If you are anything like me, you are on the booktok side of TikTok. In that case, you have likely seen, or heard, of the book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Reikens Reid. This popular book had been on my phone screen so much I just had to go to my local bookstore and pick up a copy. I had to see for myself what all of the hype was about.
This book review doesn’t contain spoilers, it is purely my thoughts and opinions.
The book centers around a “regular” magazine reporter, Monique Grant. She has no previous notoriety working at the well-known Magazine Vivant until she is requested by private Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo for an exclusive interview. The book follows the story of Evelyn Hugo and the choices she makes that taks her on her journey into stardom as Monique Grant interviews her. But why did Evelyn Hugo specifically require a writer far from the spotlight to be the caretaker of her life story?
This book is excellent in many ways. I think what has made this book so spectacular is how morally gray it paints the world. There is no hero or villain. You become entranced following Evelyn’s life through the lens of her seven husbands. We see this through Evelyn’s story by the choices she makes and the sacrifices that mark her life. We also see the growth in Monique in her confidence and self-assurance and how Evelyn’s past helps move Monique into her own future. In the end, we see why Monique matters to Evelyn all along.
It is a beautiful book and by the end I found myself growing in ways just as Monique does, as if Evelyn was speaking to me and coaching me herself. It is a great book and that has my stamp of approval.