It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is not a new author and this book is not a new title. Don't quote me on this but I believe that there has been a resurgence for It Ends With Us because of #booktok...?  And so because I was having a serious case of FOMO, I went out and bought a copy.  

 This might be a first for me but I'm not really quite sure how I feel about this book... Am I the only one who feels that way or is it just me...?  I know that Jessica read this book back in 2018 and she LOVED it!  I will link her review here. 

I don't know if I can say that I've loved it but I'm not quite sure that I can say that I hated it either.  I feel, dare I say, indifferent??  

I found this story to be very dark and because of that, I'm surprised that it has such a cult following behind it... It is definitely an important story that needs to be told because it deals with intimate partner violence and that is a topic that is very real for many women (and men) and it needs to be discussed, the stigma around it needs to be stripped away and the education on IPV needs to happen. 

*Update*

I would like to say that my stance has changed on this book and I understand why it's popular and why it gave Jessica the book hangover that it did. 

I must admit that I was reaching that point where I was getting at the book and I found it to be increasingly frustrating.  I understood why Lily was having doubts with leaving Ryle and I get why it was a long process.  But, we must admit that this is the hallmark of a great writer; when you feel so much about character - the good, the bad, the passion, the love, and the ugly.  

I must say that I was satisfied with the way that Hoover wrote the ending.  I thought that the message that was presented in the book was a strong one.  

But... I found about 3/4 of the book to be painfully boring.  In the beginning, it was very very mundane. I wasn't sure why Atlas didn't have more of a role in the story...?  I think what threw me was that it's marketed as Atlas being a threat to Lily and Ryle and I didn't see him to be that way... Not at ALL!  I couldn't even justify saying that he was her voice of reason.  I thought that Lily figured the situation on her own and Atlas was barely in the background.

I enjoyed reading Lily's journal entries because they did provide a lot of background and insight.

So... Would I recommend this book to my friends or patrons? Absolutely.  Did I give it 4 stars out of 5 on Goodreads? You betcha.  But for me, the greatest satisfaction and what made this book worth reading was the ending (which was a small 1/4 of the book).  And yes... we can agree to disagree on that (:

Until next time!

- Jillian

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Hello Dewey Readers!

Today I started (and finished) Colleen Hoover's novel Ugly Love.  This novel, like all of Hoover's novels, was a super quick read for me.  I became easily immersed in the characters lives and needed to know their stories... but it wasn't my favorite Hoover read. 

So a bit about the novel.  Tate is moving into her brother's apartment.  She meets a man in the elevator who looks at her and tries to flirt with her, but he's clearly hiding his wedding ring.  (Don't worry he isn't the love interest!) When Tate gets to her brother's apartment, a man is passed out drunk in front of the door.  Her brother isn't home, but when Tate calls him she tells him to let him inside.  The drunk man, named Miles, lives across the the hall, and he's filled with insurmountable grief.  We don't know why, or what happened, but we know words cannot describe his pain.  This man becomes Tate's love interest.  

The story is told in the present tense by Tate and the past tense by Miles.  I must say that I liked Miles' parts more than Tate's, and without giving too much away, wished that it was Miles' story that had a happily ever after.  Nonetheless I enjoyed it.  

I gave this book 5 stars of Goodreads, but here I'm going to give it 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  This is book 2 in my current #socialdistancing to read pile.  Comment below with how many books you have read / want to read!

~Jessica 

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

Hello Deweys!

I am addicted to Colleen Hoover.  I fall in love with her characters right away.  The way she writes is phenomenal, and it's so inspiring to know that she was first a self-published author before she hit it big.  SO I was super excited to check out her latest novel, All Your Perfects from my library.

This novel did not disappoint.  So what would you do if you if you went to your fiancé's apartment to surprise him and found a strange man sitting outside the door?  What would you do if that man told you that his (soon to be ex) girlfriend was inside having sex with your fiancé?  Yup.  You guessed it. This is the scene that this novel opens up with.  Throw in some Chinese food in the hallway, a wedding that will never happen, and some pride in the face of heartbreak and you get the beginning of this wonderful novel.

Quinn was 25 years old when she found out her fiancé was a jerk, but through the devastation 1) She got out before she exchanged vows and 2) She met Graham.  The novel flashes between the past (the break-up / post break-up) and the present (the the marriage between Quinn and Graham.)  This relationship which was founded through a not-so happy, yet lucky, coincidence is basically the ideal romance of two soulmates.  However, their current marriage isn't so happy.  Mainly because Quinn is dealing with the fact that she is infertile and cannot conceive.  The couple is unable to adopt for legal and financial reasons, and Quinn has become so consumed with this grief of not being able to have a baby that she has changed as a person and as a wife.  

Hoover crafts a story about two people who are supposed to be together, but are struggling.   The reader watches them fall in love, but the reader also watches their love fall apart.  Perhaps things would be better if they could just communicate about their pain, their fears, and their grief, but like so many of us, they don't.  The reader's heart breaks for Quinn and Graham as we slowly watch their relationship silently dissolve.

I silently cried while reading this and I give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

~Jessica 

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Those are clean tissues I crinkled up... I promise....

I'm sorry I've been M.I.A.  Life has been CRAZY, but I have been reading, just nothing review worthy.  My last review was on Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, which I adored.  Surprise, surprise, this review is also about a book by Colleen Hoover.  I'm in love with Colleen Hoover.  I can't get enough.  I'm bookishly addicted.  Maybe I need rehab...

Without Merit is Hoover's latest novel, which I found while perusing the new shelf at my public library.  Everyone should go to their library right now and look at the new shelf.  I know that Hoover writes New Adult Fiction (N.A.) but I wasn't sure that this novel quite fit that category.  To me, it seemed like more of a young adult (Y.A.) fiction novel primarily because instead of having characters in their 20s, Hoover has main characters who are 17-19 years old.   Interesting to me, because all of the local libraries had this book shelved with their adult fiction collection...

Anyway, back to the book.  In this novel we meet Merit.  Merit has a twin sister named Honor and the two are COMPLETELY different.  Honor is into makeup and boys who are near their death bed, and Merit is socially awkward, a little bit borderline depressed, and collects trophies in which she buys every time something bad or embarrassing happens to her.   So one day while Merit is skipping school and eyeing up a trophy at the local antique shop, she runs into this older guy who kisses her.  WHY DOES A STRANGE MAN KISS HER?  Well, he thought Merit was Honor.  *Ba da bum!*

But if that's not embarrassing enough, this man, who goes by the name of Sagan, moves into her home.  She can't escape the embarrassment.  He's eating breakfast at her kitchen table!  Her family is a mess!  Her mother, who had battled cancer lives in the basement after her father slept with her mother's nurse and got her pregnant / married her, the family is looked down upon by town members after her atheist father bought a church and renovated it into a home, none of the siblings actually talk to Honor, and Honor doesn't appear to like them very much either.  

So, if you're looking for a read that's part soap opera, part romance, and part individual and familial mental disorder, pick this novel up.   I would give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

And until the next read, which I promise will be something different from Hoover... (even though I just bought a new one)... Happy Reading!        

~Jessica

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

OH MY GOODNESS Dewey Readers!

I just finished Colleen Hoover's novel It Ends With Us, and I am SO in love.  I literally devoured this book in under 24 hours.  It was THAT good.   

This is my first novel by Hoover, and I picked it up while at work, thinking that I would try to do a new adult / ya crossover display for the library.  I'm trying to target the 20-30 crowd.  But it got me thinking, have I read any authors that are primarily known for NA fiction?  Not really.  I mostly read YA and women's fiction, with a few random ones in between.  Hoover's novel literally jumped off the shelf at me. Literally. So needless to say, I checked it out and took it home.    

I am so glad I did.

So, let's talk about the novel.  Lily is 23 years old.  After her father passes away, Lilly is asked to say the eulogy at his funeral.  The problem is that she doesn't have anything good to say about him. So she stands there and says nothing.  NOTHING. You see, Lily's father abused her mother throughout her entire childhood.  He only stopped beating and raping her mother when he became too sick to do so.  Her mother stayed with him the entire time.    

When Lily was 15 years old, she fell in love with a boy who was living in the abandoned house which joined backyards with Lily's home.  Like Lily, Atlas too came from an abusive household.  Except his step-father abused HIM.

Fast forward, and Lily is now living in Boston.  She's on a rooftop patio reflecting about her father's death and her wordless eulogy when a man appears.  Heavily upset, he begins to kick a chair in anger only to turn around and realize that Lily was there watching.  This man is so very handsome and he is a neurosurgeon.  Can you believe it?  A neurosurgeon!  It is many months until they meet again.  

As I'm writing this, I realize that my small summary really sucks and does NOT give this novel justice.  So I'm just going to stop.  

What absolutely amazes me about this novel, is that Hoover is able to tell a love story but she does so by showing both the good aspects of love (that keep us going back for more) and the dirty and terrible aspects of love (that hide underneath the good.)  Hoover mentions in the novel that we all have a limit of what we can take and when "incidents" happen with someone you love, that limit gets pushed back bit by bit.  This highlights the importance of paying attention to little red flags early on and staying true to your limit.  This is also something that I'm slowly learning to put into practice.  Be bold.  Be true.  It's easier said than done.  

What also amazes me is that Hoover is able to craft a character who Lily is able to both love, hate and fear at the same time, but she crafts him in such a way that the reader also is able to fall in love with him, fear him, and struggle with these feelings similar to how Lilly does.  No matter Lilly's decision, I couldn't blame her because I wasn't sure what I would have done in her situation or what I wanted her to do.  Yes, we know what we should do as a detached persona, but not what we would do or what we necessarily want to do. I realize I'm rambling, but this book just has me so excited.  I think I found my new favorite author. 

I feel a book hangover coming on.

I give this book 10 out of 5 Coffee Beans, because I can.  

~Jessica