{Review} Maybe Not (Maybe 1.5) by Colleen Hoover

Page Count: 120

Published On: December 22, 2015

Published By: Atria Books

Genre(s): New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Novella

Source: audiobook via public library 

Age Rating: Adult NSFW 18+ content 

Where To Find It: Amazon // Book Depository

My Rating: no rating - problematic - reread will happen later 

Goodreads synopsis:

Colleen Hoover, the New York Times bestselling author of Maybe Someday, brilliantly brings to life the story of the hilarious and charismatic Warren in this new novella.

When Warren has the opportunity to live with a female roommate, he instantly agrees. It could be an exciting change.

Or maybe not.

Especially when that roommate is the cold and seemingly calculating Bridgette. Tensions run high and tempers flare as the two can hardly stand to be in the same room together. But Warren has a theory about Bridgette: anyone who can hate with that much passion should also have the capability to love with that much passion. And he wants to be the one to test this theory.

Will Bridgette find it in herself to warm her heart to Warren and finally learn to love?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

~~~

Hey, guys!

I read this novella via audiobook and I'm actually kind of a fan, but not a fan. While I kind of love the characters, their actions really made me angry. I'm not sure if it is because of their actual actions or if my irritation stems from my dislike for the audiobook's narrator. Either way, I'll be doing a reread eventually.

This story follows two side characters from the Maybe duology by Colleen Hoover, Warren and Bridgette. While their stories are fairly interesting, the execution was not done well at all. I felt like Bridgette's back story was skimmed over, her feelings and trauma from former experiences was ignored, and the relationship that developed was not developed well or realistically.

If I had read this physically, I would have liked it much more. The narrator was really awkward to listen to, I didn't like the way she did the dialogue. She often changed tone and diction randomly and it just really irritated me. It wasn't done well.

While both of the main characters are really funny and witty, the lack of consent in this book bothered me. I'm not the biggest fan of Warren. I thought I liked him in Maybe Someday, but I’m just not a fan of him in Maybe Not. Maybe I just need to do massive reread. I wouldn’t be surprised. Though I didn’t like Warren, I felt like Bridgette’s character had promise. I really wish Hoover had focused on her trauma and backstory, but that didn’t happen. I also really loved the side characters, specifically Warren’s sister and her family. They were so well written and I just wanted a full book that centered on them.

While I enjoyed many aspects of this book – the pacing, (sometimes) the sex scenes, the banter, and the side characters; I really cannot get passed how problematic the book is. If there had been trigger warnings or content warnings, I would have probably rated this book 3 stars, but the content was just too questionable.

Other CoHo Reviews:

• Confess
• Hopeless 
• Maybe Someday
• All Your Perfects [coming soon]
• Ugly Love [coming soon]
• It Ends With Us [coming soon]
• November 9 [coming soon]

I hope you enjoyed this review! Happy reading!

Olivia 

~Liv the Book Nerd~

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{Review} Confess by Colleen Hoover

Page Count: 306

Published on: March 10, 2015

Published by: Atria Books

Genre(s): Romance, New Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
Source: Paperback 

Age Rating: 18+
TW: teen death, domestic abuse, emotional abuse

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

My Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Auburn Reed is determined to rebuild her shattered life and she has no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to become deeply attracted to the studio’s enigmatic artist, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is hiding a huge secret. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything Auburn loves most, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it—but can she do it? 

~~~

Hey, guys!

      I've been on a Colleen Hoover kick for a little while now. This past weekend, I actually got to go to Cincinnati, Ohio to meet her on one of her tour stops. It was very very cool. Colleen Hoover is such a cool person and she's so freaking nice. However, I've had to come to terms that Colleen's books are sometimes a hit or miss for me. As you'll see from my future Colleen reviews, sometimes I'm just not the biggest fan of her books or I'll just absolutely love them. 

      In Confess, Auburn is desperate to find a job. When she sees a "help wanted" sign in front of an art gallery, she applies and meets Owen. Owen owns the studio and is an up and coming artist. This story has a lot more depth than you would expect for a romance novel. There's a fairly nice focus on family, confessions, and moving on from the past. I really enjoyed the twists in this book, compared to some of the others. Most I didn't predict, but the few that I did predict weren't too disappointing. 

      Overall, Confess was just okay for me. Toward the middle, I got kind of bored. I also wish that the story had more of a focus on the family relationships rather than on the romantic relationships. The romantic relationships also seemed way too insta-love-y for my taste. It just didn't develop very naturally and it was kind of awkward sometimes. It just isn't my favorite CoHo romance. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Owen just acted like he was so entitled to the affections of Auburn and it just got really annoying. Colleen has a way of writing flawed but super fun characters that you cannot help but love. Sometimes the angst in the relationship was just annoying to me, but I think that's just a personal preference. 

      Auburn was such a realistic character. Her actions were never really irresponsible or annoying. She always tried to do what was best for the ones she loved and she often sacrificed her own happiness in order to do what was right. I really enjoyed that about her. Colleen also did such a fantastic job creating a truly horrible antagonist. Trey is just a flat-out dirtbag. He was just the worst. I love finding characters I can just hate. He's definitely hate-worthy. 
      Colleen did such a great job of creating a terrible antagonist. Trey is such a blatantly terrible character that I loved to hate. 

      There were so many elements to this book that made up for the slow and annoying bits. I really enjoyed the friendship that Auburn had with Emory. Emory was probably one of my favorite characters. I'd love to read her story. She's so fun. I also really enjoyed the artwork that was scattered throughout the novel, along with their corresponding confessions. It was just so beautifully done. I also really enjoyed the flashback elements of this story. They really gave an extra "oomph" to the end of the book that I really enjoyed.

      However, the end of the story seemed to be resolved too quickly. I really wish it had been expanded upon a little bit more. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the ending. This story was really nicely done, but it still had flaws that didn't make it a 4 or 5-star book. I do think this book is something that others will enjoy. If you like Colleen's other books, I recommend you check out Confess. 

Other Colleen Reviews:

• Hopeless 
• Maybe Someday

I will have more reviews coming soon! I've read so many of Colleen's books, so I can't wait to share my thoughts with you all. 

Happy reading!
Olivia 
~Liv the Book Nerd~
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Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Page Count: 410
Published on: December 19, 2012

Published by: Colleen Hoover

Genre(s): Romance, New Adult, Contemporary, YA
Source: eBook

Age Rating: PG-18

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Twitter: @colleenhoover

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from the past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

~~~

Hey, guys!

      Once again, I have returned to Colleen Hoover's writing. If you had read my review of Maybe Someday that was published in July of 2015, you would know that I have an iffy relationship with Colleen Hoover's writing. Although it is very entertaining and angsty, by the end I had no idea what to think of it. 

      This book follows Sky. Sky is adopted. She is home schooled and her mom keeps her barred from technology. Sky and her best friend Six make out with a lot of guys, which gives Sky a negative reputation when her mother finally allows her to transfer to the public school in town. One day, she meets Holder. Sky, surprisingly, is extremely attracted to Holder. This baffles her because she has never felt physically attracted to any of the guys she has made out with and she has never been attracted to anyone she has met. Sky wants to feel those emotions, but for some reason, she is unable to. Holder awakens something new for Sky and they soon develop a flirty "I hate you" kind of relationship. Then a whole bunch of drama starts to unfold...It's hard to explain.

     There were definitely some cliche tropes in this book, but I really liked how it was done because when the cliche moments occurred, Colleen wrote it in a way that made it so hilarious. Throughout this book, there was a nice balance between angst & drama and cheesy cute moments. The characters were really nicely developed but I didn't really like this book as much as I would have liked.

     When I first started this book, I had no idea what it was about. I went into it blindly and I'm not upset about it. I loved the relationship between Sky and Six. They were so funny and I loved the scenes with them. I really wanted more about Six, but that didn't happen. I didn't think her ideals about love and lust were very healthy, but her whole personality was really funny to read. 

     Holder was kind of creepy in the beginning. He reminded me of Edward Cullen from Twilight, but once I got to know more about him I thought he was really charming and I really liked his character. The relationship wasn't exactly insta-lovey, but it was too convenient for me. When you find about all of the drama, their relationship was really meh to me.

    When I first heard about this book I only knew that it was by the famous Colleen Hoover and that it was apparently amazing. I actually really liked Sky's character. She was really sassy and she didn't let anyone's bullshit get her down. Students from her new school would vandalize her locker with sticky notes with rude and demeaning messages on them. She would walk up, read them, laugh and then fix them so that they were actually insulting. I thought that was really hilarious. Her friend Breckin was really hilarious too. I want a Breckin. He was probably my favorite character. 

      There were a couple things in the book that I really didn't like. The ending, for one, was really confusing for me. I'm still not sure what I should feel about this ending. While I understand the actions of why the whole drama was started, but I still question whether the authorities should be brought into it to make it legal...I guess I'm just not sure how I would react and deal with all that happened. Another thing, Sky sure breathed heavily a lot...and she fainted maybe 5 times throughout the book! I just thought it was pretty comical and I couldn't take her seriously when she was like that. 

      I can't say that I like this book better than Maybe Someday. I like them about the same, but this book did keep me on the edge of my seat. I read the majority of it in one night, but I fell asleep with about 20 pages left. As soon as I woke up, I finished those 20 pages and I was floored. I just sat there and I had no idea what to think...It's one of those books.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this review! 

Maybe Someday Review: {click here}

Favorite Character: Breckin

Happy Reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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