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A review by random_spider
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
3.5
This might be an otiose review in the grand scheme of things (since it's already a well established book by a popular modern author)...but whatever, here it goes 👇.
Based on what I've read, Ugly Love is OVERRATED. It's not bad per se, but I've seen online rankings of Colleen Hoover books where this lands consistently within the 'Top 3' (I was anticipating it for a while now) yet it left me a bit disappointed. This is my second book from the author, and I'm now reconsidering if I would still fervently pursue her whole collection.
==============================
Like I said, it is overrated...which is different from the word Horrible. There were a number of things within that's creative and I personally like:
1. Oooh, the spice 🌶️🔥🥵! IT'S BOTH DIRTY AND INTENSE! I'm quite sure there's at least five sex scenes, not including the minor ones. I was genuinely caught off guard when I purchased this. It's such a smutty book (the most in my personal little library.) I'm still a newbie with CoHo books, but this has to be there near on the top of her bawdiest writings. So if you're into these stuffs and haven't read Ugly Love yet, what are you waiting for?
2. This was an easy read. It was simple, where the meat was on it's protagonists' interpersonal relationships. The writing style was immensely engrossing, and the way its narrative was written kept my intrigue active. The book had an assuming Tate and the ever-mysterious Miles, and their character dynamic was something. It was smart for the author to utilized two perspective storytelling, and by switching from current Tate and past Miles it achieved an effective way of evoking enigma.
3. I'm fine with the tropes used in this book. First was the I can fix/change him love trope. Argue how much you want against it, this was present and primarily used with Tate's character. It laid the profound message of "NONE CAN FIX YOU, BUT YOU." There's also the Friends with benefits trope, but since our protagonists kept insisting they were not friends...are they acquaintances??? That sounds so wrong 😅. Just take them at face value caused it's messed up if you'd think about a second longer.
4. Yeah, the best chapter was the only Rachel's perspective. It was in the ending (which was phenomenal by the way, as the book gets progressively better.) It's deep. It's heavy. It's heartfelt. It wrapped up character developments. It was a nice change of pace. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL 😍
==============================
I rated this book a high 7/10. Near 8/10 but not quite at those levels. This means the book was good overall (definitely above average), but it was way too far from being amazing as many claimed. These were a fair share of problems that kept me away from rating it higher:
1. There's an insta-love trope. Do I even need to explain this? Thankfully, this wasn't used for Tate and Miles relationship (though they have an insta-attraction.)
2. I believe some moments leaned more undercooked than some. An example would be when Miles' dad first said he's proud of him. I think it was earned, but the way it was earned was not impressive (there was little buildup aside from a few exposition.) Also, as a CoHo book, it was inevitable for some questionable decisions of the author to put certain 'scenes' and use gritty realism as narratives. I'll not antagonize her...but she's quite bold, I may say.
3. Even though these characters were written well, I still have problems with them. Tate was obnoxiously obsessed and desperate for Miles at the beginning of the book. Ian's character was bordering insignificant, but he's just alright I guess (just wishing for more of him since he was also present in November 9.) If put some thought into it, Miles kinda used Tate for himself (it was just not that obvious since she was into it as well, and we get almost none of the present Miles' perspective.)
4. Too much sex. LIKE A LOT! This is weird since it's the book's selling point and premise, but it felt too dependent on spicy moment to carry the weight of its average plot. It goes to show how a STRENGTH can also be a WEAKNESS.
==============================
This book proved that Colleen Hoover is an expert in terms of writing --- especially with her characters, and relationships (plus their methods.) Without her impressive skill, it is impossible for a basic/middling plot to be this successful. Will I read another book of hers?
I DON'T KNOW
but at least I understand both the love and hate this book is receiving.
Based on what I've read, Ugly Love is OVERRATED. It's not bad per se, but I've seen online rankings of Colleen Hoover books where this lands consistently within the 'Top 3' (I was anticipating it for a while now) yet it left me a bit disappointed. This is my second book from the author, and I'm now reconsidering if I would still fervently pursue her whole collection.
==============================
Like I said, it is overrated...which is different from the word Horrible. There were a number of things within that's creative and I personally like:
1. Oooh, the spice 🌶️🔥🥵! IT'S BOTH DIRTY AND INTENSE! I'm quite sure there's at least five sex scenes, not including the minor ones. I was genuinely caught off guard when I purchased this. It's such a smutty book (the most in my personal little library.) I'm still a newbie with CoHo books, but this has to be there near on the top of her bawdiest writings. So if you're into these stuffs and haven't read Ugly Love yet, what are you waiting for?
2. This was an easy read. It was simple, where the meat was on it's protagonists' interpersonal relationships. The writing style was immensely engrossing, and the way its narrative was written kept my intrigue active. The book had an assuming Tate and the ever-mysterious Miles, and their character dynamic was something. It was smart for the author to utilized two perspective storytelling, and by switching from current Tate and past Miles it achieved an effective way of evoking enigma.
3. I'm fine with the tropes used in this book. First was the I can fix/change him love trope. Argue how much you want against it, this was present and primarily used with Tate's character. It laid the profound message of "NONE CAN FIX YOU, BUT YOU." There's also the Friends with benefits trope, but since our protagonists kept insisting they were not friends...are they acquaintances??? That sounds so wrong 😅. Just take them at face value caused it's messed up if you'd think about a second longer.
4. Yeah, the best chapter was the only Rachel's perspective. It was in the ending (which was phenomenal by the way, as the book gets progressively better.) It's deep. It's heavy. It's heartfelt. It wrapped up character developments. It was a nice change of pace. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL 😍
==============================
I rated this book a high 7/10. Near 8/10 but not quite at those levels. This means the book was good overall (definitely above average), but it was way too far from being amazing as many claimed. These were a fair share of problems that kept me away from rating it higher:
1. There's an insta-love trope. Do I even need to explain this? Thankfully, this wasn't used for Tate and Miles relationship (though they have an insta-attraction.)
2. I believe some moments leaned more undercooked than some. An example would be when Miles' dad first said he's proud of him. I think it was earned, but the way it was earned was not impressive (there was little buildup aside from a few exposition.) Also, as a CoHo book, it was inevitable for some questionable decisions of the author to put certain 'scenes' and use gritty realism as narratives. I'll not antagonize her...but she's quite bold, I may say.
3. Even though these characters were written well, I still have problems with them. Tate was obnoxiously obsessed and desperate for Miles at the beginning of the book. Ian's character was bordering insignificant, but he's just alright I guess (just wishing for more of him since he was also present in November 9.) If put some thought into it, Miles kinda used Tate for himself (it was just not that obvious since she was into it as well, and we get almost none of the present Miles' perspective.)
4. Too much sex. LIKE A LOT! This is weird since it's the book's selling point and premise, but it felt too dependent on spicy moment to carry the weight of its average plot. It goes to show how a STRENGTH can also be a WEAKNESS.
==============================
This book proved that Colleen Hoover is an expert in terms of writing --- especially with her characters, and relationships (plus their methods.) Without her impressive skill, it is impossible for a basic/middling plot to be this successful. Will I read another book of hers?
I DON'T KNOW
but at least I understand both the love and hate this book is receiving.