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A review by dembury
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
3.0
Actual Rating: 3.75/5
There ARE MAJOR SPOILERS throughout most of this review! Take heed.
Let me start out by saying that this was SO FUN to read! I had started and been in the process of reading three other books before this one, but I put those on hold for a couple days so I could keep reading "Ugly Love". I was just completely engaged and curious to see a) what happened between Miles and Tate, and b) what had happened in Mile's past. In my opinion, that's one of the strongest parts of the book: it's fun, it's different, and the urge to find out "What happens next??" is very prevalent, both with the secrets and the sex.
Another very notable aspect of "Ugly Love" is the array of emotions that saturate the novel. There are, of course, a plethora of "loving" moments: the sibling love between Tate and Corbin; the sexual love/desire between Tate and Miles; the brotherly love between Miles and Ian; the family love in both Tate and Miles' families; and the heartbreaking love between Rachel, Miles, and their lost baby. It was super interesting to look at all these kinds of love and see how each character suffered and grew through them. Hoover has done a great job of taking the audience through an exploration of what love means to different people. Then there are the funny moments (read: any scene Cap is in!), the tense emotions (Miles and Rachel telling their parents), and the shattering, rip-my-heart-out emotions (the car crash D: ). Hoover takes readers on a complete emotional rollercoaster in "Ugly Love".
These were the things I think Hoover could have worked on a bit more:
Throughout the whole book, Tate and Miles would be in a "happy" state for a bit, but almost immediately after, something would be brought up about Mile's past that would send their relationship into a headspin again. I felt like this constant back-and-forth was a bit tiresome, and the emotions from this just kept getting too angsty. These instances happened enough through the middle of the novel that I felt it was lagging a bit, or just getting a little repetitive.
In addition, I felt like I didn't get to KNOW the characters as deeply as I could have. Readers learn about Miles and Tate's jobs, schooling, and some family stuff, but it felt a bit superficial. I wanted to know more about them as people, and I feel like readers only get to know them through their sexual relationship and how they percieve each other.
Lastly (and I believe I said this about "Slammed", too), I really wish there was more creative imagery in Hoover's novels. Sometimes I feel like the characters are just floating around because the reader has been given little if none scene building or descriptions of areas, room, cities, or even just the people! I think that if there had been more imagery and description, this would have been a solid 4/5 for me.
I am a sucker for a happy ending, so the last couple chapters of the book (from Rachel and Miles finally meeting after 6 years, to Cap flying for the first time, and finally the proposal EEP!), really made my mushy gushy heart happy. I was worried Hoover would leave the ending too ambiguous, but she pulled through and wrapped it up nicely.
There ARE MAJOR SPOILERS throughout most of this review! Take heed.
Let me start out by saying that this was SO FUN to read! I had started and been in the process of reading three other books before this one, but I put those on hold for a couple days so I could keep reading "Ugly Love". I was just completely engaged and curious to see a) what happened between Miles and Tate, and b) what had happened in Mile's past. In my opinion, that's one of the strongest parts of the book: it's fun, it's different, and the urge to find out "What happens next??" is very prevalent, both with the secrets and the sex.
Another very notable aspect of "Ugly Love" is the array of emotions that saturate the novel. There are, of course, a plethora of "loving" moments: the sibling love between Tate and Corbin; the sexual love/desire between Tate and Miles; the brotherly love between Miles and Ian; the family love in both Tate and Miles' families; and the heartbreaking love between Rachel, Miles, and their lost baby. It was super interesting to look at all these kinds of love and see how each character suffered and grew through them. Hoover has done a great job of taking the audience through an exploration of what love means to different people. Then there are the funny moments (read: any scene Cap is in!), the tense emotions (Miles and Rachel telling their parents), and the shattering, rip-my-heart-out emotions (the car crash D: ). Hoover takes readers on a complete emotional rollercoaster in "Ugly Love".
These were the things I think Hoover could have worked on a bit more:
Throughout the whole book, Tate and Miles would be in a "happy" state for a bit, but almost immediately after, something would be brought up about Mile's past that would send their relationship into a headspin again. I felt like this constant back-and-forth was a bit tiresome, and the emotions from this just kept getting too angsty. These instances happened enough through the middle of the novel that I felt it was lagging a bit, or just getting a little repetitive.
In addition, I felt like I didn't get to KNOW the characters as deeply as I could have. Readers learn about Miles and Tate's jobs, schooling, and some family stuff, but it felt a bit superficial. I wanted to know more about them as people, and I feel like readers only get to know them through their sexual relationship and how they percieve each other.
Lastly (and I believe I said this about "Slammed", too), I really wish there was more creative imagery in Hoover's novels. Sometimes I feel like the characters are just floating around because the reader has been given little if none scene building or descriptions of areas, room, cities, or even just the people! I think that if there had been more imagery and description, this would have been a solid 4/5 for me.
I am a sucker for a happy ending, so the last couple chapters of the book (from Rachel and Miles finally meeting after 6 years, to Cap flying for the first time, and finally the proposal EEP!), really made my mushy gushy heart happy. I was worried Hoover would leave the ending too ambiguous, but she pulled through and wrapped it up nicely.