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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 31, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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Mar 18, 2020 Colleen Scidmore rated it really liked it

Shelves: currently-on-google-drive, currently-on-my-bookshelf, notebook

“That’s how my story ends. With the loss of everyone I have ever loved. With me in a big beautiful upper east side apartment missing everyone who ever meant anything to me. When you write the ending Monique make sure it’s clear that I don’t love this apartment. That I don’t care about all my money. That I couldn’t give a rats ass if people think I’m a legend. That the adoration of millions of people never warmed my bed. When you write the ending Monique tell everyone that is the people I miss. T “That’s how my story ends. With the loss of everyone I have ever loved. With me in a big beautiful upper east side apartment missing everyone who ever meant anything to me. When you write the ending Monique make sure it’s clear that I don’t love this apartment. That I don’t care about all my money. That I couldn’t give a rats ass if people think I’m a legend. That the adoration of millions of people never warmed my bed. When you write the ending Monique tell everyone that is the people I miss. Tell everyone that I got it wrong.”

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is another one of Taylor Jenkins Reid amazing books. I’ve loved just about everything I’ve read of hers except Daisy Jones and the Six, I’m pretty sure I’m the minority on that one because there has been lot’s of praise for it. TJR is such a talented writer and all her books are different from one another. They aren’t carbon copies of each other with different characters names. And she turned out another beautifully written story with Evelyn Hugo.

“Everyone I loved is dead now. There’s no one left to protect. No one left to lie for but me. People have so closely followed the most intricate details of the fake story of my life. But it’s not. I don’t...I want them to know the real story, the real me.”

Evelyn Hugo was/is a huge movie star that in present times is in her 70’s. She has decided to give her life story to an unknown writer Monique Grant. She tells Monique she wants her and only her to write her Biography. If she decides not to take the opportunity Evelyns story will die with her. Monique can’t believe her luck. Why would Evelyn Hugo give her this huge opportunity? She’s never met the woman, is of no relation to her and has only written minor stories for a magazine. On top of that Evelyn has not talked to the press in years. So what is going on? Evelyn promises Monique she will find the answer to that and all of her dirty little secrets by the end of her story.

“Alright. Show me the real you then. And I’ll make sure the world understands.”

This is where the very complex story of Evelyn Hugo began.

Evelyn Hugo is a touching story about a woman that would do anything to get out of life in Hells Kitchen. She was the only daughter born from 2 Cuban immigrants, her mother was only 17 when they came to America. Evelyn wanted to start a career in what her deceased mom had dreamt of her whole life. She wanted to give her daughter a better life and get away from an abusive husband and father. She took that dream and ran with it, and each of her 7 husbands was a part of her plan to get her to stardom as an actress. And Evelyn Herrera became Evelyn Hugo.

I had conflicted feelings about Evelyns complex character. On one hand I loved that she fought hard to get what she wanted but at times she was very selfish and didn’t care if she hurt others in order to do so. She outright said she didn’t regret anything she had done in her life, at least she owned it. Evelyn was also dealing with several issues that were taboo in her time so I understood why she was so hard edged. Otherwise she would have been dragged down without being able to get back up.
And I respected her for helping Monique. Moniques character drove me nuts. I guess because I kind of identified with it, not having enough confidence. Monique didn’t have enough confidence to know her own worth. And Evelyn taught her to fight for herself and believe that she was truly talented enough to demand what she wanted. Moniques character transitioned and grew by the end of the book.

Overall the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was a very interesting and captivating read. I’m not a big fan of Historical Fiction a lot of the time, but I enjoyed the mixture of present and past, and it was just so well written I had no complaints. TJR is fast becoming a go to author for me and I look forward to reading the next book that she will release. ...more

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Jun 12, 2018 Keyona rated it liked it

I definitely enjoyed this one. Evelyn lived a fast life full of lies, love, happiness and...deceit. It certainly made for an interesting story and it seemed like I read a real celebrity's story. She had seven husbands but there were certainly reasons for this. Reasons that actually made sense at the time. Before reading this I'd assumed she kept falling in love. The story is way more interesting. The other more jaw dropping part is the connection between Evelyn and the writer of said book, Moniq ...more

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Jul 12, 2020 Trisha rated it really liked it

"When you dig just the tiniest bit beneath the surface, everyone's love life is original and interesting and nuanced and defies any easy definition."

This was a wonderful read and one that definitely surprised me. I loved going through each relationship and point in Evelyn's life. I also enjoyed learning about Monique, the one that is helping narrator and give life to Evelyn and her story. I was sad and happy and even frustrated with the story at times, but that is what made it wonderful! ...more

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Aug 17, 2018 Sera rated it it was amazing

4.5 Stars

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Nov 24, 2019 Keri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, tower-teams-vii-2019

I am still trying to wrap my head around how amazing this book was and how I can put it in words that make sense. Go read this book.

I have never read a book quite like this before. It was fictional, but felt like it was so real. Taylor Jenkins Reid has a real ability to pull you into her characters lives and worlds as if they’re real. With this, I want to go watch all Evelyn Hugo’s movies and find the tabloid articles about her to try to compare them to the truth she tells to Monique. I was comp ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: susan-s-gcac

It's been awhile since I have read an adult book and I miss reading them. I loved this book and I think it was the perfect book to bridge that gap from YA to adult. It was the story of a women's rise to fame...it also was her fall and what it took for her to rebuild her career once one man had it striped away from her. This book made you mad at Evelyn one minute and happy and loving her the next. She told the story of how each husband came into her life and what each of their roles were in her l ...more

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Jul 20, 2021 Erika rated it really liked it

Shelves: discovery-bookshelf, owned-books

I didn’t love this book as much as everyone else did…I actually loved Malibu Rising a lot more. I started this book a long time ago and would put it down and read a little more eventually, and then keep doing it. I’m not sure why. The story is good. I think I didn’t like Evelyn very much, even from the beginning. But after finishing the book, I can’t help but think that’s what the author wanted us to feel. Evelyn was deeply flawed, like all of us. I think that even though this wasn’t a five star ...more

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Dec 26, 2018 Caitlin rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-for-recs, books-i-still-think-about, girlybookclub-books

A piece of advice for reading this book: pay attention. Don't underestimate it as pop literature. Don't read it during busy moments where you're not fully paying attention. I did that, and I absolutely did NOT see the pivotal twist coming--but, in retrospect, I probably should have. (view spoiler) ...more

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