Well hello there, guys! I finished this book a few days ago and I loved it so much. I am going to split this post into some categories so that you can skip to which ever part you like. Also I am going to try and keep it spoiler free, but if there are going to be some you will see a spoiler warning before it.
Trigger Warnings: homophobia, physical and emotional abuse;
1. Short summary of the book
This book follows the story of, reclusive Hollywood star, Evelyn Hugo that is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. For this task, she chooses a not so popular magazine reporter, Monique Grant, her motive for choosing her unknown until the end of the book.
2. Characters
I am now going to tell you a little bit about every character that is relevant to the story, except the husbands, because I don’t want to spoil anything about them. However, I will rank them.
Husbands ranking:
1. Harry Cameron
2. Rex North
3. Robert Jamison
4. Mick Riva
5. Ernie Diaz
6. Max Girard
7. Don Adler
Now onto the characters that I actually can talk about.
Evelyn Hugo:
She is the protagonist of our book and I loved her so much. Evelyn is such a smart woman, knowing how to benefit from any situation. She is not, by any means, perfect, but that’s the whole point. She’s just a normal flawed person, doing questionable things a few times throughout the book; but one thing you have to understand about her is that she will do everything in her power to protect those close to her. Evelyn has had a really hard life and reading her story is really painful, but I am glad that she, at least, made some beautiful memories with her loved ones.
Celia St. James (Celia Jamison):
Celia was Hollywood’s sweetheart and, if I have to be honest, I didn’t like her that much. Every time Evelyn would do something that Celia didn’t like, even if it wasn’t that big of a deal (most of the time), she would start shaming her and making her feel less than she was. Now I’m not saying that she didn’t love Evelyn, because she definitely did, but I didn’t like her as much as I thought I would have. However, I did genuinely feel bad for her at times, because I understood where her sadness and anger came from.
Monique Grant:
Monique is the journalist that Evelyn requests to write a story about her Hollywood years.
I can’t say much about her, because, while she did have her own chapters, it’s hard for me to draw some strong conclusions about her. Nevertheless, I did like her character development that she had while talking to Evelyn and how their stories intertwined at the end.
3. Writing style
The writing style was very descriptive, thing that usually bores me, but, in this case, I felt like it was crucial to the story. This type of writing, helps the reader feel like an insider into the glamorous life of Hollywood, thus making the lives of Evelyn Hugo and her companions even more interesting and real.
4. Things that I loved about it
I really enjoyed the fact that the book was split into seven parts, each part resembling her time with her at-the-time husband. Another thing that I really loved about this book was its characters and how all of the were so complex and flawed, especially Evelyn. This book also has short chapters and I like them so much, because they help the book have a faster pacing, in my opinion. Lastly, I really liked that, besides Evelyn’s life story, we also had chapters that focused around Monique and her journey while starting to talk/work with Evelyn, and how, at the end, we understood how they are connected.
5. Things I didn’t enjoy
There weren’t that many things that I disliked about this book, except for the fact that I felt a bit underwhelmed while reading it. That is because everyone on social media hyped this book so much, that my standards for it ended up being very high. Don’t get me wrong, this book is a really enjoyable read and I would recommend everyone to read it, but it just didn’t quite live up to my expectations. My only “complaint” about how Evelyn’s character would be how quickly she came in terms with her sexuality, because for most people it’s a hard and confusing process; especially, keeping in mind, that this book was set in the 50’s. But that isn’t an actual bad thing about her, just something that I have noticed.
6. Favorite quotes
“She always made sure the bad was outweighed by so much good. I...well, I didn't do that for her. I made it fifty-fifty. Which is about the cruelest thing you can do to someone you love, give them just enough good to make them stick through a hell of a lot of bad.”
“Please never forget that the sun rises and sets with your smile. At least to me it does. You’re the only thing on this planet worth worshipping.”
“Make them pay you what they would pay a white man.”
7. Overall opinion
I really liked this book and I think everyone should read it, especially fans of “old money” Hollywood, because this book had all those great vibes. This story is more character based, than plot based, but there are some really interesting scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. Surprisingly, the characters are relatable and I am sure that each reader will see a bit of themselves in one of those characters. Overall, I gave this book 4.5 stars and I strongly recommend it to just about anyone.
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