The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: why is it a bestseller?

[MotherofGorgons]

Reading this because there was so much hype, and it's so badly written ( though an easy read). Find it hard to care about any of the characters. Is Daisy Jones and the Six or Carrie Soto any better?

I couldn't finish Daisy Jones

I loved both and think they’re both written in a very similar style so I’d say if you don’t like EH then don’t bother with DJ. I’m reading Maybe In Another Life at the moment and I don’t think it’s as good.

I liked it, it was a quick, entertaining read, a bit like a soap opera.

They were all made famous by TikTok, I think. A lot of really badly written books are becoming bestsellers that way.

I couldn’t finish Daisy Jones either

I do like tennis novels though, so maybe I should attempt Carrie Soto.

Daisy Jones is poorly written too. I couldn’t finish it.

I liked Evelyn Hugo, didn’t like Daisy Jones, really liked Carrie Soto (but does help to be a tennis fan).

It's a bestseller because it's easy to read and good fun. It's not great literature but it's better than some!

Oh yes, I wasn't expecting great literature, but I was expecting it to be be better written. I don't care much about Evelyn.

I don’t have TikTok so I’m not sure of the timeline but it was a Book of the Month pick a looooooong time ago. Pre pandemic. That’s how I came across it. I think most BotM books probably become bestsellers.

This exactly, I enjoyed it, for me it was probably a 3.5 stars out of 5. But I can be a bit of a snob about chick lit, and this felt like one step above that, so people who only read chick lit might have felt it was an upgrade to their usual books.

I thought it was easy to read while having an interesting and engaging plot that kept me wanting to find out more. It's set in a glamorous world which gives an element of escapism, though not fantasy or too historical which can put off a large amount of readers. And has some modern appeal with and LGBTQ+ element and strongly written female characters. I did get a little tried of hearing how utterly drop dead gorgeous Evelyn was....

I can't finish it. Moving to Yellowface.

I loved yellowface!

@MotherofGorgons I think you'd like Carrie Soto if you like tennis. I'm not a tennis fan and I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed listening to Evelyn Hugo on audiobook. But hated reading Daisy jones. I thought that the style was similar to a good BBC radio play which I enjoyed. But didn't work to read.

Couldn’t get on with Daisy jones but enjoyed Evelyn Hugo in audio form: same with Carrie Soto, the audio was great as it allowed for all the tennis voiceovers to work really well.

Malibu Rising I read in paper format and I think it’s her best, highly recommend that one.

I haven’t finished Daisy Jones either. Just seems dross, I’m not interested in the plot or the prose. I follow Fearne Cotton on Instagram and she reckoned she’d take this book to a desert island! She’s married into “rock royalty” though I suppose she feels like it’s her world. Just seemed silly to me.

Just started Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and I do really like it so far.

@FMLWTF imagine if you got washed up on a desert island and the only other inhabitant offered you their book to read and it was Daisy Jones! Aargh

I'd feed myself to the sharks!

@FMLWTF Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is one of my favourite reads of this year.

This sums up my thoughts exactly! Although I'd probably go 3/5 😂. I feel like it's an easy read, but people might feel like they're reading a 'proper book'.

I'm cringing at how snobby I sound, but it's what I call a Tesco book - enjoyable enough to pick up with your weekly shopping, but not life changing.

Having said that, I wish more people read more, so read (and enjoy) what you want...

Agree, I felt it started well, with Evelyn ducking and diving to get where she wanted in Hollywood... and then that all stopped. It lacked a sense of the period imo. Sarah Waters would have written that book better!

Read Daisy Jones - similar , finished it but it wasn't great.

Enjoyed Daisy Jones (the tv adaption was fun too) loved Carrie Soto but struggled with many of her others. Not read EH yet but I’ve bought it as a summer read

I am quite a big reader and I loved Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo and also enjoyed (but not as much) Malibu Rising and Carrie Soto. Daisy Jones really felt like an elongated Mojo interview; I thought it was really well done and I cared about them all by the end. Each to his/her own!

I couldn't get through a quarter of daisy Jones. Awful.
Loved Evelyn Hugo though. Horses for courses