION: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD!
"Heartbreak is loss. Divorce is a piece of paper."
Evelyn Hugo is the realest fictional character I've read in a long while.
Okay, that's not entirely accurate. If the world was full of people like Evelyn, the world would be brighter and colorful, but also all kinds of effed up. Nonetheless, Evelyn Hugo proved to me that I haven't actually lost the ability to appreciate published books. I've merely been reading the wrong ones.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is about the life and marriages of the aging Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo. Until the events of the book, Evelyn had never done an exposé. For this much sought after story, however, Evelyn opted to collaborate with a biracial and unknown writer, Monique Grant. It comes as a surprise to everyone. But Evelyn has her reasons, and she won't be made to reveal them until she thinks it's the right time. Monique was unprepared for the gift horse that landed on her lap but she had one question that trumped all the others: Who was the love of Evelyn Hugo's life? She made some assumptions that were rebuffed, and so Evelyn began her tale. She started with her less-than-glamourous beginnings, then came the fabulous and scandalous tale of her career and marriages-- and an even more scandalous reveal that left Monique wanting to murder Evelyn herself.
But all that pales in comparison to a revelation that came quite early. The love of Evelyn's life is... her wife. Now, to some readers this revelation did not come as a surprise since apparently one of the tags for this novel is "forbidden romance". BUT I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. So I came over to goodreads to find some non-spoiler review that could help me gush over the novel, when lo and behold, the top review had this spoiler on its 3rd paragraph. I was completely disgruntled, and so were many others. This review was published on 2018, and until that point had not been marked as a spoiler. I left a comment saying that it should have been spoilered, and 6 hours later it was FINALLY hidden. That aside, this revelation had to happen close to the beginning as Evelyn said that she, "[felt like she spent her] entire life loving her."
For most of their lives, Evelyn and Celia were connected. They lost touch after lines were crossed, but somehow they always found their way back to each other. Celia was also biphobic for the most part, refusing to accept the part of Evelyn that loved men. She eventually accepts and even acknowledges this part of her as they grew older, which is appreciated, but I don't think I'm in the position to forgive her as I'm neither Evelyn nor bisexual. Still, Evelyn and Celia loved each other with a passion that could rival the greatest love stories, complete with misunderstandings, confrontation of the consequences of one's actions, and the devastating reality of loving and being loved in return.
The best character is not a character but a relationship. The friendship between Evelyn and Harry Cameron was so beautiful and surprising. I didn't expect Evelyn to find a genuine friend in such a cutthroat and capitalistic industry. She and Harry were "true blue" best friends, and the way their story ended was just devastating. Here's your "men and women can just be friends!" moment, haha!
Overall, I was so glad I read this after Hamnet. While I did like that book, I don't think I could have taken another literary read so soon, to be honest.
Rating: an easy 5/5*
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