Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Ugly Love

I loved this book so much I read it twice. It got me out of a year long reading slump. The second i finished I couldn’t wait to read it agajn. It was obviously predictable, to be expected with a romance, however there was still points when I was shocked and speeding through to see what happened next.

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delaynie's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

After a friend recommended this book, I bought Ugly Love without knowing anything about it. I liked the idea of jumping in with little expectations.

At first, I struggled to read this book. At the time I was reading it while also reading a romantasy book that was more gripping and had more exciting content. Once I finished that book and truly focused on Ugly Love, I began to like it a lot more. Pages 100+ were more upbeat. Pages 200+ had me finish in one sitting. The story at that point really had me.

I thought the suspense of Miles's chapters was great. His first few chapters are at times cringey and a little too much. He was soooo into his high school crush. It wasn't until later in the book that I began to appreciate his chapters. By the end of the book, I wanted Miles's chapters more than Tate's.

The two POV's were in different formats. Tate's was structured like a typical novel. Miles's had centered text and some more additions like different font sizes and poetic word placements across the page. It made my head hurt at first. My brain kind of got numb to it at one point, but I never enjoyed the structural deviations.

I think the characters were fine. Tate (FMC) was relatable, and I could understand her position. I think we've all been a little delusional because we want something to work out. She may have been better off without her relationship with Miles (MMC), but she chose the messy relationship. I understand trying to make something work that really may not change instead of courageously stepping away from it. Tate is trying to convince herself that he will love her back. She doesn't necessarily want to fix Miles, but she does want him to grow to be happier and to potentially become her boyfriend. Miles obviously had a lot to work through. I wish his healing could have begun slightly earlier in the story, so we could have more time with him and Tate once he begins to clean up his act. I think this would have added to their relationship to see him actively working on himself and to see them build a real relationship together instead of going from situationship to perfectly happy.

Side note: I think it's okay he loved Rachel differently than he loved Tate. Those first love feelings are so overwhelming and dreamy. It makes sense to not have that same feeling for every other romantic partner you have. There's space in Miles and Tate's relationship to build a really mature love if they can manage it.

There's for sure some nopes for me. Miles caressing Tate's foot in the car was a NO for me. That might just be a personal problem. The baby's balls comment was just as legendary and icky as I thought it would be. Some of Tate's comments about Miles "giving her his pain" was morally questionable. The step sibling situation is a bit complicated too.

Overall, I liked the book. I was invested in seeing how Tate & Miles's relationship was going to end. I wanted to know everything about Miles's past. It wasn't very surprising, but that's okay because I was more interested in that storyline playing out. Ugly Love is a light read that at times can be heavy. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this book. However, I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it either. I think it was a story that a variety of people can relate to.

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taylahhhh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I know the colleen hoover controversy but this book got me out of a reading slump years ago and is still my go to easy read, The writing style is very juvenile and truthfully the plot could be better developed but it is what restarted my love for reading. Plus i am a sucker for brothers best friend! One thing i hated was the time jumps between miles and Tates chapters I didn't feel like taking us back to miles past helped the development of the story because it was poorly executed, she may have well as just done one chapter on it and it would have hit the same. Overall, colleen hoover will never be a favourite writer of mine HOWEVER I do enjoy her storylines and almost wish the plots had been executed a different way as she does cover very important topics in her novels

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angie11290's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I've laughed, I've cried, I've yelled at the pages, and here I sit after finishing the lSt page, sobbing. This is the first Colleen Hoover book I've had the pleasure of reading and I'm not disappointed in the slightest and am so excited for more. Normally I finish a book, start the next one, and *poof* the memory of the other goes away but this... this will stay with me.

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caprxquemini's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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sandse2's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I just do not get why people like colleen Hoover books. It’s like watching a daytime television soap opera, the plot twist were obvious the traumas were so extreme. The characters were kind of just unbelievable. The girl was just OK not knowing anything about this guy, but she just had such a strong connection to him anyway? Right… And Miles was miraculously cured of his trauma and clearly ptsd after he spoke to his ex? None of this is realistic and it’s not even a remotely fun unrealism. It’s just kind of outlandish and silly and since the characters never actual connect emotionally it’s hard to connect to them emotionally as a reader.

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.0

He has a past, it’s dark and he doesn’t want to ever experience anything like that again. So he will not date or be involved with anyone in a romantic way, because that leads to love and he can’t do that again either. But when Tate moves in across the hall he can’t stay away. So they agree to a situationship, just sex, no talking about the past or the future.
This book was good!! I love a story that makes me feel something and this one broke my heart and pieced it together again.

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gvstyris's review against another edition

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funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

We both laugh at our son’s big balls.

I reckon Imma read Mere Christianity next, because I need Jesus after that.

A couple main issues here:
- the glorification of teen pregnancy
- the glorification of pregnancy in general
- the unnecessary borderline incest?
- the weird overprotective (and violent) brother
- the obsession with pilots??
- the writing style. please someone take the centre spacing and italics keys away from CoHo’s keyboard.
- the anti-choice undertones
and a generally emotionally abusive relationship. oh man.

At least I finally put my CoHo money where my mouth is…

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