"And to anyone tempted to kiss the TV tonight, please don't chip your tooth."

Closing this book felt like sealing a little part of my heart inside it along with the pages now covered in tears. Reid's beautiful language and emotionally complex plotline has undeniably torn my heart out and shredded it. In the best possible way.

Spoiler

The five star rating for this book was a given. Like many others nowadays, I absorb a majority of my tbr through the joys of Booktok, and it's almost omnipotent presence in giving book recommendations. When I first heard of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I was a little bit skeptical. As a general rule of thumb, when specific sides of Booktok tell me to read a queer piece of lit, I tend to be skeptical. The recommendations tend to be a rinse and repeat of The Song of Achilles and Heartstopper- which aren't bad books. Queer literature just tends to not be a prevailing notion on Booktok. Especially not good queer literature.

Regardless, I caved, and I am so glad I did. Evelyn's complex struggle with biphobia both in her past and her future has never made me feel more seen as a bisexual woman. I understand that "feeling seen" is almost cringey. It's too inspirational poster-y for me to feel comfortable. But in all truth, I do. I feel seen. Reid took a complex issue and applied both historical context and the benefit of hindsight. I hear many people describing Reid's presentation of Evelyn's experience with bisexuality as littered with casual biphobia. Arguably, though, I don't believe that it's necessarily a presentation of casual biphobia from Reid. The whole point of Evelyn's story is to show that people are inherently flawed. No matter how good a person is, there will always be flaws to them. Does this mean I'm excusing biphobia because "it's ok to not be perfect"? Not at all. That would be ridiculously hypocritical of me as a bisexual woman who continues to struggle to be acknowledged as more than just "confused". But what I mean is that Reid conveys such a topic in a masterfully sensitive way, that Evelyn does not excuse, not even for Celia.

The exploration of bisexuality aside, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is such an impactful insight into love, family, loss, and value. Reid's writing style had me hooked. I felt as if I was watching one of Evelyn's movies. Every word had me desperate to read the next. Each sentence was so beautifully crafted that by the time I reached the end, I had been crying for an hour straight. While love no doubt underpins a majority of the themes discussed in the book, Reid shows the beauty in different forms of love. For example, Evelyn and Harry's platonic love presents as a beautiful tale of two people who desperately care for each other. The "platonic soulmate" nature of this relationship only makes the loss at the end of the book more visceral in nature. You share Evelyn's grief. Moreover, the empowering plotline of Evelyn's progression through stardom not only touches on topics such as abuse and gender bias, it also portrays a powerful and ambitious woman.

Overall, Reid's stunningly crafted world of Evelyn and Celia had me clinging to each word. It felt so real that I almost forgot that Evelyn was simply a fictional character. Reid detailed each character with such a subtle, nuanced attention to detail that each felt as believable as the next. As if The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo really was a biography published by Monique Grant.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has undeniably skyrocketed to being one of my favourite books. While I may have laid a piece of my heart down with it upon finishing, it has no doubt impacted me in more ways than just that. I absolutely adored this book. It's truly deserving of all the discussion and praise surrounding it, and I will definitely be following Reid's remaining books.

I literally just need The Oscars but for books so it can be given to Reid.