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izzydelaya's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
vereadsbooks's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcohol, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, and Cancer
ayvahb's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, and Medical trauma
brookey8888's review
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Listen I would never forgive someone for that tbh. Like I would forgive, but I couldn’t be with them. I did like this and found it entertaining, but I did get spoiled about the twist so I wasn’t shocked. I did like the characters for the most part, sometimes they annoyed me. I did end up crying during a certain letter, which I wasn’t expecting. Just a note a character says something along the lines of think you for giving me this gift and I gagged. If someone ever said that to me I would die lol. This review is honestly horrible I’m sorry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
mary20's review
dark
fast-paced
1.5
I did not want to finish this book because I hated the plot but I couldn’t put it down because the writing was good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship
melissaslibraryy's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
toofondofbooks_'s review
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
BIG RAMBLING AND SCREAMING AHEAD
If you know this book at all, you know that it's about Ben and Fallon, who meet on the same day every year for 5 years while Ben writes a book about it. I wasn't prepared for it to be way more than that.
For that reason...
I'm gonna start off by calling out @colleenhoover directly and letting her know that i'm going to need some $$ for upcoming therapy bills because so far everything that i've read from her has made me feel literally insane and feral.
I loved this book and I hated this book. These characters are both dumb clowns. I love them, but they are, in fact, dumb clowns and they made me want to scream so much of the time. I'm not saying this is a bad thing or a good thing, it's just a thing. I tend to think that if a book can elicit some sort of strong reaction from me, then it's good. So, I suppose I'm counting it as a good thing.
In order for Ben to not immediately start giving me serial killer vibes, I had to picture him as Avan Jogia because *swoon* - anyway though, if you read the book, you know why this ultimately did not work out for me, and why I, in the end, wore the clown nose and shoes.
I thought that the writing was good and engaging; it had dual POVs which I always love. I sometimes feel like something is missing if there isn't a dual POV. I did think that sometimes the language was a little corny for me, but then when I sat back and assessed each character a little more: they are very, very corny people at heart. It is simply a part of the characterization, so I was no longer holding that against them.
So much of this book - particularly the second half, had me crying my eyes out. I was sitting out on the balcony of my apartment openly weeping for Ben and Fallon. Having said this, I do have some critiques of their relationship overall, which I've just discussed with a friend over DM. I won't get into specifics here, but there is toxicity there and some things that personally, if it were me, I'd be outta there. However, that didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book. If you follow me closely, you know that I sort of love messy dynamics and complicated relationships and even toxic, horrible ones. However, if these things trigger you, I would advise maybe skipping this one.
Colleen, if you are reading this for some reason - first of all, why are you reading this???? and second of all - please know I love your books very much and that my excruciating pain is merely an indication of just how much I love them. Thank you.
If you know this book at all, you know that it's about Ben and Fallon, who meet on the same day every year for 5 years while Ben writes a book about it. I wasn't prepared for it to be way more than that.
For that reason...
I'm gonna start off by calling out @colleenhoover directly and letting her know that i'm going to need some $$ for upcoming therapy bills because so far everything that i've read from her has made me feel literally insane and feral.
I loved this book and I hated this book. These characters are both dumb clowns. I love them, but they are, in fact, dumb clowns and they made me want to scream so much of the time. I'm not saying this is a bad thing or a good thing, it's just a thing. I tend to think that if a book can elicit some sort of strong reaction from me, then it's good. So, I suppose I'm counting it as a good thing.
In order for Ben to not immediately start giving me serial killer vibes, I had to picture him as Avan Jogia because *swoon* - anyway though, if you read the book, you know why this ultimately did not work out for me, and why I, in the end, wore the clown nose and shoes.
I thought that the writing was good and engaging; it had dual POVs which I always love. I sometimes feel like something is missing if there isn't a dual POV. I did think that sometimes the language was a little corny for me, but then when I sat back and assessed each character a little more: they are very, very corny people at heart. It is simply a part of the characterization, so I was no longer holding that against them.
So much of this book - particularly the second half, had me crying my eyes out. I was sitting out on the balcony of my apartment openly weeping for Ben and Fallon. Having said this, I do have some critiques of their relationship overall, which I've just discussed with a friend over DM. I won't get into specifics here, but there is toxicity there and some things that personally, if it were me, I'd be outta there. However, that didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book. If you follow me closely, you know that I sort of love messy dynamics and complicated relationships and even toxic, horrible ones. However, if these things trigger you, I would advise maybe skipping this one.
Colleen, if you are reading this for some reason - first of all, why are you reading this???? and second of all - please know I love your books very much and that my excruciating pain is merely an indication of just how much I love them. Thank you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Cancer and Vomit
Minor: Pregnancy
lascorrigansgf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Wow! Just wow! Colleen did it yet again. This story is just better than anything I’ve ever read. Yes, it was cliché. But aren’t we all thirsty for a cliché love? I loved the main characters, how she portrayed them. And what I loved the most and shocked me even worse, was the plot twist. Never had I expected it would be such a mind blowing plot twist. The ending made it all for me. It was the most cliché ending I ever read but still made me shed a few tears. It wasn’t as sad as I thought it would be, I mean yes it broke my heart, but I didn’t cry as much as I thought I would because deep inside me I was sure CoHo wouldn’t let me down with the ending. So, yeah. 100% recommended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
ignoreve's review
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
this book was highly unpredictable - maybe a bit too much so.
the fourth November...
I would definitely look at content warnings for this one though, its heavy
the fourth November...
I would definitely look at content warnings for this one though, its heavy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Suicide
Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse
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