5 reasons to read “The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo”

“I think that loving you has been the truest thing about me.”

Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was, at the same time, my last read of the past decade and my first read of the current one. As I read the majority of this book this year, I take it as the best book I’ve read this year so far. And I always say it might be the best book I’ve read in my life.
I started reading this book thinking it was going to be a dramatic book based solely on Evelyn’s love life and her experiences with fame, but it turned out to be completely different (and I loved it for proving me wrong). This is a book about real life. While it isn’t based on real events, this book shows the ups and downs, the unexpected (and sometimes cruel and unfair) turns in an individual’s life. How a character fucks up along the way and that ends up affecting him or her for a long time, and even others: because life is a chain and somehow everything is connected.
It’s been months, so I decided I wouldn’t do a regular review on this book. Instead I will point out five reasons to read this amazing book, and hopefully that’ll be enough for you to pick it up immediately!

1. It’s perspective of love

I always say that this is a book about love. Not because Evelyn loved each and everyone of her husbands. But she got to love different people (in different ways) in her story, and we get to see how different each relationship is and how it affects her once they come to an end. But more than that, in the world Taylor Jenkins Reid built, love can get to be an illusion, a tool, a means to an end. Is everchanging, and she had a wonderful way to show it here.

2. Sensitive topics

TJR doesn’t hold back when talking about sensitive topics, such as abuse (different kinds of it), addiction, illness and death. But she deals with all of those things in a respectful way, and tries to bring awareness in all of those very hard topics throughout the book.

3. 60’s Hollywood Glam

Because not everything has to be so serious, right? On a lighter topic, this book is set in 1960’s Hollywood. You get to see in firsthand how Evelyn deals with fame, the good and the bad of it, with aging while being Hollywood’s bombshell. One moment you see her at the top of her game, and the next moment she deals with having her spot taken by someone fresh, younger and prettier. I know how bad it sounds, but it shows the cruel ways of the world of fame, as well as what Evelyn had to do and sacrifice in order to be one of the most famous and successful actresses of the 60’s.

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4. Mind-blowing plot twists

For me, shocking plot twists are a GREAT way to make a book better. The more a book surprises me and proves me wrong on my theories, the more I like it: I don’t like to predict what comes next, and this book gave me exactly that. For me, this book was better in its plotwists than any thriller I’ve read. I assure you that, even with all the information i’m giving you in this post, you won’t be able to predict all the surprising things that happen throughout the story.

5. A very original book

Since reading this book, I’ve tried to look for books that are similar to it and failed miserably. This book is one of a kind, it has all the elements to make it perfect and stand out from the others: the glamourous setting, the writing style that mixes interviews and regular chapters, the way that the author got to squeeze entire decades of events in the book, the latinx and queer rep, the raw way to send several messages with this story. You won’t find anything like this, so if you’re looking for something that’s original, that speaks about important matters and that will make you blow your mind, this book is for you.

I could go on and on about my favorite book, but who cannot? However, this is all for today’s post!

Have you read this book before? What were your thoughts on it? What’s your favorite book of all times? Let me know in the comments!

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