Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Years after making herself a household name, Evelyn Hugo is ready, to tell the truth about her rise to fame and what she’s done, and lost, to get there. But she’s shaking the journalism community by plucking unknown Monique Grant to write her story. But Monique is listening as Evelyn begins her tale in the cutthroat world that was Old Hollywood and the stories of her seven husbands along the way.

I am starstruck, honestly. This book isn’t my usual go-to read, but after hearing everyone talking about this, I knew I couldn’t miss this out. And I’m glad I didn’t. Seven Husbands indeed one of the best books I’ve read this year. I wasn’t expecting much because I hadn’t heard much about this book apart from “read it now”. It was a compelling read about race, sexuality, misogyny and how you shouldn’t use your short time on earth being someone you’re not.

Evelyn recalls her life to unknown journalist Monique Grant, starting from her roots: losing her mother and marrying a man (husband number one) to leave her the dead end city and into Hollywood to make her name with the stars. Evelyn is unapologetic and cunning. She learns to play the game and uses everything she can to prove herself. She’s her own saviour in a world that wants nothing more to do with her. I was so in love with her story. The story explores her Cuban heritage and bisexuality. And it is phenomenal. The writing and pacing are impeccable and had my heart racing with every page. This book really surprised me. Rarely do books steal my heart so quickly and within the first chapter.

Monique, in my opinion, was sorely underutilised. It’s not her fault that Evelyn’s story was so overpowering that it literally takes all your attention but a second read through is needed to appreciate her again. She’s an unknown journalist requested to write the biography of Hollywood’s greatest star. And she has no clue as to why she’s chosen. There are breaks between Evelyn’s chapters where we follow Monique as she processes what she learns from Evelyn and later we learn the bombshell in how she connects to the story.

Overall, this was an incredibly well-written story and an utterly brilliant novel. Honestly, if you’re in need of a new read, make sure to pick this one up.

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GOODREADS| AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY | AUTHOR

Content warning: the death of a loved one, mentions of suicide and miscarriage, unhealthy eating, abortion, domestic abuse, cheating, homophobia, biphobia, alcoholism. (If you’ve read this book and felt like I’ve missed something out, please, inform me.)