“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is the story of a lifetime. Literally - it takes you across the whirlwind life of 60s it-girl and superstar Evelyn Hugo. After a stardom and estranged relationship to fame that in modern days could most easily be compared to Taylor Swift (If you read this book, please immediately listen to The Lucky One and you’ll see what I mean), Evelyn decides to share her life story with Monique Grant. A gripping story accompanied by jaw-dropping plot twists and heartfelt relationships, this book is easily worthy of its critical acclaim.

Easily the most beautiful aspect of this book, the book follows the relationships Evelyn makes during her career, most notably that between her and Celia St Ives, her co-star. An enchanting, well-written queer love story, particularly between two women, is still difficult to find in media, but this book is absolutely where to look. The book also follows Evelyn’s friendship with her best friend Harry Cameron, and all seven of her husbands. It’s clear that Reid’s particular talent is the ability to create deep emotional connections throughout her books - if you weren’t left in tears by the end, I’m assuming you just don’t have a soul.

The plot was also excellent - I almost always felt hooked and the plot twists were well executed. I finished the book in under two days, which speaks well for the pacing. The characters felt real and their actions made sense; I really enjoyed the character development that took place over the course of the plot. 

The only part of this book that I found an issue with was the separate plotline surrounding Evelyn and the journalist Monique Grant. I tended to lose interest in these chapters, mainly because I didn’t feel that Monique was an interesting character or that her and Evelyn had any particular chemistry, In fact, some of the conversations they had felt forced and repetitive - the comparison between being mixed race and being bisexual also felt unnecessary, and didn’t really make sense for either character. Most of Monique’s chapters just felt like filler in order to get to the real plot. However, I did enjoy Monique and Evelyn’s relationship at the end of the book. 

Additionally, the writing style didn’t feel particularly unique or interesting, but it fit the book well and wasn’t distracting, so this wasn’t a big issue to me.

Overall, I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it and Celia, Harry and Evelyn are characters that will stay with me. Despite my issues with parts of the book, it was still incredibly enjoyable and I look forward to trying some of Reid’s other books.