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A review by bluebearywitchy
November 9 by Colleen Hoover
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
After the previous two books by CoHo I read I was quite apprehensive picking up this third title, and now that I have..... I've got feelings.
Okay, so I went from liking Ben coming to her defense at the beginning to disliking that he was mentally undressing her the whole time to liking him again for helping her build up her confidence to disliking him using "you're beautiful's" and "I love you's" as basis for constantly touching her and wanting to see her naked without ever actually asking her permission.
The list goes on with me Ben fluctuating between being likeable and just... creepy at times and entitled her body WHICH, lo and behold, turns out he was responsible for her burns?!? And sure, he regrets what he's done, but to lie and get close to her in the way that he did, you really gotta wonder if it all was because he wanted to feel better about himself by being able to "fix" what he ruined and delusioned himself into believing he loved Fallon.
I was so rooting for Fallon when she showed up at the end and said "I'm not here to forgive you". Like, hell yes. And I was extremely excited for Fallon to let him know she holds no resentment but she can't be with him.
And what does she do instead?
Say, "nah, twas no biggie. You were a kid. I'M actually sorry I didn't let you explain after I found out. Oh, and hey, I got a tattoo for you."
LIKE WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK??
Regardless of how justifiable the reasons Ben may or may not have had following his mother's suicide and how mature and understanding one could be to that, the fact is he DID cause the fire and fucked up YOUR life and gave you PERMANENT BURN SCARS, THEN PARADES INTO YOUR LIFE TO "MAKE IT BETTER" WHILST STILL HAVING THE BALLS TO LOOK YOU IN THE EYES AND PROCLAIM HIS LOVE KNOWING WHAT HE DID TO YOU.
Who in their right mind would still choose to be with someone knowing that?
There were a lot of quotes and romantic parts to the book a d Fallon/Ben's relationship that I really enjoyed and I can always appreciate a good dominant love interest/timid main character pairing cause there's different types of couples out there, ya know? What I can't appreciate is that in such pairings (and especially straight pairings), the author always makes the woman forgive so easily, no mattered how fucked up the situation is and I-- I can't.
I can't.
And the Tate/Miles appearance? AFTER I JUST READ UGLY LOVE AND REVIEWED IT?? I screamed. We're not Miles stans round here.
I really wished the story would have taken a different turn, because the plot was really enjoyable... but the execution and characters... not it, man.
The list goes on with me Ben fluctuating between being likeable and just... creepy at times and entitled her body WHICH, lo and behold, turns out he was responsible for her burns?!? And sure, he regrets what he's done, but to lie and get close to her in the way that he did, you really gotta wonder if it all was because he wanted to feel better about himself by being able to "fix" what he ruined and delusioned himself into believing he loved Fallon.
I was so rooting for Fallon when she showed up at the end and said "I'm not here to forgive you". Like, hell yes. And I was extremely excited for Fallon to let him know she holds no resentment but she can't be with him.
And what does she do instead?
Say, "nah, twas no biggie. You were a kid. I'M actually sorry I didn't let you explain after I found out. Oh, and hey, I got a tattoo for you."
LIKE WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK??
Regardless of how justifiable the reasons Ben may or may not have had following his mother's suicide and how mature and understanding one could be to that, the fact is he DID cause the fire and fucked up YOUR life and gave you PERMANENT BURN SCARS, THEN PARADES INTO YOUR LIFE TO "MAKE IT BETTER" WHILST STILL HAVING THE BALLS TO LOOK YOU IN THE EYES AND PROCLAIM HIS LOVE KNOWING WHAT HE DID TO YOU.
Who in their right mind would still choose to be with someone knowing that?
There were a lot of quotes and romantic parts to the book a d Fallon/Ben's relationship that I really enjoyed and I can always appreciate a good dominant love interest/timid main character pairing cause there's different types of couples out there, ya know? What I can't appreciate is that in such pairings (and especially straight pairings), the author always makes the woman forgive so easily, no mattered how fucked up the situation is and I-- I can't.
I can't.
And the Tate/Miles appearance? AFTER I JUST READ UGLY LOVE AND REVIEWED IT?? I screamed. We're not Miles stans round here.
I really wished the story would have taken a different turn, because the plot was really enjoyable... but the execution and characters... not it, man.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Suicide