Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Reminders of Him

I just don’t think Colleen Hoover is for me.

My uncle died in a rollover accident on a gravel road, just like how Scotty died. So it was really hard for me to have empathy and sympathy for Kenna. I didn’t feel bad for her, even though Hoover wants you to feel bad for her. Kenna lies, she deceives, she makes out with Ledger even when she knows who he is (Scotty’s best friend) but he doesn’t know who she is (the reason his best friend isn’t alive).

This book was just a little bit too twisted, little bit too toxic, it was just too much. Such a heavy subject and I feel like it wasn’t handled well at all.

Grief is a sad, awful thing. I witnessed that first hand when my uncle died and what it did to my grandparents, to my whole family. How they couldn’t even say his name, how the very mention of him for over a year after his death, my grandma’s eyes would still well up in tears. Grief is heavy, but the way it was handled in this story just felt very shallow. Not enough depth.

I just feel like everything is minimized. These big awful feelings that take up so much room in your heart are minimized for us to pity Kenna. Which I didn’t, I couldn’t.

But Ledger does. Immediatley he is infatuated with her. Even when he finds out her true identity, that she is the reason his best friend is dead, he’s still obsessed with her.

Both Kenna and Ledger are both unnecessarily and unhealthily jealous when any single guy or girl talks to the other. You’ve literally known her not even a week and you both are already so possessive of each other. It was so unhealthy, especially when Kenna has literally just gotten out of prison and is in a super fragile state of mind as she grapples with seeing her daughter for the first time in 5 years and being in her old hometown, trying to regain some normalcy that was taken away from her when she went to prison. But no, instead of all that, you guys are making out and getting mad when another one of you even talks to someone of the opposite gender. And you’ve only known each other a couple days. And Ledger you were literally engaged two seconds ago, you were supposed to get married the week after you met Kenna.

I just didn’t like it. Kenna and Ledger’s relationship isn’t even a relationship. All they have is sex and Scotty in common, that’s it.

This book just struck a nerve, a personal one, with me. I think this’ll be my last Colleen Hoover book, I just don’t enjoy them like everyone else seems to.

How she surrounds her stories around very serious topics and tries to turn them into romances, it just isn’t for me.

Content Warnings

lostpaperbacks's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Definitely one of Colleen's best works. Reminders of him is now my second favourite just a little bit after All Your Perfects.

This book is so different than what I initially thought it would be, in a good way. By page 60, I was already crying. It's hard not to root for Kenna because she is so so selfless, determined but selfless. She's now my favourite character that Colleen writes. The facts that she knows that she's wrong and doesn't blame anyone makes her so lovable and I just wanted to give her a big hug saying that it'll be alright the whole time I was reading this.

I always read the acknowledgements and author notes everytime and Colleen always have something special to say. I love that tiny bit she said about how this could be anyone's story and how we could never know what our people are going through. It's a good reminder to read.

Content Warnings

criticalbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

nicolesreadingbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Yeah um my heart broke in this one too like Colleen Hoover really is the queen of breaking hearts and piecing back our fragile hearts together. I teared up at several points of this book and seeing the relationship between Kenna and Ledger's change and grow. Also the writing is beautiful as always.

Content Warnings

readsbyhope's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

laurendenton's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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