Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

64 reviews

gabriella_'s review against another edition

sad medium-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

1.75

I don’t know what this author’s obsession is with male saviors but it’s in all her books somehow. Every character reads like they have the same voice: the author’s voice. It’s like Colleen is talking to herself in the mirror for the majority of the book. Characters trauma-dump for exposition instead of letting the story or dialogues progress organically. It’s got all the nuance of a tweet and the depth of a kiddie pool. 

Naming background characters and identifying their race won’t give you diversity points, especially not when you just use them as plot devices to fuel the protagonist thinking he’s a “good person” and “decent human” solely for being around POC. Reducing them to just characters who make your white cast look better isn’t diversity, it’s optics

Having a character with alcohol-related PTSD say she wants to “order alcohol specifically to walk away from it” out of a sense of control, and to have an alcoholic character respect that decision is tone-deaf. It accessorizes addiction and trauma, making mental illness an aesthetic that is pick-me at best and inherently exploitative at worst.  

The fact that this book is her “least problematic” and the male lead is just cardboard but

he kisses her without consent when he first meets her

isn’t really a good look. This isn’t a story about grief, this is a love story with a struggle for child custody, the grief is just a decorative ornament for an uninspired “forbidden romance”, skip this read lmao

There were only two quotes that felt like it had heart in the entire book and one is an OOC tiktok sound that feels jarring in context considering how insignificant the mourning felt throughout the book until it was narratively relevant to talk about it. 

And despite how problematic it is - the race baiting, male savior complex, turning addiction into an aesthetic - its worst crime is it’s just plain boring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Death, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction

violetbentbackwards1036's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-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? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Cursing, Death, Child death, Grief, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nvargas's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment

rose_1191's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Abandonment, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Blood, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Violence

bookgrind's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I haven’t felt so much emotion in a book in a long time and this one just did it for me. The last section of this book is an emotional roller coaster but I fully enjoyed every minute of it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Abandonment

caitlin_davis22's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Abandonment, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Drug use, Vomit, Mental illness, and Alcohol

kels_jaadee's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow! This is my 3rd COHO book and by far my favorite! I laughed, I cried, every emotion this book brought for me.

This book definitely brought redemption to Colleen Hoover for me 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Death of parent, Abandonment, Death, and Car accident

fedekanejbrainrot's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

after this one, i can definitely say I'm done with Colleen Hoover. I've read 4 of her considered best books, and I didn't particularity like either of them. the thing about her is that I LOVE the concept of her books. the execution? heh. not really. I also have issues with her writing: 1/4 of it is very beautiful and I like it a lot, it feels nearly poetical, and the other 3/4 is just so mediocre to me, even bad. I definitely think she's way overhyped, but I mean, tastes are tastes.
moving on this book in particular, as I said, I loved the concept behind it, and I highlighted many quotes, but I ended up finding it very mediocre. I think the romance is what ruined it all: it felt very nonsense and ruined most of the emotional scenes. it definitely took way too much in the novel than what I would've preferred. the characters were fine, while I do wish we dive more into kenna. it was mostly plotless and I found it slow and repetitive over time. at the end, I'm sad to say I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Misogyny and Murder

ruthhmarieereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, and Car accident