Okay look. I had not once really touch a book on my own will since the boom of the internet. It was very hard to start reading again when every necessary information were becoming too accessible. I even forgot how it felt to REALLY read a book. Of course, I’m no fancy scholar. I only read fiction books that revolves around romance and drama, maybe even a little fantasy. But, why did my desire to escape from reality disappeared when I found something easier to go to? Like TikTok and Netflix. I’m not saying that these platforms are bad, they most certainly aren’t. But, they are definitely most consuming. I was consumed by watching TikTok videos all day, and if you asked me about the videos I just watched, I could never be able to retell it to you. That’s how forgettable these information was. Escaping to these platform didn’t gave me a new world like what reading did to me. Rather than that, it pauses my real life for a moment, like a game on hold, meaningless.
To be completely honest, I didn’t rediscover my love for reading through this realization. I was forced to amuse myself without the privilege of the internet. Earlier this month, I bought 100k rupiah worth of internet quota and managed to run out of it within a month. I realized that i had to get a grip of my life again, before the cyberspace literally affects my (very real) economy. That’s when I picked up a few books on my reading lists. The first book was “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Reid. I admit, TikTok was the one that recommended it to me. The “BookTok” tiktokers can’t shut up about its dreamy and unique aesthetic revolving around old Hollywood drama. Hell, count me in, I’m a sucker for these things since I watched “My Fair Lady” and “The Great Gatsby” lol. And that was it. I was going in with almost zero expectation.
The first chapter was unable to hook me like what most cringey Wattpad book (yes i read wattpad, don’t hate me) always managed to do. With my now very short attention span, it was somehow still bearable. At first, I felt almost no sympathy towards the main character, Evelyn Hugo, who was very rude to the writer of her biography, Monique. She was pretty much abusing her power over her. Also, I thought that the way Taylor Reid wrote this book reminded me of Scott Fitzgerald style in “The Great Gatsby”, glamorizing this being from the point of view of relatable character. So, I kinda hated it, but still very much intrigued. Everything took a turn when the book bring its first twist which was the absent moral of Evelyn Hugo.
Evelyn Hugo is probably my favorite anti-hero. She was aware. She was aware that her moral was falling off the hill. She was aware that people used her and she used them. She would do anything to never go back to the life she was assigned. She took risks and repent her wrong doings. And at last, she convinced me to sympathize her. I felt like there was a piece in my self that adore her and relate to her. A lot of important topics also became the heart of this book, such as domestic abuse, r*ped, lgbt, money, and politics. And yet, i was able to sit through it and finished the book, my first ever book after what it felt like a decade vacuum. I would say that the magic that Evelyn Hugo had in the book also compelled me in real life. It truly felt like I was watching her life crumble and rose in this other world. I started to annotate each line that spoke to me.
For the first time again, reading has proven me that relaxing could be on another form that as entertaining as instant videos on TikTok, but even more magical. I hope that when I found myself lost yet again in cyberspace, I would read this writing and never forget how much I find reading so amusing.
