Taylor Jenkins Reid

Tells the fictional tale of Evelyn Hugo, a Raquel Welch-esque starlet/sexpot who uses her wits and - er - assets to achieve success. Despite the seven husbands, however, she's nursing a secret: she's bisexual, and the love of her life isn't a man.

This is a quick and easy read - entertaining enough, but neither particularly substantial nor authentic. For instance, Evelyn keeps claiming that she's no angel and that she's "hurt many people along the way," but her supposed acts of "ruthless ambition" turn out to be pretty tame, and her path to fame suspiciously uncluttered by such common Hollywood abominations as casting couches, exploitation, drugs/alcohol, etc. In fact, Reid avoids the sort of detail that might require any actual historical research/color by keeping the emphasis on Evelyn's love life rather than her acting career. None of the characters have much psychological depth, and the subplot involving the female journalist Evelyn tags to write her biography doesn't really add anything useful to the narrative. The LGBTQ+ theme adds some novelty, but even here the author plays things safe, avoiding any meaningful exploration of gay culture in early Hollywood.

I also had an issue with Reid's long passages of dialog, which too often seemed repetitive and uninspired. I get that most authentic human dialog is repetitive and uninspiring ... but isn't being spared all that one of the reasons we read novels?

Disclosure: I don't usually read chick lit, so forgive me if I am being too stuffy/critical! While there's certainly not enough substance or craft here for me to be able to recommend this for book clubs, I do imagine it would make a satisfying beach read.… (altro)