Reviews tagging 'Rape'

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

5 reviews

ranyaakguen's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

i never hated something more than this book. everything could've been avoided if the men in this book ceased to exist. this will be my last colleen hoover book.

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maddiie046's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
what the fuck 

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vereadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

 “It took four years for me to fall in love with him. It only took four pages to stop.”

I don't understand why this book is so loved by readers.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

“Fucking beautiful,” I whisper.
She smiles and then ducks her head. “I feel stupid.”
“I barely know you, so I’m not about to argue with you over your level of intelligence, because you could very well be as dumb as a rock. But at least you’re pretty.”


Ben and Fallon's relationship is so troubled that I don't know where to begin.

Fallon suffered an accident when she was sixteen that ended her acting career. Her father's house caught fire, and she was inside it. The burns left scars on her body and her face. So she has low self-esteem and is very insecure about her body.

“Because I could tell with that one simple movement that you were really insecure. And I realized—since you obviously had no idea how fucking beautiful you were—that I just might actually have a chance with you. And so I smiled. Because I was hoping if I played my cards right—I might get to find out exactly what kind of panties you were wearing under those jeans.”

But her insecurities disappear the moment that Ben tells her she's beautiful. I have a hard time accepting that a woman's insecurities about her body vanish just because a man says so. It is a bad example for young people to establish that one's confidence is given by the look of a man.

From the moment Ben crosses paths with Fallon, he shows signs of toxic masculinity. He is the one who introduces himself as her boyfriend without her consent. He invades her personal space to "defend" her from her asshole father because he thinks she needs to be saved.

Despite meeting her only hours before, he makes comments about what color underwear Fallon wears. He also wonders if she does or doesn't go commando.

“If you're packing underwear, that means you don't go commando. So by process of elimination, I've figured out that you're currently wearing a thong. Now I just have to find out what color it is”

He dares to tell her how to dress. We have to remember that they just met.

“I'm paying for dinner, so I get to choose what to stare at while we eat.”

Ben asks her to wear a dress that Fallon doesn't feel comfortable in. But, he ignores her refusal and decides to undress her and put on the dress that he wants her to wear. At this point, She is crying and clearly does not feel comfortable with the situation.

“My stomach clenches when his hands meet the top of my jeans. This is going too far. Too far, too far, too far, but all I can do is suck in a wild breath and let his finger pop open the bottom on my jeans, because as much as I wish he would stop.”

This is a huge red flag for me.

After having sex for the first time, Fallon says she feels like she lost something.

“I'm not sure if sex is supposed to make you feel like you've just lost a part of yourself to the person inside you, but that's exactly what I felt like.”

No sexual encounter should feel like this. Never.

Ben is a psychopath, stalker, and manipulator. We later find out that he causes the fire where Fallon suffers her burns. It's hard for me not to think about how sick and twisted this is. He is obsessed with seeing Fallon's scars and enjoys touching and admiring her scars. It's all so twisted that I can't believe Colleen Hoover published this book.

She romantizides suicide. She presents it as an act of kindness and love. Giving that message seems disrespectful. She says that suicide is better than fighting cancer. This message is disrespectful to those who have battled or are still battling cancer. And also to those who have lost someone because of suicide.

“But either way, I'm going to be dead before you turn seventeen. At least this way, it will be quick and easy. You can call 911, they'll take away my body, and it'll be over in less than a few hours. A few hours for me to die and be removed from the house is so much better than the several months it could potentially take for the cancer to do its job.”

In the end, Fallon and psycho Ben end up together, although he was the cause of the fire. 

I know that this story is fiction and that this romance is not healthy and should not be considered as an example. But many people can take this story as something normal and healthy when it is not. Authors should be more responsible for how they write this kind of story. They should highlight and condemn misconduct and not romanticize it.

It saddens me to know that an author who has written a book as It ends with us has also written this book.
 


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wandering_heart_reads's review

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


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jessiahmarielle's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Listen..... I love CoHo books as much as the next person but... What the hell did I just read? 

There is so much misogyny weaved into this book, disguised as love, concern and affection. This book had me screaming out loud that no means no. The objectification of women is so strong in this one, so I would avoid it if I were you. That's why I'm also confused why the reviews are so high.



Was I supposed to find it romantic that the first few thoughts Ben had when looking at Fallon was what panties she had on? Whether she was going commando? That he had mentally undressed her just because he was curious? That he ACTUALLY undressed her just to see her scars when she was clearly uncomfortable in the situation and described as having tears in her eyes, shaking, etc. How am I supposed to root for a relationship where 3 hours in from meeting her, he's already telling her how to dress because he's pAyiNg fOr tHe meAl. He fetishises her scars, and I'm supposed to like him?

Like what you want in this book, but you can't brush over the questionable behaviour Ben shows during the relationship. A lot of it is non-consensual and totally inappropriate, so I don't understand all the praises being sung about this book.



I love Colleen Hoover's books. Truly, two of them have made it onto my favourites pile and I know I'll find myself thinking about them dearly in years to come. But this... This makes me want to boycott her other books because I just don't know what to expect anymore.

Overall, I fell in love with the premise of this book but was vastly disappointed.
The only reason why I'm giving this a 1.25 is because of the plot twist at the end, which was refreshing to see. And it almost had me celebrating that Fallon would leave Ben. But I was sadly mistaken.

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