Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017) found massive BookTok/Bookstagram success years post-publication, becoming the epitome of “book everyone recommends.” The novel—told through fictional aging Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo’s interview with journalist Monique Grant—revealed Hugo’s seven marriages were covers for her true love: actress Celia St. James. The bisexual love story spanning decades, combined with old Hollywood glamour, ambition, sacrifice, and devastating twist ending, made it book club and BookTok obsession 2020-2023.
Reid’s novel explored closeting, LGBTQ+ erasure, performing heterosexuality for fame, and costs of ambition on personal relationships. Hugo’s Cuban heritage added immigrant-to-stardom narrative. The book’s structure—interview format creating mystery about why Hugo chose Monique—drove compelling page-turning. Readers debated Hugo’s moral choices: marriages using men as beards, ruthless careerism, sacrificing love for fame. Was she victim of homophobic industry or complicit in oppression?
The BookTok Phenomenon
Evelyn Hugo became BookTok rite of passage. Users posted tearful reaction videos, fan-cast Hollywood actresses (often suggesting Ana de Armas, Angelina Jolie), and dissected the twist ending. The book’s portrayal of bisexuality—Hugo’s genuine attraction to some male husbands—sparked discussions about bi representation often erased in both straight and queer narratives. Readers appreciated complex female protagonist prioritizing career ambition over romance, a reversal of typical women’s fiction.
Reid’s other novels (Daisy Jones & The Six, Malibu Rising, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig getting confused in recommendations) rode Evelyn Hugo’s BookTok success. Netflix acquired adaptation rights with Liz Tigelaar producing, though by 2023 no production date existed. The novel demonstrated BookTok’s power to resurrect midlist titles into phenomena years after publication, and proved appetite for queer historical fiction centering complex women who are neither victims nor saints.
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