The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 Smash the patriarchy, sweetheart.

The impact this book had upon me is difficult to put into words. I could try many ways to describe it, but I doubt even my words would truly be enough to capture the brilliance of this story. Yet, I will do my best to give you, my dear reader of this blog, a glimpse of what to expect in the story of the one and only, Evelyn Hugo. 

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo is an fictional auto-biography centered around the lovely and beautiful actress, Evelyn. We see the world through her eyes as she shares her memories of childhood, dreams and goals, as well as desire for fame and finding love. Evelyn Hugo is written in such way that I truly began to believe she was a real person. 

Evelyn climbed to the top in the acting industry, clawing her way, and using her beauty and clever wits as tools to achieve her ambitions. She knew what a woman was in the eyes of hungry and powerful men, thus our darling Evelyn rose to become a star.

Though that's not what truly interests people, because we all know that celebrities could never hide from scandals, and in this case the question was who are and how did Evelyn have seven husbands?

This book is anything but just glamour and romance, it is a depiction of the harsh reality of fame, as celebrities (especially women) face struggles of working in the industry. In Evelyn's case, especially as a Cuban woman, it was extremely hard to land any meaningful roles as most producers favored light skinned girls. We see Evelyn's change once she becomes an actress, being forced to completely change her appearance and throw away her Cuban roots to fit in with society.

To add the icing to the cake Evelyn becomes fond of a beginner actress. Their fondness grows stronger and at one point their relationship blossoms, but ultimately the mere thought of that possibility would shatter everything, strip Evelyn away from everything she had built, maybe even her own life. 

Today we can definitely say that things have shifted, that there is progress, but back in the early 50's and 60's discrimination was brutal for all marginalized groups, and this book shows us exactly that. 

I will warn that this isn't a happily ever after story, this isn't sunshine and rainbows, this is life. 

To say that the book ends on a perfectly well note or tragedy would be unfair, so I will only say that the story is bittersweet.

Rating: 📸🎥💄🌈🏆