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A review by toofondofbooks_
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Right off the bat, Miles and Tate's "no strings attached" fling starts with two rules. One: don't ask about the past, and two: don't expect a future. Spoiler alert: it's all gonna go out the window.
I don't think that any book of CoHo's is going to do it for me the same way that Verity did, but all the same, this woman's books are addictive and I eat them up with every new one I get. This one was...A LOT, in a lot of ways, but as always, I'm going to start with everything I liked about "Ugly Love."
This book has the same addictive and readable quality that the rest of CoHo's books have. The pacing is really good, and picking this book up never felt like a chore even though I have been feeling a little slumpy lately. I thought that Miles, though a questionable person in my opinion, was a really interesting character and I enjoyed the chapters that unraveled his past for the reader, a past that Tate, for most of the book, is unable to know. I didn't quite understand why they were written the way they were written, but I don't think that was a bad thing. I also thought that the parallels between Miles' chapters chronicling his past were really interesting. They weren't too in your face, but they also weren't so subtle that you couldn't pick up on them. The themes around love being messy and complicated, ugly - if you will, but still being worth it to have the beautiful aspects that come along with it, really resonated with me. Oh! Also, loved the Character of "Cap."
My negative thoughts are this: Tate. Too much Tate. She just kept repeating herself and it made me tired. I also got so frustrated with her at times even though it might have been unfair. She was already in love with him when they made their arrangement, and still went along with the arrangement, and I understand that sometimes if you want someone to love you, you'll do things that you never thought you would, but being in her head while she went THROUGH IT was really draining at times. I also didn't care for how misogynistic and annoying her brother was, like, bro... The culture of "Keep your hands off MY SISTER!" while well meaning, is so toxic and misogynistic. Like, she's a grown up, dude. These are just petty annoyances that I had within the narrative - it's still a decent book and I can see why it's so beloved among CoHo fans. My next CoHo romance will be It Ends With Us....pray for me lol
I don't think that any book of CoHo's is going to do it for me the same way that Verity did, but all the same, this woman's books are addictive and I eat them up with every new one I get. This one was...A LOT, in a lot of ways, but as always, I'm going to start with everything I liked about "Ugly Love."
This book has the same addictive and readable quality that the rest of CoHo's books have. The pacing is really good, and picking this book up never felt like a chore even though I have been feeling a little slumpy lately. I thought that Miles, though a questionable person in my opinion, was a really interesting character and I enjoyed the chapters that unraveled his past for the reader, a past that Tate, for most of the book, is unable to know. I didn't quite understand why they were written the way they were written, but I don't think that was a bad thing. I also thought that the parallels between Miles' chapters chronicling his past were really interesting. They weren't too in your face, but they also weren't so subtle that you couldn't pick up on them. The themes around love being messy and complicated, ugly - if you will, but still being worth it to have the beautiful aspects that come along with it, really resonated with me. Oh! Also, loved the Character of "Cap."
My negative thoughts are this: Tate. Too much Tate. She just kept repeating herself and it made me tired. I also got so frustrated with her at times even though it might have been unfair. She was already in love with him when they made their arrangement, and still went along with the arrangement, and I understand that sometimes if you want someone to love you, you'll do things that you never thought you would, but being in her head while she went THROUGH IT was really draining at times. I also didn't care for how misogynistic and annoying her brother was, like, bro... The culture of "Keep your hands off MY SISTER!" while well meaning, is so toxic and misogynistic. Like, she's a grown up, dude. These are just petty annoyances that I had within the narrative - it's still a decent book and I can see why it's so beloved among CoHo fans. My next CoHo romance will be It Ends With Us....pray for me lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Incest and Excrement