Taylor Jenkins Reid captures the essence of Old Hollywood, fame and fortune, and the inner workings of the social standards one must achieve to remain relevant in the media. Utterly heartbreaking, the sincerity of Evelyn Hugoâs wise words as she recalls her scandalous time as a global starlet opens the readerâs eyes to the strict systemic ways of the celebrity worldâa place where the âAmerican Dreamâ lacks the happiness many assure it promises.
1. Â Â Â âYou take umbrage with the word sin because it implies that you feel sorryâ (Reid 26).
2.    âHeartbreak is loss. Divorce is a piece of paperâŠBut I wasnât heartbroken when Don left me. I simply felt like my marriage had failed. And those are very different thingsâ (Reid 141).
3. Â Â Â âBut no medium can capture what it is to be in someoneâs presence, certainly not someone like her. Someone who makes you feel important simply because sheâs choosing to look at youâ (Reid 226).
4. Â Â Â âBut accepting something is true isnât the same as thinking that it is justâ (Reid 237).
5. Â Â Â âItâs 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 ruthlesslyâ (Reid 251).
6. Â Â Â ââThere is a difference between sexuality and sex. I used sex to get what I wanted. Sex is just an act. Sexuality is a sincere expression of desire and pleasureâ (Reid 271).
7. Â Â Â âI 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 badâ (Reid 272).
8. Â Â Â âMy heart was never in the craft of acting, only in the proving. Proving my power, proving my worth, proving my talent. Iâd proved it allâ (Reid 324).
9. Â Â Â âBut almost everyone whoâs actually experienced something like that will tell you that panic is a luxury you cannot afford. In the moment, you act without thinking, doing all you can with the information you haveâ (Reid 327).
10. Â ââNobody deserves anything,â Evelyn says. âItâs simply a matter of whoâs willing to go and take it for themselves’â (Reid 366).
Grappling with the high tides of utmost fame, the novel beautifully elucidates how mistakes one makes can be detrimental to those they care the most for. A seemingly fortune-filled tragedy unfolds before the reader’s eyes and Taylor Jenkins Reid astoundingly enlivens the character of Old Hollywood’s fictional icon, Evelyn Hugo. Overall, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will bring on realistic lessons for a smooth ride on life’s rollercoaster and highlight the importance of assuring that cherishing family and friends is a number one priority.