It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – FREAKING READ THIS!

It End With Us by Colleen Hoover – 5 Stars

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Emotional.

Incredibly insightful.

Empowering.

Eye-opening.

Not to mention completely original.

It Ends With US is filled with such raw truths I had to stop a few times and just think about a line or passage I just read. It is filled with SO many heartbreaking moments I didn’t think my heart could endure it all.

I read this book a few weeks back, and it has stayed with me since. As cliché as it sounds, it is truly one of those stories that will surely stay with me for a very very long time. It made me question things and situations I never thought I would even think twice about. It made me love people I didn’t think were worthy of love and forgive things I didn’t think were forgivable.

As always with Colleen’s writing, each of her characters has a distinct voice and each story has a distinct message. It Ends With Us, for me at least, reminded me how easy it is in life to point a finger. To judge someone or a situation you are on the outside of. So easy to say, “If that was me, I wouldn’t have done that.” But this story shows us that sometimes certain situations aren’t that easy to walk away from and become even messier when emotions and love are involved. I applaud Colleen so much for writing a story like this. In fact, she deserves a freaking standing ovation. In a world with MCs, twists, and plots that are all so similar they all begin to mesh as one, It Ends With Us stands out with its personal, exceedingly touching, and original storyline.

I don’t want to say anything on plot or characters. I read this not knowing a thing on either, and was shocked to see how it unfolded. And even though I won’t elaborate on any details and in turn my review is very brief, I really think those who go in blind will appreciate the story and the insanely strong emotion behind it that much more.

Go in with an open mind.

 

Go in with an open heart. But be warned this story will probably break it.

It Ends With Us is out August 2nd !

More info is also on: www.itendswithusbook.com

*Big thanks to Atria Books and Colleen Hoover for sending an advanced copy ❤

Throwback Fav ❤: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

 

Pretty sure Ugly Love was my first Colleen Hoover book. And as soon as I finished, I read it again.  Below was my review, which is one of the first reviews I posted to GR too. ❤

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I have no words. No words.

Okay maybe a few.

I LOVED THIS STORY. Every single thing about it. I loved Tate. I loved how the story went back and forth between her and Miles’ point of view. I loved Miles. Every version of him.
Sweet Miles.
Asshole Miles.
Young Miles.
Jealous Miles.

I loved how it had me gushing and squealing and sighing and squeezing my kindle to my chest in giddiness. I won’t even go into details. Just read the damn thing because I promise you, you’re missing out if you don’t.

1 of my new favorites. I laughed. I cried. –Well done Colleen Hoover. Well done.

Favorite quotes:

“He’s smiling, and I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing that smile. He should smile all the time. Forever. At me.”

“I would infiltrate his heart and spread myself around like a virus.”

“Sometimes my silence is saying ‘I don’t know how to speak to you. I don’t know what you’re thinking. Talk to me. Tell me everything you’ve eve said. All the words. Starting from your very first one.”

“He inhales a shaky breath while looking down at my mouth. ‘You make it so hard to breathe.”

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The problem with ‘The Problem with Forever’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So….

This is the author everyone seems to rave about, huh? I have so many book friends who love this author and love her other books. But in all honesty, I don’t see the appeal. I found nothing extraordinary about her writing and nothing made it stand out to me. Maybe it’s me. Or maybe this isn’t her best work; maybe this specific book doesn’t reflect her writing abilities. I think (and am HOPING) it’s the latter.

What didn’t work? What I found incredibly annoying was first and foremost the actual writing. This author seems to be a HUGE fan of using an excessive amount of commas (and I REALLY HATE THIS TYPE OF WRITING) and an even bigger fan of ellipses:

“The kids in my class will know…that I can’t do it and that I’m getting something..they aren’t. They all…have to stand up there and I don’t? I need to…do it.”

“I….I didn’t think you’d do that.”

“Then…you shouldn’t have followed me because….I’m not your problem anymore.”

After a while, all the “…” in the text was really irritating.

The book is also unnecessarily LONG. 480 pages of nothing really. And I would have considered the writing issues I had minor details if the actual story was more substantial with a romance that wasn’t so freaking stilted. There was absolutely no quick banter or witty dialogue which is something I look forward to when I read YA. It was like the author was trying really hard to make the reader cry by forcing this awful backstory on the MCs. It didn’t make me cry. Not even once. Not even a little tear. Not even an eye rub. And maybe that’s a harsh thing to say, especially considering the tough subjects this book covers. But you know what YA book with a heroine that has a really tragic backstory made me cry my eyes out? That was FILLED with witty banter regardless of the sad undertone of the plot? THIS ONE.

Another huge issue was Mallory herself. I know a few people who read this said there was WAY too much inner monologue. But an issue the heroine faces is speaking. So I understand the use of it. That isn’t what bothered me. It was that her voice was never authentic. It was all over the place and felt forced. She vacillated between having a really mature thought process to having these immature “teenage” thoughts. And I say “teenage” because it felt like the author wrote her as an adult mimicking an annoying teenager and their slang.

It all just came off as amateur and this doesn’t seem like a book that was written by a seasoned professional.

This was a YA book with no soul. I am a firm believer that there are YA books out there that can appeal to all ages (*cough* THIS ONE *cough*) but this one seemed too juvenile, among the many other issues. I won’t write this author off and plan on reading her other books. But if they are anything like this one, I think I’ll need to just accept her writing isn’t for me.

1 star