The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo... was fine || thepretentiouspoet
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- Опубликовано: 8 янв 2022
- I am prepared for how controversial this video will be... I think lol.
So TSHOEH was not for me. It had to happen, there had to be somebody who didn't have the transcendent reading experience that it seems the huge majority of people do, but I'm just sad that that person was me. As much as I wanted to like it, Evelyn Hugo just wasn't it for me. I wanted to talk about it not only to air my few genuine critiques of the book, but also to generally say that it's okay to not feel the same way as everyone else. Cheesy, I know, but there we have it.
I have two more videos pre-filmed that I will be uploading in the next few weeks, and I promise that they are both far more positive than this one!
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It was also just fine for me, I give it 3 stars ⭐️ I probably wouldn’t read it again. I was also expecting to be mind blown but unfortunately it wasn’t the case, I was disappointed, but it’s good to know that I’m not the only one that feels this way.
What are the books u like then?
Just finished it today and I have to say I feel the same as you do. It was severely mediocre. I thought I was gonna fall in love with this book but as a bisexual woman, I didn't feel anything. gave it three stars because it wasn't bad, it wasn't phenomenal, it was just okay.
Yep, it's a decent book, but nothing worth shouting about ironically! Glad to provide some 3-star solidarity here hehe
I just finished it and I keep seeing positive reviews so it's nice to see someone with a different opinion!
The book promises the scandalous life of Evelyn Hugo but it's written in such a boring way that it never felt exciting. I wish Evelyn was more complex! I wish everyone was more complex in this book.
Also, the fact that Evelyn's daughter was mentioned so little in the book is weird, she only has a few lines in it even though she's supposed to be this very loved child.
Guess I was just overestimating the book.
Agreed, it lacks any real depth! Perhaps that's the point - a celebrity exposé is never going to give you much nuance - but it doesn't make it any more enjoyable! And yes, I definitely think this book suffered from the effects of overhype.
I actually just finished this book today and was also underwhelmed all for the same reasoning you had. I did have an emotional response towards the end but it didn’t take away the fact that the relationship was always toxic and that even though she had some glamorous life I felt it was so poorly paced with just way too many husbands. And I got this weird feeling from Evelyn that she was still unhappy with being with a woman. She constantly said she’s only gay for her and was offended if people didn’t think she also liked men. The twist was also just meh. While I didn’t predict it it also wasn’t that shocking. And unbelievably racist by blaming a black man on a drink and drive crash while saving her white friend from any charges. I’m so glad I found your channel
Very true, I completely overlooked the fact that Evelyn's decision to save a white man over a black man was far more than just selfish!
But if they were both white would that be a problem. She says in the book the has issues with being 1/2 of both races. I don’t take it as race related. It wouldn’t matter the race bc of her relationship with Harry which is mentioned on most pages. But I guess I’m white so I feel differently.
@@62cometI didn’t find it racist either. I saw it that the younger man was dead, and she was trying to protect Harry’s reputation, because of the era they came up in. The article about his death said he died from an aneurysm, not a car crash. And Evelyn made a point to keep the letter Monique’s dad wrote, so she could find her and let her know what a good father and husband he really was.
I do agree the twist was predictable. I think it should not have been mentioned anywhere beforehand. I will sit and obsess over what a twist might be, if I know there is supposed to be one.
I'm calling it now, you are going to be a huge booktuber one day
Aw, thank you so much! My aim is to have fun, but I can't say I wouldn't enjoy it!
Finally!!!! I thought I was going to love this book because of the way people were hyping it up. I wish Evelyns character wouldve evolution and become a better person, but she didint. I did not expect the ending but I wasent shocked abt it either???. I wish Evelyn wouldve been brave enough to come out and love Celia properly. I feel like this book gave out the msg saying “its okay to be half loved” when its not!!!
Completely agree, seeing some kind of development of Evelyn's character would have made the whole story more engrossing! Yeah, the plot twists felt very expected. Not predictable necessarily, but certainly within the realm of things you would assume were a natural part of such a narrative!
see, I went into Evelyn Hugo expecting NOT to like it because the idea behind it just didn't interest me? I love a good character study, but I don't care about Golden Age Hollywood. I was pleasantly surprised that I ended up so fascinated by Evelyn's life in the end. While I didn't like Evelyn, I thought she felt like a very real person in the end. I also didn't really like her and Celia together? It just seemed incredibly toxic and like it'd run its course. Agreed that Monique was super underdeveloped and the plot twist around Monique being chosen just felt... shitty?
Overhyping books is so unfortunate. I had something similar happen to me with Six of Crows. I thought I'd find a new absolute favorite, but instead, it was just okay. I think booktok has really made overhyping a lot worst recently.
Aha, interesting that you had the opposite experience! I do agree that Evelyn felt very real. I think that was one of the strongest features - I completely believed that she could have just been a real human and that if I Googled her, I'd find her list of screen credits!
I adore Six of Crows, but granted, I read it in 2015 when it was a newly released book and Tiktok didn't exist to overhype it. I think it's the fast-paced nature of Tiktok, because there has never been so quick and so wide a spread of hyping on platforms like RUclips where by the nature of longer videos, it takes time for trends to pick up momentum. Thanks for your comment, it was really interesting to see your perspective!
this is exactly how i felt about it i think all the hype set my expectations too high
It's one of the really tricky things about the online book community!
I just finished it today and I am also severely underwhelmed. Gave it a 3 stars
Feels weird to say, but glad you had the same experience! Very validating to know that it's not just me
My best friend had recommended this book to me saying it was THE best book she had ever read, so I had also gone into reading it with high expectations and they were never met. I feel like Evelyn was a very complicated woman and I did like that aspect about her, but I feel like nothing about the book made me wow, if you know what I mean. I didn't find the plot twist at the end very predictable, though I didn't put too much thought into it. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I just feel like this book was missing something. And I do completely agree that Taylor's writing was very intriguing and I absolutely had to finish the book, but again, it just didn't wow me.
Yes, it's definitely lacking a certain je ne sais quoi!
I've just finished to read this book and I'm so underwhelmed... It was interesting and fun to read but still it wasn't that captivating as I had thought it would be. The main plot twist was also a big disappointment for me, because Evelyn would be like "you'll hate me after this, it will change everything" and it actually did change nothing. Monique's father is dead and the truth of Evelyn Hugo doesn't resurrect him. Monique lived most of her life without a father, she's used to the fact that he's gone, although she misses him, it's not that big of a deal, honestly. It's also not a shock that Evelyn chose her friend over a strange guy in his car. For me this book was like 6 or 7/10
yeah agreed, I think the thing that changed is that Monique's perception of her father changed so drastically from someone that didn't love his family enough not be careless with his life, to someone that actually cared about his family so much that he would have given up everything for them. And I think the problem with that was that it never felt like Monique's dad wasn't absolutely infatuated with his family. Like, it never felt like she resented him for drinking and driving, and all her memories of him were positive. So I think that's why, when this shift came in the end and she was relieved that her perception of him wasn't true, we couldn't feel along with her because we never got to see her disappointment and resentment in the first place, and therefore we could no understand her relief, if that makes sense?
@@alinenegrea4920 yeah!!! It never seemed like Monique's father didn't love them and that's why he ended up drunk at the wheel. So then Monique stops hating him for that, it's not a big thing for a reader since her father was never presented as someone who deserves our hate or judgement
I agree with all your points! I think the book just was trying to go over so many hard-hitting topics at once and, besides Evelyn's bisexuality, did not really do any of them well.
Aw man, I just wrote lines and lines of text just to try to say exactly that haha. Her bisexuality was handled with so much care and was portrayed really well IMO, but all other issues just felt very superficial, and I think it would have been okay to just leave them out, because if they're not getting the attention they need and deserve they don't add that much to the story, they're just there to make the reader feel good about Evelyn's political orientation I feel. You put that so well :)
Thank you for this review, I love your channel so much.
And yessssssss everyone have their own taste and opinions so there's no point in yelling to me about "no you didn't understood the point" or "maybe you just need to re read it'
Cause no I know what I like and don't it's simple as it is 😀
Yep, agree with everything. I was also expecting some unbelievable plot twist like her murdering 4 husbands 😂 or dying without saying the whole truth and the journalist finding out what hadn’t been said like some big secret revelation
Evelyn and her life felt shallow to me
Husband-new movie-Celia-husband-new movie-Celia and the whole book like this 😅
Just finished this 2 days ago and i have the same opinion as yours. I like certain bits of it, i love the narration not the dialogue. I find the story really dragging, i feel like Evelyn could have 5 husbands and still progress with the whole story. Im happy to find your review because this book is overly hyped and im scared to trust booktubers again 😢
HAHAHA I completely agree! Chuck a few husbands, bring down the page number, and it would feel a little less egregious. Glad I can be a rogue trustworthy booktuber!
I’ve just finished this and I also thought the plot twist was disappointing. Not so much because of what actually happened but because it was shoehorned in so late and the (albeit great) build up did not pay off. I think it would have worked better had it pulled elements from earlier in the book so the reader felt that shock at something that initially seemed so mundane becoming a pivotal detail.
The best example of a plot twist from my reading list is from a book called Hanging Hill, it’s the lowest rated book in my journal so far but the plot twist was expertly done and left me reeling. Just goes to show how a plot twist can make or break a book.
I just finished it and I agree! It was fine, not bad, not amazing, just very mid. I was surprised it got this much hype considering it made me feel neither love nor hate. Usually I love or hate a lot of famous novels, it is rare to get this inbetween feeling
Eighty pages in, and Im so close to never picking the book up again. It’s okay. But I don’t know if I dislike TJR’s writing, or I dislike the banality of Monique, or disagree with a white author trying to write cultural erasure from the perspective of a gentrified POC. Or, all three. The premise is entertaining but nothing is really making me to want to continue reading.
I completely relate, there was very little driving force behind any of it! An exposé is only exciting if you're already invested in the figure being exposed - and being a fictional movie star, we've got no investment!
I felt the same way & going to book club tonight to discuss, Im so glad I watched this video , thank you for validating my feelings lol Ive read more exciting women in Nora Roberts books back in the 90s
I finished reading "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" today and I came to read the review because I also found this book okay and I really wanted to know if the problem is with me or this book..😂😂
Thanks for sharing your point of view. Appreciate it.
I am here to disagree - I hated the way it was written. The writing style is very average. Around page 180 I considered putting the book down and not finishing it. Evelyn has a narcissistic personality, only thinking about herself and what she could get out of it. Using her gender for getting what she wants. I am sorry, but this is sending out a message to younger people that I do not want to imagine. I completely agree with you. The characters are poorly written. I had so many negative emotions afterwards its crazy. I honestly think the story itself is good, totally see it being a Netflix show in the future (and the show will be better, i can already tell) but the writing style killed it. It’s just so mediocre with no attention to details.
I completely see what you mean about it being a good Netflix show! It's got all the right drama and narrative inflections to make a very addictive drama series. I also see what you mean about the writing being mediocre - I think I agree with you overall on it being fairly low quality, but I will say that I think it carried the same addictive flavour that a Netflix show would emulate!
Hello, I just finished reading this book on my trip to Florida. Yes, I was also told to read this book. I love old Hollywood, so I said, "Let me read it sounds good." And boy, it started fine, and then just wth?? I agree with your view ! My take on Evelyn is a self-centered person, but I did find her a bit interesting. It wasn't anything what people went on about.. I totally agree with you and am glad you said it. One other point I hated was why they left Monique father in the car and moved him to the driver seat to save her best friend ?? I don't understand why Noone cared? It's got a lot of good fun bits with old Hollywood, but I totally agree these 2 women are bad for each other, toxic relationship. I didn't get their "marriage" near the end it was teen age sh#t...
And Monquie was a waste if a character.. they just threw her in thier for the end of a biracial person
Truly wanted to love this book, and it just fell bad, and yes, the spoilers were blah .. and the writing was a littlw off aa well. Idk, wanted so much more than it was i wont read it again.. i give it a 3 as well. Its good nothing apecial
...overrated
This was EXACTLY my thought. It was a cheesy teenage thing. And their missive exchange made me feel like it was teenagers writing the letters. And I don't mean that in the sense of the vivacity and passion of one's youth. I meant it was what one would find in my box of high school memories. They were adults in the 50s who were supposed to take you on a journey with their love letters. And my eye roll in that chipped tooth (do you remember that part?) I wish I had a better way to call it and all I can think of was camp and corny.
Now I don't want to sound like a big hater. I feel if they made a movie version, they could make the "scenes" better. The screen could probably give a better Hollywood 50s vibe. For me, as a very big fan of that era, the writer failed to bring me there. If she had a book set in the modern time, I'd probably give her another go.
I completely agree that the book is just fine.
PS I love your accent. It's gorgeous.
Southern British does do it for some - I got severely bullied for it in school!
I wanna buy it with my pocket money but I'm having second thoughts honestly
I agree it didn't stay with me. Also they market this book as having a jaw dropping twist, but I didn't find being bisexual to be a jaw dropping twist. I know there was that other thing about being connected to the narrator whose dad used to be with her ex husband but that was still meh to me.
I actually just completed my Goodreads review for this book out of sheer annoyance and I agree with all the points made. I just hope I don't get crucified online....
Glad to offer some solidarity! I've only gotten positive responses for sharing a more negative opinion so far, so I hope that you have the same!
@@thepretentiouspoet exactly!!! I was so excited to read it. It was good but I was waiting for it to be great
so relieved to see a negative review as i also cdnt stand this book 🤦🏽♀️ i just didn't like the style of writing and cdnt finish it😑 i stopped at page 50 it was too 🤮 for me
I didn't have high hopes with this one so I wasn't disappointed by the book itself, but rather by the fact that it's so popular and so many people deem it deserving of five stars. I do think, as you also noted, that the book excels at being engaging and making you want to know more, but I also think the reason why it's so easy to read is because the writing is repetitive, obvious and redundant, as much of the dialogue. Despite all of this I did get some enjoyment out of it and liked Evelyn as a character (even though she doesn't really have an arc... when she's finally ready to lose everything for Celia, she doesn't have anything to lose anymore!). It does feel lonely when you don't share the same experience as the majority, but I think it's good for it to happen every once in a while.
I just finished reading this book and i honestly totally agree... its fine BUTTTT it got me back into reading! which is something ive been trying to do since i finished college. yes the book is mediocre and fine but its such an easy read and kinda......... sucks u in?? so thats what i liked mostly about it lol
I finished reading it yesterday and ahhhhhh there's so many points I agree with (and some I disagree with / didn't have the same feelings about) like, I absorbed that book, practically inhaled it. But after like, sleeping over it and reading some reviews, there's definitely some problematic stuff in there.
Monique was so severely underdeveloped, like I really liked how her relationship with her parents was portrayed, but she in herself felt so bland where she would have had so much potential. Her character growth also just felt so... fast? Exaggerated maybe? In the beginning she is like very insecure but with big aspirations, and then after talking to Evelyn she's like, I'm gonna take what I want from this life, I AM great. And I'm not saying your life can't profoundly change after talking to another person, but it just felt rushed, there was not enough struggle to get there I feel. Also a lot of the portrayals of race in this book feel very icky considering the author is white, and haven't been handled with the same care and profoundness sexuality has, IMO.
Evelyn's sexuality is always part of her and deeply ingrained into her personality, but with her being Cuban (and I cite this from another comment I read) it's something that she seems to forget half of the time? Her being disconnected from her culture and then reconnected to it feel like such simple steps and didn't affect her in the way one would expect it too, I think (Jesse on RUclips has a great video on that). I didn't foresee the plottwist of why Monique was chosen that early on but still a few chapters before it happened, but I had the exact same reaction of being kinda underwhelmed by it. Like, is that a terrible thing to? Yes, absolutely. But is it shocking Evelyn would do something like that? Absolutely not, very on brand for her, would have expected worse tbh. I think she would murder someone if that protects her and the people she loves, so putting the blame for a car crash on someone else? Not that terrible by her standards.
Also another point Jesse made that I absolutely agree with is that it was kinda unnecessary to make Harry's lover Black? If the only Black representation the book has is Monique, a severely underdeveloped character, and her dad, who is great as a character but also mostly a plot device and then killed of? Not great representation.
Personally, I really liked the relationship between Celia and Evelyn. Celia was incredibly toxic for most of the relationship, but I think the last 10 years they spent together was a good, healthy relationship for both of them? At least that's how I interpreted it. And I think it was interesting how they both were like, why did we waste so much time? when it was clear they had growth to do. Celia had to work on her biphobia & possessiveness, and I think being separated from Evelyn for so long and realizing how difficult it is to maneuver Hollywood and press without being discovered made her understand Evelyn's side of things much better, and how naive she herself had been. And I think Evelyn being separated from Celia made her realize the whole thing about how sometimes it is necessary to 'grovel' for the things one really wants, and to put fame and love in relation and priority to each other. Personally I had the feeling their relationship worked at the end of the book because they both realized the mistakes they made, and grew from them, but I also might be a bit optimistic here.
Like, overallI loved the interpersonal relationships between Evelyn and the people around her, and I think she as a character was very intriguing. I think the book could have expanded on stuff out of the interpersonal fame glory bubble tho, like for example the dieting or the drinking or the smoking. Like those things are mentioned casually as an almost expected sort of thing, and while I'm sure back in the day they were Evelyn comments on her previous relationships, but she never comments on that, and I feel like that would have been interesting to explore. Also, a lot of issues beside her sexuality were just kind of handled causally in a passing by sort of way. For example, her supporting MLK and the civil's rights movement, or donating to a woman's shelter, or the Cuba crisis were just mentioned, but never dived into into detail. On one hand it kinda makes sense because the stonewall riots was the thing that affected the entire group the most, but when these things are mentioned they should be handled with care I think. Also the AIDS crisis, like it was addresses as affecting Harry and therefor here, but I just wish that there had been more. Or on the other hand just kind of leave that out, I think it's okay for a story about a woman rippling with making her way in the world and how fame affects her life, and a story about her loves and her sexuality also just being about that. The stonewall riots are an essential part of that story, but the civil's right movement is not. It can be, of course, but then it needs to be handled properly and carefully and in depth, not just in a paragraph stating all the good things our group is doing and then moving on to never mention it again, if that makes sense.
So overall I'd agree with the 3-3.5 stars with you :) To me, it had some really great and fascinating parts that I loved, but also parts that just felt very superficial and sometimes even icky, so yeah :) (also that turned way longer than I thought sorry about that lmao)
Apologies for the late reply, that's such an excellent comment! Especially your point about the one Black character being there to die for a privileged woman's success - WOW is that a yikes!
I can agree with every point you made. Heartly dissapointing and refreshing to here youre take.
I feel the same way. I saw a couple of my ig friends post pictures of the cover and thought I would give it a go. I had very little background knowledge going in and yet I could see the plot twist coming from a mile away. And there must be something wrong with me because it wasn’t even that terrible Lol.
Also Monique’s character was lacking. I didn’t feel any connection to her.
Completely agree, the first couple of chapters establishing why Monique is writing the exposé were actually very interesting to me, which is why I was so disappointed that she was then left underdeveloped!
I felt the same exact way
I wasn’t impressed. Solid 3.5 for me. It felt like a lot of facts on a timeline, character development was minimal, the twist was predictable. I read in a day, don’t see the hype, I agree that it’s “fine”
Yup I agree completely. This was 3 stars for me. Overhyped. I almost Dnf’d but I finished it. It was okay.
It didn’t live up to the title for me.
I thought it was just fine too. I honestly didn't really see the whole hype. One of the things that bothered me other than that stupid contrived twist that was all kinds of stupid. I'm a history nerd and I felt that if you are gonna write a book that covers several decades you think those things would have been discussed. I mean Eveyln is supposed to be a Cuban American who's white-passing, which is kinda an open secret in Hollywood yet she has no thoughts or feelings on Rita Moreno winning an Oscar in 1962. Or Rita Hayworth, who also had to erase her whole heritage/culture like Eveyln did to fit into Hollywood. No comments on Marylin Monroe, who was another blonde bombshell, that Evelyn would have competed against for roles. She could have talked about how women like Marylin were used, abused, and discarded by Hollywood. Or the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, there is some mention of the Queer Movement, yet no comments on the HIV/AIDS crisis. The book felt more like a Wikipedia page with a lot of stuff that was just surface level.
100%.
We have the same view on it🤧
I'm glad I'm not alone!
I think it was so poorly written because it was written by Monique. Monica? Amateur young writer. Whatever. Didn't like the book and agreed with your views.
I hadn't thought about that! Perhaps it was a matter of characterisation. Even so, it clearly didn't pay off if we're sat here attributing the poor writing to TJR rather than the character!
Anything is better than the secret history, that book made me so mad
Evelyn was insufferable. She would be a better side character. I couldn’t stand reading her life and justifications for her fucked up choices. She didn’t grow from her mistakes either.
I hate abortion and know it’s a lot heavier of a topic than what was shown. I don’t agree with choosing to die and letting someone commit suicide either. Hearing reviews saying the POC were shoe horned in too and their accuracy isn’t deep enough either. It was all over the place.
I was really weirded out by the abortion part too. She didn’t even care about it, she just glanced over this part of the story as it was nothing
As a bisexual woman I was pleased on the point about bi-erasure which happens a lot.
Other than that I am struggling to read it. I’m finding it drags. The characters are very unlikable which isn’t always a problem but they seemed for all their glamour empty headed.
My usual genre is crime thrillers, many with a supernatural twist but this is my book club choice otherwise I wouldn’t have even considered it.
Too many books are overhyped. No book can be enjoyed by everyone except The Very Hungry Caterpillar obviously.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the only thing left to unite the online book community!
I didn't enjoy that much but I found myself feeling bad for a make beleive character ...
just finished it yesterday, and i was so disapointed. everyone talked so highly of it, and i just don`t get it. it`s a good book, don`t get me wrong, but it`s not great...
I absolutely agree! It's good, but all the 5 star reviews and "best book ever" responses to it just baffle me!
RUclips criticism of any media these days seems to pretend the middle-ground doesn't exist. Possibly because it's not a very "exciting" opinion to have. Extreme views on stuff like this gets clicks, and that's what it's about at the end of the day.
I can literally prove my own point with ACOTAR. My resounding review of it was that it bored me, but it's funny to pretend that it's literally the worst book ever written because drama.
Loved the video, as always. ♥️
Very true, having strong polarised views means that you draw in both agreeing and opposing stances in droves, but if you're in the middle, it's far harder to drum up the same kind of enthusiasm and interest. Thank you bestie!
Just finished this and immediately searched for honest reviews cuz I’m shocked by the way people are eating this up 😭 it was okkkk, entertaining but didn’t have that emotional punch and the author’s attempts to discuss race and sexuality were so juvenile
Completely agree!
This was such an average story that is exactly the same story that Hollywood is focused on today, typical topic, oh wow she is gay. Who cares I am so tired of this lame story line.
Just another book romanticizing malicious,immorality n debauchery
Tired of this push in stories.
I was looking for someone who would share my opinion on The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I found your rewiev and I love it. I feel the same about this book and I have to say that I absolutely love and adore the other book Daisy Jones & The Six and everything works for me there. And I thought I would find the same thing in Evelyn Hugo, too. But I stand for your opinion that it was just FINE. 😌🤍
Really interesting that you loved another of TJR's books! I must admit that after Evelyn Hugo I have very little interest in trying her again...