the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo // Taylor Jenkins Reid

published: June 2017
pages: 388

ISBN: 978-1-5011-3923-9

read: 1/5-8/2018

rating: 100000/10 stars

book: 1 of 12 (secretly aiming for 52 but happy with 30) of 2018

"If you are heartbroken right now, then i feel for you deeply. that i have the utmost respect for. that's the sort of thing that can split a person in two. " 

Evelyn pg 142

SYNOPSIS

In this entrancing novel “that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all” (Kirkus Reviews), a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jump start her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

MY THOUGHTS

this damn book. 

2 things. 

1) I've said it before, I'm saying it right now and i will continue to say it as long as it keeps being a true statement: 

A BOOK will call you when it's ready to be read. maybe that's not how it is for you but its  how it's been working for me. always has been probably always will be. and honestly, i love living by this. 

I've been wanting to read this since its release date but for some reason, i wasn't ready. 

it wasn't until I'd taken a month off of reading that i felt that i was ready. it wasn't until Diana posted about it that i felt i was ready to read it. 

I'd read SO MANY good reviews about this book (mostly from all the bookstagramers i follow) and have yet to come across a bad one (I'll see on goodreads shortly). but this book! gah!

2) this is it for me.  

and honestly, if i can find another book that can do for me what this one did, then even better for me. 

THIS

IS

IT. 

i have NEVER had a book hangover like this. especially not while i was still reading it, racing to finish it and then trying my hardest to prolong it. 

this story was on another level for me. 

as i was reading it, i was trying to find the way to do this book justice. 

i was falling in love with it like i never have before and i was trying to see the "plot twist" to better understand it. 

and while you get the plot twist i believe the second husband in, that's not all. 

that freaking ending. 

JESUS!!!!

the whole premise of this story is for Evelyn to finally speak her truth. 

everyone that has ever meant anything to her has passed away. after everything she went through to find her family, she is once again, standing alone. 

so she hires Monique to be the writer of her story but no one can believe Evelyn picked a little nobody like Monique. 

not even Monique. 

its the story of her life told as it happened but instead of being told in chapters, it's told by the Husband timeline. 

meaning what happened in her life while she was with each one. 

and that storyline actually works very well. 

i mean, it does make sense. but i guess what I'm trying to say is that this style of storytelling pays off pretty well. obviously things happened while she was with each one but i think what makes it work so well, is that everyone is judging her for "collecting" husbands yet, no one really knows the truth and no one knows until its too late.

it goes to show how easy it is to judge even when you don't know all the facts. 

it was a whirlwind to watch it all unfold. 

but nothing could have prepared me for that ending. for the reason why Monique was the one chosen to write this book. 

and in all honesty, even as we pass the reason why earlier in the book, i did not see it coming.

but that ending!!!
what a way to tie it all together. 

i kept thinking that all that hype was just going to let me down once i found out but OMG!

i re-read that part several times because i just couldn't believe it. 

and like always, before i was even half way through, i jumped to the end of the book and knew what happened but not why. 

its safe to say that for me, that twist did not disappoint. 

i think another thing that i love about this book is the overall feel of it. 

i don't want to say too much to risk spoiling it here but all of the emotions. 

they all spoke to me. in one way or another. not necessarily everything that she went through but that love that she was aching for. that shit killed. 

i definitely 100% recommend this book and i will 1000% be buying this book and most likely re-reading before the end of the year. 

while i was definitely in the moment for this entire book, there were parts that i kind of still went over my head so i definitely want to re-read those parts and this book. especially because i want to see how my perspective shifts with time. 

but this book! ahh!!!

i will love you forever. 

i'll leave you with some fave quotes (beware, A LOT) and then as always, i'll jump over to spoilers!

"so do yourself a favor and learn how to grab life by the balls, dear. Don't be so tied up trying to do the right thing when the smart thing is so painfully clear." - Evelyn pg 30

"when you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is "you're safe with me" -- that's intimacy." - Evelyn pg 113

"what's that saying? behind every gorgeous woman, there's a man sick of screwing her? well, it works both ways. no one mentions that part." - Evelyn pg 117

"......don't ignore half of me just so you can fit me into a box, Monique. don't do that." 

- Evelyn pg 124

".....and if you don't even realize that there's a formula to be working with, how the hell are you supposed to find the answer?" - Evelyn pg 126

Its always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly. 

-pg 252

"***** might have left me in a huff, but it was death by a thousand cuts. i hurt *** with these tiny scratches, day after day. and then i got surprised when it left a wound too big to heal. "

- Evelyn pg 272

".... always made sure that the bad was outweighed by so much good. i....well, i didn't do that. i made it 50/50. which is about the cruelest thing you can do to someone you love, give them just enough good to make them stick around through a hell of a lot of bad." 

- Evelyn pg 273

i tried blanking out what i could so that i wouldn't give away some of the spoilers. 

and honestly, there are so many pages that if i could, i'd quote it entirely. 

I'm telling you, this is my forever book. 

i loved it hard. 

now, jump on over for spoilers. 

but just in case, you don't want that, I'll tell you this, pay attention to the very beginning of the book. it's all laid out for you. 

the deeper you get into the book the more details you get about her life (obvs) but it's all there....i just wanted to know and didn't pay attention like i should have properly....but its there...but it's still worth the read. 

thanks for reading! 

#lesreads on IG
SPOILERS

Evelyn Herrera's mothers dream was to get them out of Hell's Kitchen and into Hollywood. 

but she passed away before any of that could come true. 

years pass, Evelyn grows and her desire to leave only grows more with time. 

then one day she hears that Ernie is leaving to work in Hollywood. 

she knows what she's working with and so she manipulates him into marrying her so he can get her out. 

from here on out i'll do it by husband. 

ERNIE DIAZ

Ernie got her out of Hell's Kitchen and into Hollywood. sort of. 

once they arrived, she'd spend her days in a cafe hoping to get the attention of a director in the lot next door. 

eventually the manager gets over her shit and tells her to work or get out. 

she works and eventually lands an important table. 

she gets her foot in the door. 

this is where she meets Ari  & Harry and where it all changes for her so she divorces Ernie. but she doesn't feel bad because he ends up married with 8 kids and if at the end of it all he ended up happy, why bother feeling bad. 

DON ADLER

Don came from family that believes money rules everything. 

at first, they are good and in love, they court for a bit and this relationship is when she meets Celia. 

Don & Evelyn marry and everything goes great for about 2 months. 

and then he hits her. 

and abuse becomes a daily thing. 

they're the it couple but lately, Don hasn't been doing great and if he cant be the star of that relationship then no one can. 

they're at a party, by this point, Celia & Her are good friends, when Ruby (another "friend" of hers tells her that she needs to control Don and lets her know that Celia is a lesbian.

they eventually divorce and because he is the star, he convinces Ari to basically end Evelyn. which he does. 

and around this time, rumors fly that Evelyn & Celia are an item. so in a hasty rush, she came out with a plan. 

MICK RIVA

Mick was in love with Evelyn since her latest movie. the movie that launched her back after her divorce from Don. 

she knew that to be able to be with Celia without further pushing the rumors, she needed to attach herself to a man. 

so she went out with Mick and made his dreams come true but only after getting married. 

she knew that to destroy his dream, she needed to be the worst ever and so she was. 

the very next morning, he woke up and dumped her. 

that relationship is over. 

everything works out. her and Celia can be together out in Palm Springs without worry. 

and then she ends up pregnant. 

and Celia leaves. 

at this point, her career cannot handle a flop. especially the first movie her and Harry work on after he left sunset. 

so she devices another plan. 

lets marry 

REX NORTH

this was all a business deal to make sure the movie sold out. 

who doesn't want to watch a movie where the 2 main costars fall in love in real life? 

he of course was into this deal. 

they get married, get more fans, more money, more fame and they can both still sleep with whoever they want.

(at this point, her "friend" Ruby was divorcing Don because well, assuming it was bad, its later revealed that he also beat her.) 

Celia ends up engaged to John Braverman. 

Rex & Evelyn get nominated for (but lose) an Oscar. 

Rex starts seeing i believe Joy (don't remember her name) again. 

and this time he's in love with her and they are pregnant and want to be married. 

so they come up with a plan that they will both bee seen cheating on each other. 

him with Joy and her with 

HARRY CAMERON 

Harry tells Evelyn that he is dating John and they are serious. 

Celia's very own John. 

turns out John is gay and he and Celia are all in it for show. 

now, Evelyn might have married for all gaining purposes but i believe that out of all her fake marriages, Harry's might have benefited her the most because with in time, she got Celia back. 

so they were all together as a double date couple but would go home to their own loves. 

their marriage went on for 7 years before they had a child. and 15 before she reunited with Don. 

Celia came to her letting her know that she had found a role for her (at this point the baby was a couple of months old. maybe years). Evelyn states that it wasn't just a role but it was kind of like a "okay. you're a mom but you're not losing your sexuality" kind of deal. 

she takes the role and meets her co-star. 

it turns out to be Don. 

by this point he's sobered up and apologized to her. 

they film the movie. 

then when its about to be due, the producer lets her know that he wants to film them having sex to show why the characters depend on each other. 

she shoots the scene without talking it over with Harry & Celia. 

she loses Celia. 

she leaves for good. 

Harry continues seeing John until he passes away of a heart attack. 

this breaks Harry. 

they stay together a while longer but eventually Harry lets her know that she deserves to feel love and so they divorce. 

and she then marries

MAX GIRARD

Max was the one that put her back on the map after Don dumped her and he was the one that was finally able to get Celia off her mind. 

he confessed his love to her and he made love to her like no other. 

she honest to God thought he was the one that she would last with. 

they got married in Joshua Tree and they stayed there a bit. 

it was all great until Max revealed his true identity. 

he didn't want Evelyn for love. 

he wanted her for the places that she could get him to. they level of fame that came with her was all that he wanted. 

they stayed married but it was over for her before it had the chance to take off. 

Celia i believe gets nominated for a part and wins and in her speech she references something that Evelyn had previously done so she decides to reach out to her. 

they start writing to each other and eventually Celia agrees to meet with her. 

she's about to take off to the airport when she decides that she will in fact take her letters with her. 

she walks in on Max going through them and then starts accusing her of cheating. which mind you, he was also doing just not leaving a trail. 

he threatens to out her because cheating on him is one thing but cheating on him with a woman and leaving a trail is just about the worst. 

she tells him that its been over and that she is leaving him for a woman. 

he divorces her but tries to stain her name. 

BUT ITS HOLLYWOOD AND EVERYTHING IS CALCULATED!!!

she meets with Celia and to shorten this, they end up together. 

except that Celia only has some time to live because she has cancer. 

to deflect from the terror that Max is trying to plan, they make it seem like Evelyn is cheating on him with some senator dude that i believe was Celia's cousin or something. 

they decide that its time to leave it all behind and leave to Spain to continue living out their lives in peace. 

the plan was for them to leave along with Harry and Connor, their daughter. 

Harry tells Evelyn that he cant because he doesn't want to be bored in retirement but also because he's fallen in love with someone else. 

long-ish story short, Celia says that Evelyn must marry her brother, 

ROBERT JAMISON

so that when she passes away, she can keep her estate without raising suspicion. 

they finally move to Spain because Connor is falling apart since her father Harry passes away. 

Evelyn & Harry were in LA taking care of business and were supposed to fly out to NYC to be with Connor. 

she was to pick him up in a bit so she does her thing and takes off with her driver to get to him. 

on the way up to his home, they come across a grizzly scene. 

Harry and a gentleman were in a terrible accident that had their car wrapped around a tree. 

Evelyn reacts and takes off to help Harry. 

the driver helps her. 

together they take Harry, put him in the limo and take him to the hospital and together they put the man that was with Harry in the drivers side making it seem like it was he who was drunk driving by himself. 

in the hospital, she buys out the driver and the doctor but Harry does not make it and he passes away. 

media states that he passed away due to a aneurysm. 

the next day, the driver calls and states his price. he wants to be an actor so she calls Don and asks to cast him. that's taken care of. 

i should note that all this Harry stuff happened before she married one last time....its just this is how i happened to write it out. 

anyway, her, Celia, Robert & Connor live in Aldiz and they were good. 

Her and Celia couldn't official marry since it was illegal and she was technically married but as they lay in bed, they married each other to each other and led the rest of Celia's life as wife and wife. 

and then Celia passed away. 

by the early 2000's her and Robert moved back to Manhattan to be close to Connor. 

she went to school, got a good job and then and even better one without knowing that it was Robert that made it happen for her. 

and then he passed away at the age of 81. 

then (at the time the story is being told) 2 and half years ago, Connor is diagnosed with late stage breast cancer and she also ends up passing away. 

everyone that Evelyn Hugo has ever truly loved, has passed away. 

and that's where the "story" ends. 

Evelyn wants everyone to know the truth. her truth. and she wants to know that if she knew acting nastier would have saved them all, she would have done it in a heart beat. 

Evelyn Hugo is ready to go home. 

Monique's response (the woman who gets to write her life story after she passes away) is that everyone must feel that way at some point too and that she shouldn't just give up. 

ARE YOU READY FOR THE SPOILER!!!??? 

then Evelyn gets up and hands her a letter.

and she lets her know that the man that was in the car with Harry, the man that Harry was in love with was an African American by the name James Grant. 

let me back the fuck up because i didn't tell you anything about Monique. 

her father died when she was just a child in a car accident. 

he was driving under the influence and crashed the car and died instantly.

her whole entire life, Monique had been missing her father and hating that he died in a way that was so unlike him

AND IT TURNS OUT THAT HE DIED BECAUSE HARRY WAS BEHIND THE WHEEL DRIVING DRUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND EVELYN HELPED FRAME MONIQUE'S FATHER JUST TO PROTECT HER BEST FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mind freaking blown. 

i 

cant 

deal

of course Monique tells her some choice words but at the end of it, it doesn't "matter" because Evelyn has made her peace with it and she is ending her life. 

she also has breast cancer and she will be damned to let what made her, also kill her. so she is taking that matter into her own hands. 

Monique was not only chosen because of her right to die piece but because she must also know the truth. 

and because Evelyn knows that no matter what her reaction might be, Monique will respect her decision to end her own life. 

right to die. 

----------------

there is of course SO MUCH more that i left out but i gave you the gist of it. 

honestly, even if you made it this far, read the book. 

thank you for Evelyn Hugo and everyone in her life. 

ahhh!!!