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Is booktok simply as entranced by Ms. Hugo as the rest of Hollywood, or is there more to the siren song of this reality’s Marilyn Monroe?

Summary: 

Evelyn Hugo has had one of the most spectacular careers in Hollywood with enough scandals and heartbreak to rival your favorite soap opera. She has reached the final chapter of her illustrious life and for the first time ever Evelyn is willing to share. The only issue is she will only speak to largely unknown reporter Monique Grant.

Despite having her life plastered throughout headlines, Evelyn is still surrounded by secrets and unknown motives. And as the days progress and Evelyn reveals more of her unknowns to Monique, readers gradually begin to realize the depths one will go to in order to hold onto the things (and people) they love.

Review:

I will be honest I was a bit nervous about reading this book because of how much hype has surrounded it. However, a friend bought it for my birthday and sent me off to the races of Evelyn and her seven husbands. 

Jenkins Reid has an innate ability to make the stakes feel real in this novel. We as the readers follow right alongside Evelyn as she makes professional and personal choices. The characters in this novel also have an incredible amount of depth because many MANY choices are made throughout the timeline and they are not always the choices the readers might have made. But they are the choices made because each character has had their motivations beautifully built and illustrated in the story.

Throughout the story readers are searching for Evelyn’s one true love. Once the audience discovers who it is, there is not an immediate fairytale ending. That would be too easy and not warrant the excitement of millions of readers. Instead, Jenkins Reid reminds us of the character depth that she worked so tirelessly to create and the influence of Hollywood’s societal expectations. Evelyn continues to describe to Monique the choices she makes for the rest of her life that cause tension, pain, joy, and contentment, to name a few. I think it’s important to note that theme because it, like life, shows that there is complexity in human emotion.

But after all this time, why Monique? This nobody reporter with nowhere near enough credentials to be on Evelyn Hugo’s radar. Those secrets (yes, plural) are held until nearly the end unless you are really tracking the breadcrumbs left in the story. That revelation leaves Monique with a whirlwind of emotions and questions that she will have to work through as well as work on her own revelations about herself.

Overall, this is a beautifully dynamic story filled with layers, while still being an accessible read for many individuals. I wish I hadn’t waited for so long to read this novel.