I used to be completely blown away by The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo once I learn it in 2017. I used to be so joyful once I noticed it have its second in 2021, being seen throughout TikTok and remaining on The New York Occasions bestseller listing week after week. However The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo isn’t the primary Taylor Jenkins Reid guide I learn. I began with After I Do and Without end, Interrupted in 2014 and have been studying Reid’s books proper round their launch dates ever since. So you possibly can belief me once I say that her different books are simply pretty much as good—if not higher.
However what’s it about Reid’s books that makes them so good? Nicely, it’s all the things. It’s how the writing seamlessly flows with its comfortable, straightforward prose. It’s the way in which a personality’s motivations are slowly revealed, at all times making you flip the pages for extra. It’s how the setting itself turns into a personality, guaranteeing you by no means skim over descriptions of surroundings. It’s the way in which all the above means you possibly can at all times let you know’re studying one thing by Reid, but each character, each setting, and each story is totally distinctive.
Right here’s what you have to learn about every guide to persuade you that each single considered one of them is value studying:
For those who like studying about loss simply as a lot as you want studying about love, then Without end, Interrupted is the guide for you. Reid completely weaves collectively the 2 tales of a whirlwind romance and its sudden finish.
On a wet New Yr’s Day, Elsie Porter heads out to select up a pizza for one. There, she meets Ben Ross. Their relationship begins immediately, with Ben not even capable of wait 24 hours earlier than asking to see her once more. Inside weeks, the 2 are in love. Earlier than the six-month mark, they’re married.
However then, solely 9 days after their elopement, Ben is out driving his bike simply exterior their house when he’s hit by a truck and rushed to the emergency room. When Elsie arrives on the hospital, she learns that Ben was killed on affect and meets Susan, the mother-in-law who doesn’t know she exists.
Without end, Interrupted is a lovely story about how love remains to be actual even when it solely lasts for a brief time frame and what it’s prefer to grieve with folks you might have by no means met earlier than. Elsie’s relationships with each Ben and Susan make this guide as heartwarming as it’s heartbreaking.
You received’t have an issue discovering a novel about two folks falling in love, nevertheless it’s a lot tougher to discover a novel about what occurs after. Fortunately, Reid has contributed to filling that hole with After I Do.
Lauren and Ryan have been collectively for years. And in spite of everything of that point, they aren’t positive in the event that they need to be collectively anymore. With their marriage at a breaking level, they resolve to take a 12 months off from one another. Their 12 months aside has just one rule: They can not contact one another. Except for that, something goes.
After I Do follows Lauren throughout her time aside from Ryan. From her first-person perspective, we see her query whether or not it’s potential for her to dwell with out the person she has chosen to be her husband. With out consistently being with Ryan, Lauren spends extra time on herself, together with her household, and trying to find what else could be on the market for her. And though the guide is from Lauren’s perspective, we do get to listen to Ryan’s aspect of the story by drafts of emails that he by no means despatched.
After I Do may not sound like a romance novel, nevertheless it completely is a romance novel. It’s a romance novel concerning the hazard of what love can appear to be and the enjoyment of what love ought to appear to be as soon as the honeymoon part is over. Whether or not you might have been in a relationship for a very long time or are simply beginning one, you’ll be capable to discover one thing on this guide for you.
Emma Blair thought she had her life discovered. In her 20s, she marries her highschool sweetheart, Jesse, and builds a life with him, touring the world collectively and dwelling distant from their hometown in Massachusetts. However then, on their first wedding ceremony anniversary, Jesse disappears when a helicopter over the Pacific goes lacking.
In an effort to place her life again collectively after loss, Emma quits her job and strikes again residence. Now in her 30s, she runs into an outdated pal, Sam. To her shock, she finds herself falling in love once more, believing she’s discovered a second likelihood at happiness when the 2 get engaged. However then, simply when Emma has accepted her new life, Jesse is discovered alive and Emma learns he has been attempting to get again to her for all these years. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to determine who she is and who she desires to be with.
I couldn’t cease studying One True Loves. Like Emma, I discovered myself consistently questioning which man I most popular. Emma’s emotions about each Jesse and Sam and the individual she was with every of them had been so real looking. Whereas this guide simply may have gone both manner, I used to be happy together with her reasoning for the selection she makes in the long run. I do know that some readers agree with me and others positively don’t. You’ll should learn to seek out out which aspect you’re on.
And if even after studying, you continue to aren’t fairly positive, One True Loves is presently being tailored as a movie starring Phillipa Soo, Luke Bracey, and Simu Liu and is anticipated to launch later this 12 months.
With an writer like Reid, it’s laborious to select a favourite. However even after studying her newer books, Possibly in One other Life nonetheless holds that spot for me.
Can one choice change your life? That’s the query Reid tries to reply in Possibly in One other Life. Having simply returned to her hometown the place she has determined to stick with her outdated pal, Hannah goes out to a bar with Gabby and runs into her ex-boyfriend, Ethan. Simply after midnight, Hannah is introduced with a selection. Does she go away the bar with Gabby or stick with Ethan?
From there, the novel alternates between the aftermath of every choice. Virtually instantly, Hannah’s two lives have little or no in frequent. That one selection has made the distinction in Hannah’s relationships together with her household and buddies, her profession, and, maybe most shockingly of all, the individual she believes is her soulmate.
Much like newer favorites like The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and The Invisible Lifetime of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab, Possibly in One other Life explores how each the choices we make and the way we select to really feel about them have an effect on our lives. By way of one greatest pal, two lives, and three folks in a very distinctive love triangle, Reid tells a narrative of destiny and free will that’s positive to make you study your individual life—and hopefully really feel higher for it.
Simply in case you might have someway managed to not hear of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I wished to present it its well-earned area on this article as a result of it’s the guide that made me actually query if Possibly in One other Life was nonetheless my favourite, in spite of everything.
As she will get nearer to the tip of her life, former Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo decides that she is lastly prepared to inform the story her tens of millions of followers have at all times wished: hers. To everybody’s shock, she chooses unknown journal reporter Monique Grant for the job. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious house, Monique listens in fascination because the actress tells her story. We’re given a front-row seat to Evelyn’s life, studying how she made her solution to Los Angeles within the Fifties, the skilled struggles she confronted each earlier than and after she made a reputation for herself, and why she determined to go away present enterprise within the ‘80s. In fact, we hear all about Evelyn’s seven husbands and the chums and enemies she makes alongside the way in which, too.
What completely makes this guide is the twist. From its reveal a few third by, the guide takes on a completely completely different that means. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a sweeping drama about what it’s prefer to be a lady in work, in friendship, and in love.
For those who aren’t positive if you’re able to decide to extra novels by Reid, then her novella could also be simply the factor to persuade you. In solely 86 pages, it packs a severe punch.
When Carrie Allsop learns that her husband is having an affair, she reaches out to the one one who can presumably know what she goes by: David Mayer, the husband of the spouse her personal husband is sleeping with. Solely by letters between Carrie and David and between their spouses, Reid tells a narrative of an sudden connection and the infidelity that induced it.
I used to be completely blown away by this story, particularly once I keep in mind simply how a lot Reid managed to make me really feel in so few pages. This novella is such an fascinating examination of marriage, friendship, and what really defines connection. And the final letter will take your breath away.
Proof of the Affair is barely accessible on Amazon as an book and an audiobook.
What I really like a lot about Reid’s books is that they’re extremely distinctive. Daisy Jones & The Six is most in contrast to anything I’ve ever learn. It tells the story of the rise and fall of an iconic Seventies rock group and their lead singer by interviews with the band members and their family members, buddies, and associates.
Daisy, a woman coming of age in L.A. within the late ’60s, rapidly will get seen due to her voice and her magnificence. Additionally getting seen is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the important thing to supercharged success is to place the 2 collectively. In Daisy Jones & The Six, Reid chronicles each how the band obtained collectively and what led to their notorious break up.
Daisy Jones & The Six is an oral historical past, however don’t let that idiot you into considering it’s boring as a result of this guide is something however boring. I used to be so enthralled by this story of music, fame, and love that I learn the whole guide in a single sitting.
I’m not an audiobook individual, however if you’re, then that is positively the Reid guide for you. The audiobook isn’t simply learn by one individual; it has a full solid of actors studying every character, making it extra like a fiction podcast than an audiobook. And if you need to have the ability to watch the occasions of the story unfold, you’ll be capable to do this, too. Though there isn’t a launch date but, capturing for the Amazon Prime TV present starring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin began final fall.
Malibu Rising is a sweeping household historical past advised in two elements, each set within the as soon as small and later elitist California city. Within the first half, we get the historical past of June and Mick Riva’s tumultuous relationship. We’re additionally launched to the 4 Riva kids, Nina, Hud, Jay, and Package. Within the second a part of the guide, the Riva kids have grown up. It’s the day of the well-known Riva occasion, and every character is coping with one thing that may come to a head. Surfer and supermodel Nina was simply very publicly deserted by her professional tennis participant husband. Hud has been maintaining a secret from his brother for a lot too lengthy. Jay can’t look ahead to the woman he can’t cease fascinated by to reach. And Package is maintaining secrets and techniques of her personal—together with that she has invited a really fascinating visitor to the occasion. Along with the 4 Riva kids, we additionally see the occasion by the narration of assorted visitors.
I used to be completely enthralled in the course of the first a part of the novel. I felt a lot for June as she struggled together with her relationship with Mick, and I felt much more for Nina as she handled offering for her siblings what her mother and father didn’t. I used to be simply as within the 4 Riva kids within the second a part of the novel, and I used to be notably moved by Package’s story.
At its coronary heart, Malibu Rising is a narrative about household. It asks questions like, “Are we required to maintain members of the family in our lives who’ve introduced us solely ache?” and “What are we anticipated to sacrifice for the lives of our members of the family?” The exploration of those questions and the characters they’re explored by will assist you to expertise a full vary of feelings, from rage to pity, desperation to exhilaration, and loss to belonging. It is a guide that may stick with you lengthy after you’ve learn the final web page.
For those who, like me, are at all times determined for extra from Reid, you’re in luck. Her newest novel, Carrie Soto Is Again, was introduced final month and comes out this August. This launch is especially thrilling as a result of in the event you’ve learn Malibu Rising, you then’ll acknowledge the identify Carrie Soto.
When Carrie Soto retires from tennis, she is the very best participant the world has ever seen, shattering each file and claiming 20 Slam titles. However six years after her retirement, Carrie watches as her file is taken from her by British participant Nicki Chan in the course of the 1994 U.S. Open.
At 37 years outdated, Carrie decides to come back out of retirement for one 12 months in an try to reclaim her file. With the intention to get there, she’ll should be coached by her father once more, push her physique greater than she ever has earlier than, and practice alongside the person she as soon as nearly opened her coronary heart to. Carrie Soto Is Again is a narrative about the price of greatness, and I can’t wait to learn it.
Last Ideas
It isn’t straightforward to put in writing a novel. And it positively isn’t straightforward to constantly write novels which are simply pretty much as good as, if not higher than, the final. But that’s precisely what Reid does, time and time once more. Reid has been an auto-buy writer for me since 2014, and he or she at all times can be. So you possibly can imagine me once I say you have to learn all the things she’s ever written.
Supply: The Every Girl
