Ugly Love: A Novel

feel like crying? need to release a "bazillion" emotions at the bands of a Colleen Hoover read... well idk exactly what you're looking for but Ugly Love did it for me . I cried, laughed, became angry, and fell in love w these characters. Emotion , sexy , funny read that becomes this book its so great . I had wanted to read this for months but was always hesitant. and continuously it put it off. I am kicking myself for not choosing to read this sooner over the other books I read before this one. I must say and confirm that Ugly Love was my first read by Colleen Hoover and grand it was . I read Ugly Love from beginning to end . not wanting to put it down . I made it known when I finished having had to stay up all night . it's been awhile since a book has made me tear up as much as this one. and the cover is beautifully done. the significance of the water and blue tone represents all this book can be. very symbolic and pretty. well done!! I wasn't at all expecting what was thrown at me while reading this. and a lot was. Ugly Love's recent events are told from the perspective of Tate. our main character, a 23 yr old nursing student recently moved to live w her over protective brother Corbin , in San Francisco. meets Miles . Miles is basically described as a man who doesn't know how to love. why ?? stay tuned, everything is revealed. no cliffhanger, all questions are answered. right here. in these 300+ pages. like losing my tears and sanity in a book isn't traumatic enough!! ;) no sequel is needed and I hope Colleen doesn't write one, being that I've noticed it's difficult to feel the same magic for a second book as you did w the first one. the whole story focuses around two facts.... Two rules: "Don't ask about my past, and never expect a future." Whatever that means, later we learn the reason of Miles' pain and sadness and refusal to love someone other than who he wanted. Tate and Miles' relationship is absolutely beautiful. they seem to have it all . if only they'd stop lying to each other . They truly have it all... good looks, great friends. hot sex.. yes sexy, and this book was indeed that. it's more than a great storyline .. being my first Colleen Hoover read I had no clue what to expect with her writing style going into this. I learned so much. I don't usually read the type of books with an obvious man afraid of commitment as Miles was. there was something different about Ugly Love that kept my interest. obvious attraction maybe. but definitely full of wanting to know what was yet to come. Ugly Love is really a story that'll stay with you for awhile and haa earned a place in my personal favorites . im currently suffering from a major book hangover, many more books to read on my to be read list and after finishing this they haven't at all crossed my mind!! Every other chapter (basically the even numbered chapters I've noticed) the POV changes between past, and present. which I must say was really confusing at first . Then it quickly grew on me, the way Miles describes this relationship w his previous girlfriend Rachel, 6 years ago is practically art. it becomes painfully obvious of his attraction and love directed towards this girl. "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. She's like poetry. Like prose of love letters and lyrics, cascading down the center of a page. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel." .... now, THAT is poetry!! these chapters from a younger Miles, is pure poetry. and I personally loved it! as easily as you fall in love w Tate and Miles you fall in love w Rachel and Miles too. you feel Rachel and Miles' connection towards each other jump off the pages and directly into your heart... with every chapter their story keep you guessing and wondering what happens next. I, however, was not at all prepared for what really does happen. Sympathy, compassion, grief, and sorrow .... cue the tears and the "ugly love" . because things do indeed turn very Ugly. hence the title of the book and the whole reasoning behind Miles and Tate's relationship. I was expecting a love story with a typical storyline.... boy likes girl . girl likes boy. they kiss they hook up fall in love the end. I wasnt at all expecting what I got. I cried, laughed, became angry, and fell in love w these characters and the whole concept and story. soon to become a movie I cant help but be glad I finally managed to read this before then . that is really something i'll be keeping my eyes and ears open for . all i can say is Hollywood ?? PLS dont eff it up !! pls kno a review for a book like this is hard to write without revealing too much away of what's to come. there weren't any unnecessary fillers of information that didn't become of relevance later. everything flowed together perfectly. even w the transitions of past and present. which worked perfectly!! just know you're in for one heck of a ride and one heck of a pool of emotion and love for the character as well as their feelings towards each other. just know by reading this book alone I've learned that Colleen Hoover is a genius and mastermind the conjure up a story as beautiful as this. I commend Colleen for wanting to tackle and write about a level of pain many ppl refuse to believe exist. for this to be my first read by her I will definitely be reading and looking for more recent reads. word of advice .... keep tissues handy !!

"The difference between the ugly side of love and the beautiful side of love is that the beautiful side is much lighter. It makes you feel like you're floating. It lifts you up. Carries you. The ugly parts can't lift you up. They bring you down. They hold you under. Drown you. You look up and think, I wish I was up there. But you're not. Ugly love becomes you. Consumes you. Makes you hate it all. Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren't even worth it. Without the beautiful, you'll never risk feeling this. You'll never risk feeling the ugly." Wow! The wording throughout this book brings goose bumps! Colleen's writing is so incredible that you feel the intensity of every feeling and depth of emotions. This book will have your heart racing and breaking. Miles is sexy, sweet, fierce, and....haunted. He is so tormented and scarred that every time he begins to feel anything other than pain, he immediately puts up that wall around his heart. "Don't ask about my past and never expect a future." Miles is trying hard not fall for Tate. Tate is putting fissures in Miles' wall and he doesn't know how to deal with it. "You make it so hard to breathe." "I felt like I was floating. Her skin and her hair and her lips and the way she looked like an angel while I stood there and watched her brought back so many feelings that had become foreign to me over the past six years." "But the second she opened her eyes and looked at me, I knew. She was either going to be the death of me...or she was going to be the one who finally brought me back to life." He doesn't want to feel anything other than pain. I loved the way Miles' points of view were written of his past. The words were so strong & poetic. You could feel how powerful the love was between the two and all of the emotions through each step of the way. The love, the pain. And when we finally get his perspective of the present, the internal battle he is going through. The struggle is so great...how strong his feelings are, how scared he is. "But when you like to kiss someone because of who she is, the difference isn't found in pleasure. The difference is found in the pain you feel when you're not kissing her." When Miles finally broke, I was overwhelmed for him. When he finally confronts his past, my heart broke for him, but at the same time, a weight was lifted and the feeling was breathless. The writing of this story is absolutely beautiful! "I didn't fall in love with you Tate. I flew." Tate is falling for Miles and is struggling with his moods. She just wants to be with him, understand him, help him. "I'm not Tate when I'm near Miles. I'm liquid, and liquid doesn't know how to be firm or stand up for itself. Liquid flows. That's all I want to do with Miles. Flow." The amount of love she had for Miles and the walls she was breaking with him was beautiful. "His lips against mine feel like everything. Like living and dying and being reborn, all at the same time." You could see through Colleen's writing that she had the kind of love that we see Miles had when we get glimpses of his past. The kind of love that is all-consuming, so overwhelming, you'd do anything not to lose it and just take and accept whatever you could get from him. She has so much hope. I had so much hope. "That's how it is when a person develops an attraction toward someone. He's nowhere, then suddenly he's everywhere, whether you want him to be or not." I love Cap! He was such a joy and added so much. I love how he intermingled throughout the story and was such an inspiration to both Miles & Tate. "Love isn't always pretty, Tate. Sometimes you spend all your time hoping it'll eventually be something different. Something better. Then, before you know it, you're back to square one, and you lost your heart somewhere along the way." "I know the thought of confronting your past terrifies you. It terrifies every man. But sometimes we don't do it for ourselves. We do it for the people we love more than ourselves." I loved this story. It's an incredible journey about finding your way, allowing yourself to love and be loved, to feel something other than pain. The writing is powerful and the flow back and forth from past to present and the way it intertwined was perfect. (Just a note...when you read The End...don't stop, there is an epilogue.) "And I realized...just now...that God gives us the ugliness so we don't take the beautiful things in life for granted."

Many of us have heard or seen the idea of 'friends with benefits' played up in popular media. There are magazine articles about the rules of being a friend with benefits. There are movies like No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits that focus on the subject. And then, there are books like Ugly Love which bring a fresh perspective to the topic and make everyone else's work look mediocre in the process. Yep, I said it. You will probably read very mixed reviews of Ugly Love. I think it's a book that is easy to fall in love with, but it definitely has its shortcomings. Here are the five reasons why I gave Ugly Love 4 out of 5 stars: ★ PLOT If that synopsis didn't intrigue you, then you're just doing everything wrong. Having read some of Hoover's other works, I know that her books tend to deal with heavy subject matter. So, going into Ugly Love, I expected that, at some point, things would become serious. I definitely don't want to give anything away, because Hoover tends to add unforeseen plot twists to her stories, and Ugly Love is no exception. But, I will say that this book is about so much more than frivolous sex. Miles' secretiveness about his past is a big part of the book and probably the most interesting aspect of the plot. I was able to put the pieces of Miles' secret together before it was actually revealed. If you pay close attention to the hints Hoover drops, you'll probably be able to figure it out, too. Ugly Love is a great read that is real and honest. The familial aspects will make you smile, the ugly love will make you cry, and the romance will warm your heart. ★ HOT, STEAMY ROMANCE...AND SEX, TOO Someone call the fire department because this book is hot. That was terrible. But, seriously. Considering the New Adult genre and the plot, it's understandable that this book contains a lot of sex scenes. I would not give this book to my 15-year-old sister to read. ( I mean, she doesn't like to read anyways --GASP! -- but still...) However, what I love about Colleen Hoover's writing is that the sex scenes never feel smutty. She keeps things classy. Simple and point blank, it's good writing. ★ HOOVER'S WRITING All of Colleen Hoover's writing is good writing. That is all. ★ LENGTH & PACING I tend to find that, with some books I read (like The Raven Boys, which I am currently reading and have been reading for almost 4 weeks), the pacing is terrible. The book is too slow and I begin to lose interest. Then there are some books that are too fast (I felt this way with Legend by Marie Lu); there's not enough world building, or there is not enough time for readers to make connections with characters, so the book suffers. And then there are books like Ugly Love which I literally couldn't put down because there was never a dull moment. The pacing also allowed me to connect with the protagonist and therefore care about the outcome of her story. Hoover knows how to leave a reader intrigued without exhausting them with a bunch of questions. There are two main questions in this novel, and they are all you need to carry you through: What secret from Miles' past is haunting him? Will Tate and Miles end up together? It's a simple as that. Ugly Love was a really quick read for me considering all of the school work I had to get through while I was reading it. It was the perfect length, but I loved it so much I wish it had been longer. I hope there is a spin-off novel featuring Tate's brother Corbin or Miles' friend Ian. ☆ THE SHORTCOMINGS...THERE ARE A FEW It is a truth, universally acknowledged that insta-love is a big no-no in book writing. Any book blogger or BookTuber will tell you. (FYI: "insta-love" is when a character looks at another character and falls in love with them. Some examples would be Romeo & Juliet [and we know that ended] or Bella and Edward in Twilight.) Sometimes, an author uses insta-love in a story, and it's not too terrible. That was the case with Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. However, that was not the case with Ugly Love. In Miles' chapters, which talk about his past and his relationship with a girl named Rachel, we are presented with the concept of insta-love. He fell in love with her the moment he met her. What was so terrible about the use of insta-love in this instance was the fact that Miles' love seemed to border on obsession. Maybe that's why I didn't really like Miles' chapters. His chapters all talked about how much he loved Rachel. And, they were all written in verse, which I also didn't enjoy. Finally, I didn't like that Tate went into the sexual relationship with Miles, knowing that she would develop feelings for him and hoping that she could change him. There were times when she would complain about how detached he seemed with her, when he told her from the very beginning: "Don't ask about my past, and never expect a future". I was just really annoyed by the fact that Tate cried and whined about how she and Miles' relationship wasn't progressing when he told her that there would be no progression. Although I had these problems with Ugly Love, I still really enjoyed this book. I was able to overlook some of these shortcomings. But, others might not be able to. *** Colleen Hoover has officially become one of my favorite authors. She is also the reason why I have fallen in love with the New Adult genre.

“If I were capable of loving someone… it would be you.” Colleen Hoover is a genius, plain and simple. I’ve read Slammed/Point of Retreat/This Girl and Maybe Someday/Maybe Not and I’ve loved them all, but after reading Ugly Love I can easily say that this was my favorite CoHo book that I’ve read so far! This woman has such a way with words, her writing is just a joy to read, even when she’s tearing your heart out. I don’t know how she does it, she doesn’t use big fancy words or complicated prose, these are just ordinary everyday words but the way she puts them all together is simply magical. It’s hard for me to describe, but if you’ve read any CoHo books I think you know what I’m talking about. All of her stories are so unique and amazing but one thing they all have in common is Colleen Hoover’s gift with words. I know exactly what I’ll be getting when I pick up one of her books in terms of writing and quality, but I am always surprised with the direction her stories take. It’s always an incredible adventure and I love going along for the ride. I loved how this book was narrated, it’s told from dual POVs, alternating every other chapter between Tate and Miles. The thing that made this book unique is that Tate’s chapters were set in the present day and (with the exception of the last few chapters) all of Miles’ chapters were set 6 years earlier. So we essentially get two separate love stories that are both wonderful and beautiful that come back together in such a great way. I loved getting Miles’ backstory in the form of these flashback chapters, first off they were so amazingly written, they just flowed like poetry and I found myself lost in these simple words: ‘My new favorite flavor is Rachel. My new favorite thing is Rachel. I want Rachel for my birthday. I want Rachel for Christmas. I want Rachel for graduation. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. I’m gonna fall in love with you anyway, Rachel.’ Secondly, in Tate’s chapters Miles really is an enigma and without his current day POV you really don’t have much clue what’s going on behind that wall he’s put up: ‘Still no smile, though. Jesus Christ, this man. Does he now realize that facial expressions are supposed to accompany speech?’ But reading his flashback chapters really helped understand what Miles’ potential to love was. Before you find out what happened to him in the past that caused him to be so closed off you get to see what a huge heart he has and his great capacity for love. This book was just as much Miles and Rachel’s love story as it was Miles and Tate’s story, you’d think that as a reader you’d have ill feelings towards the “other woman” because you know you should be rooting for Tate but there’s none of that. I felt Miles and Rachel’s story just as fully as I did him and Tate. Colleen Hoover’s characters are always so well written, they are well developed, incredibly detailed and 100% relatable. I totally loved Tate, she was a riot and she said and did things that I could see myself doing in those situations and I connected with her right away. I loved her inner musings as she tried to figure Miles out or tried to soak up any little scrap of hope he threw her way: ‘“You look pretty, Tate.” I want to plaster those four words on a billboard and require myself to pass it on my drive to work every day. I would never take another day off work again.’ There were some times when Miles would do something where Tate totally should have walked away, but I think she reacted how many women would react and I know that she didn’t give up completely on Miles because she knew what was happening between them was real even though he would never admit it. Miles intrigued me from the start and from their first meeting where she witnessed his very private breakdown I knew that I was in for a doozy when his past was revealed. I knew he must have endured some horrible event(s) that caused him to swear off any form of love, and wow was he dedicated to his rules: “Don’t ask about my past,” he says firmly. “And never expect a future.” I’ve never seen a character hold so steadfastly to rules like he did. We got to see moments, tiny glimpses of actions or a slipped word that gave us some hope but just as quickly as we grasped that hope he snatched it right back. I was so sad for him and falling so in love with him at the same time (much like Tate, only with the added bonus of seeing what a wonderful guy he was six years earlier when he was still full of life and love) and I just wanted to hug him. My heart completely broke for him as his full past is finally revealed, and I will say that what actually happened was not at all what I was expecting. But I love how once we hit that point the story shifts to all present day and it’s seamless and I love how it put my heart back together again and wrapped up in a totally believable and satisfying way. In addition to Tate and Miles I loved all of the secondary characters. I’ve already mentioned Rachel and I did really love her. I also loved Corbin and his friendship with Miles and his protectiveness of his sister. I also liked seeing Ian and Miles’ relationship both in the past and in the present day. My favorite secondary character however was Cap, I LOVED Cap! I love how Colleen Hoover can throw in a quirky random character like this and make you totally fall in love with them and have them end up being so important to the overall story. I read this book over the course of a few hours spread out the day, I simply could not put it down. I struggled though because I wanted to read as fast as I possibly could to find out what happens next but at the same time I wanted to slow down to savor every single word on the page! In the end speed won out but I think I highlighted half the book with passages I wanted to always remember! I’m going to have to re-read this book someday because I don’t think one time is enough for something written as well as this was. I’m sad I don’t have more time with Miles and Tate but I am so glad that I was able to spend one wonderful afternoon/evening in their world with them and I know I will never forget this amazing, beautiful, ugly love story! 5+++ stars! ‘But the second she opened her eyes and looked at me, I knew. She was either going to be the death of me… or she was going to be the one who finally brought me back to life.’

⭐️ Overall Rating: 5⭐️ 🌶️ Spice: 2🌶️ 📱 Kindle Unlimited: No. But ebook can be purchased for Kindle. 📚 Stand-alone/Series: Stand Alone 🗣️ POV: Tate/Miles/Rachel 👫 Main Couple: Tate/Miles 🔥 Trope(s): friends with benefits, he’s a pilot, she’s a nurse, brothers best friend, guy next door This was my first Colleen Hoover book, and I really enjoyed it! It was well-written. The characters were multifaceted, flawed, and experienced growth throughout the story. I liked Tate’s reasoning in believing she could change him if she just waited long enough. As flawed as that is, it’s relatable. Tate and Miles’s stolen moments were perfect. I kept wondering when everything was going to fall apart with Rachel, and honestly I wasn’t expecting THAT tragic of a backstory. Good grief. More people should have cut Miles some slack. I also liked the function of the formatting change, how the center orientation and shorter rows made it feel like a poem when Miles was in love. Loved it. Great story. I’m checking her backlog now to choose what to read next.

This is only my second book by Colleen Hoover. When I heard it was released a few days ago I didn't even bother to read the reviews. All I had to do was hear the words "Ugly Cry" from another reader and I was all in. I'm all for a good emotional novel. This book was absolute perfection to me. This book was good for me. And yes, this book made me ugly cry. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said - but I did want to address a few things the "bad reviewers" brought up. 1. "Tate is weak" This was said by multiple people in both the 1, 2 and 3 star review section. Actually, I didn't find Tate weak at all. Just because she stuck around with a guy that was nothing BUT honest with her, doesn't make her weak. It makes her able to see past the surface. It makes her beautiful because she loves, without needing it in return. And also, because I've been there. It doesn't make you weak to love someone so much that you are willing to take whatever they can give you. Sometimes, ugly love, is better than no love at all. I'm thrilled it worked out for her in the end. 2. "There was no connection between Miles & Tate, just sex." Don't get me wrong, there was definitely sex. And the sex was actually believable sex. Not sex like you read in some romance novels where girls are able to get off just by a guy thrusting inside her. No, this sex was gritty and real... and required the use of extra stimulation to orgasm. See? Real. But as for the connection? You must have missed all the small things. The small things are important. They way their eyes connect in the elevator. In the rearview mirror of the car. The way they stand side by side in the candy aisle, saying nothing. The way he thinks she's weird... and her, him. The way things progress, how she says he "invades her space", taking up more and more of it until he is everywhere. Miles & Tate laying in bed, NOT having sex, he asks if her name is really Tate. THOSE things make connections. Not each one separately, but as a whole. And it's not easy to take 330 pages and spread out connections over all of them. Sure, it starts out as sex, but if you are paying attention you know, it becomes so much more. 3. "Miles POV chapters were hard to read." I couldn't disagree more. I think the Miles POV chapters were perfectly written. They were emotionally ridden words sliding down the page. They were fragmented thoughts because the fragment was so powerful the thought didn't need to be finished. They were one word statements in CAPITAL LETTERS meant to convey huge amounts of emotion into that one word. If you had told me Miles had really written those chapters I would have believed you. Because that's how I believe a guy would write when he's experienced love so ugly he doesn't want to experience love again. 4. "The ending was rushed." Again, I couldn't disagree more. There might have been a disconnect between the readers and the story. It wasn't necessary for Colleen to write about Miles telling Tate what REALLY happened in his past. The reader already knows. And the reader also knows that Tate loves Miles so much that whatever he's been through won't change how she feels. Colleen also doesn't need to expand on the chapter where Miles goes to visit Rachel and get closure. That chapter was perfect the way it was. There was no "about face" that Miles experienced, as some readers suggested. Miles was turning around throughout the whole book. His heart was slowly thawing from the moment he first met Tate. By the time he visits Rachel he's already in love, he just needs to hear that it's ok for him to be. So no, he didn't go to Rachel a hardened man and leave 30 minutes later in love with Tate. On the contrary, he went to Rachel loving Tate but fearful that he shouldn't let go of the pain, and then he left Rachel loving Tate but realizing it's OK to move on. 5. "I hated Rachel, why would she let Miles live like that for 6 years?" Have you ever lost someone? Yes? Have you ever lost a child? Have you ever had to watch as someone you love, chose between someone else you love and yourself? And you lived and the other person died? And you regretted it? And you wished you had died instead? No? I didn't think so. In conclusion: This novel is absolute perfection. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Everyone needs to have themselves an UGLY CRY and experience UGLY LOVE. “It’s the beautiful moments like these that make up for the ugly love.”

5 “liquid” “my new favorite words” “We’ve got this.” Kisses Holy bananas Colleen Hoover just demolished me. Completely and 100% blew me away…not that I’m surprised or anything because she never ceases to amaze me but…OMG! Let the book hangover commence because this one is going to be a doozy to recover from. I was pulled in from the beginning and giving the angsty ride of my life...and I loved every second of it! Elizabeth Tate Collins...where do I begin with Tate. I freakin adored her...I couldn’t help myself. I can’t even tell you the exact moment when it happened or what pushed me over the edge…she took me by storm. Tate really is a force to be reckoned with. She’s so freaking smart…already a nurse at the age of 23 and pursuing her master’s degree in nursing…she’s driven, focused and determined…genuine, kind and caring…but she’s not a pushover. I loved her sense of humor…she’s sweet, funny and sassy. She’s got her own little quirks but I just found them more adorable. I liked her attitude and I think, as usual, the key for me was that I was totally emotional connected to her. Everything she felt…I felt. I related to her in some ways, but that wasn’t even the half of what drew me to her. Tate is a very compelling heroine…she’s just one of these extremely relatable girls that is easy to fall in love with…and it’s easy to see why Miles did as well.. ‘Something strange is going on in my chest. A flutter, flutter kind of thing. I hate it, because I know what it means. It means my body is really starting to like Miles. I just hope my brain never catches up.' Miles Mikel Archer...oh Jesus Lord in heaven this boy, where do I even begin. He stole my heart…held my heart...he crushed my heart...and then he healed my heart. As closed off and emotionally detached as Miles was, I was still incredibly drawn to him...and that's saying something considering I am an emotional reader. I think it's because the glimpses of emotion that we get in the beginning from him are like moments of gold...I clung to those because they were just...so amazing! Knowing how much those affected me...how could I not want more?!? I swear…the moment he stroked Tate’s foot and cracked a smile I was DONE FOR people. Just done. I know…I sound crazy, but that boy melted my heart and he continued to do so for the remaining 80% of the book. Oh Miles…Miles Miles Miles…every time I thought I had no more feels left to give…he painfully extracted them from my body…every time I thought he cannot be more perfect (yes…even with his walls!)…he proved me wrong with his words and actions. Miles is very understated...he’s sexy but it’s not shoved in your face and he doesn’t act like a conceited @#% hat. He’s successful but he doesn’t brag about it or let it go to his head. He’s sweet, kind and thoughtful…but its like he doesn’t want anyone to know. But Tate knows… ‘I’ve always been a sucker for the quiet types of guys. Primarily because most guys talk too much, and it’s painful having to suffer through every single thought that goes through their heads. Miles makes me wish he were the opposite of the quiet type, though. I want to know all the thoughts that pass through his head. Especially the one thought that’s in there right now, hiding behind that unwavering, stoic expression.’ Hmm...how do I describe Miles and Tate...hot...sensual...electric...passionate...just YES! How can it not be? Their relationship is based of one thing...sex. Now…before we get crazy, it’s not erotica, it’s tasteful but it’s still sexy as hell. Heck…everything about Miles and Tate was sexy and addictive…I truly could not get enough of them. I thrived off of Miles and Tate together...they are just that amazing. You could see even in the littlest things how happy and complete he made her and as much as he tried to fight it, I could tell she was chipping away at that hardened shell. It was hard though…seeing the impact of his decisions and what that did to Tate…it hurt my heart, but…I never once questioned her decisions. I was waiting for that point when I would get frustrated or angry with what Tate was doing…it didn’t come. I got it…because I understood her feelings for him…I would have done the same thing! Truly, the thought of her walking away from him killed me more than the angst they were experiencing. ‘He brings his hands up and slides them through my hair, brushing his thumbs across my cheeks. He inhales a shaky breath while looking down at my mouth. “You make it so hard to breathe.” He punctuates his sentence with his kiss, bringing his lips over mine. Every remaining part of me that had yet to melt in his presence is now liquefied like the rest of me. I try to recall a time when a man’s mouth felt this good against mine. His tongue slides across my lips, then dips inside, tasting me, filling me, claiming me. Oh….my. I. Love. His. Mouth.’ Tate and Miles are so…unique. I loved that we got both of their POV’s…I love the way both of their POV’s are presented…and I’m being intentionally vague on that because I don’t want to spoil things because that was part of the surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting to get both but it was honestly genius and a totally different approach. I guess…the best way for me to describe without giving too much away is that I fell in love with Miles twice…which is probably why he got to me so deeply. You get to see two very different sides to him, both of them are amazing and wonderful (hence…the falling in love) but that’s where my struggle began. Now…before I go on, we’ve established, I love Miles…I love everything I know about him and every second I learned more I fell more…I love the good, the bad and the ugly…I felt like a part of my heart broke with him…I shed tears for him…flaws and all he is still perfect in my eyes. So…here’s the problem…I was so connected with Tate and feeling her pain…so I was getting double duty pain…with her and for him…it sometimes felt like I was being ripped in two. The struggle is real… ‘A kiss is so much easier than what we’re doing. When you kiss, you can close your eyes. You can kiss away the thoughts. You can kiss away the pain, the doubt, the shame. When you close your eyes and kiss, you protect yourself from the vulnerability. This isn’t us protecting ourselves. This is confrontation. This is a standoff. This is eye-to-eye combat. This is a dare, from me to Miles, from Miles to me. I dare you to try to stop this, we’re both silently screaming.’ I could babble on and on all day about these two…but that’s not all there is. There are two other very important men in Tate’s life and I thoroughly enjoyed the relationships she had with them. First…her brother Corbin…he is the typical older brother, super protective, loving to a fault and no one is good enough for his little sister. I liked their closeness…at a time when Tate needed someone, he was there for her in his own way and they had a very easy relationship…except when it comes to Tate’s dating life, but I thought it was cute that he was so caring and wanted what was best for her. In all honesty…if it wasn’t for Corbin…there would be no Tate and Miles…so it’s really all his fault. Then we have Cap….his real name is Samuel but it just looks weird calling him that cause…well, he’s Cap. He’s an 80 year old man that turned into one of Tate’s closest friends and I don’t think I could have loved their relationship more if I wanted to. He was this little injection of comedic relief, his timing was perfect and there is no other word for Cap besides awesome. ‘“What do you think would make a man never want to experience love again?” Cap doesn’t answer my question for at least five floors. I eventually look at him, and he’s looking right at me, his eyes narrowed, producing even more wrinkles between them. “I suppose if a man lived through the ugliest side of love, he might never want to experience it again.” I contemplated his answer, but it doesn’t help much. I don’t see how love could get ugly enough for a person to just shut himself off from it completely.’ Of course the writing is absolutely flawless…it’s Colleen Hoover, there was never any doubt in my mind. I’m in awe of her. I literally don’t feel like I’m reading when I read her books…it’s an experience…I live it with the characters. I immerse myself in her stories and I think it’s genuinely impossible not to walk away from them a changed human. Every sentence blends perfectly…the flow is smooth…I’m just effortlessly pulled in. It’s torture to stop reading and you never want the journey to end. I liked that this book was a little different from some of her others…but it still had that CoHo vibe to it – her tone is still there, the characters still have that special edge that make them classically hers, but it was just a little more mature. Seriously, the one common thing with all of her books is the level of emotion that she pours into them…especially this one. Every time I think there is no way she can out do it…can make me cry again…can angst my heart out more…can create characters that I can love to bits and pieces…and yet she does. Every. Single. Time. It’s brilliant wrapped in genius dipped in amazing…shot straight through my brain and into my heart. ‘She’s absolutely beautiful. Her hope is beautiful. The smile on her face is beautiful. The tears streaming down her cheeks are beautiful. Her love is beautiful.’ I am a self professed clinger…and I’m struggling to let go of Miles and Tate but…I can’t deny…Ugly Love is a perfect standalone. Do I think Corbin deserves a book? Your darn tootin’…that boy is a man whore and I LOVE my man whores…he is a recipe for awesome in the making when combined with Colleen’s brain…but that still doesn’t change that I couldn’t have asked for anything better than the way Miles and Tate’s story ended. It was perfection…big red bow and all. I laughed…I cried…I loved…it was beautiful and ugly and everything I wanted and I will never look at water the same way again.

Ugly Love was delivered to my kindle at 12:25 am, and I finished the book around 3:30 am. I couldn’t put it down…. But I wanted to. It is with a heavy heart, that I write my first negative book review on one of Colleen Hoover’s books. It breaks my heart because Colleen Hoover is my FAVORITE author and I never thought this day would ever come. Miles. He is broken. Does not want to love because he experienced the ugliest love possible. But he is described as a sexy pilot and I would love to join the #MilesHighClub any time. He is honest with her with what he wants. Two simple rules, “Don’t ask about my past…and never expect a future.” Tate. She tries to be strong and go along with their agreement, but of course, she falls for him. She has this battle with wanting more, but knowing not to expect more. She keeps hoping that eventually he’ll just, come around. She’s a weak character, letting herself settle for someone that treats her that way. And it doesn’t even phase her when he calls her the wrong name… TWICE! That second time though… In that circumstance, I would’ve been utterly disgusted with him. I get it, the attraction towards him was INSTANT. Supporting characters, Ian and Corbin… they’re just that… supporting characters. I wasn’t able to develop any sentiments towards them because there just wasn’t enough descriptions about them. Cap. I wanted know more about his love story. Colleen has been writing on and on about how she was nervous about how people would find the formatting of the book. I joined the Ugly Love discussion group on Facebook to see if anyone felt the way that I did…and I feel horribly alone. I hated the format. The format is one of the reasons that I did not enjoy the book. I understand what she was trying to do. She was trying to put emphasis on the roller coaster of emotion that Miles was feeling. However, I found him as some weirdo that spoke and thought in poetry verses. “Like prose and love letters and lyrics, cascading down the center of a page.” I feel like this format would’ve been effective in parts on his thoughts, but it took over. It was too much. By the time I got to the part of the book where we finally learn why Miles is so broken, I was So over this format. I wanted to feel the pain, I wanted to cry ugly tears. But I couldn’t. I didn’t shed one tear for what should’ve been the most heartbreaking part of the book. I was heartbroken that I WASN'T heartbroken! The storyline was good. How perfect would it be to hook up with your older brother’s friend that also happened to be a sexy pilot. AAAAND he lived across the hall? But because the story went from Miles to Tate every chapter, the story was entirely predictable. I already knew why Miles found love to be ugly…waaaay before I even got to the chapter. There was no emotional roller coaster for me. There was no suspense for me. I didn’t feel the heartbreak. I wasn’t caught by surprise the way I usually am with Colleen’s books. I wanted to feel the pain that everyone on the Facebook discussion group felt. But I just couldn’t get into the story. I wanted to love this story, I really did. I feel horrible that I didn’t. And I am a LOYAL Colleen Hoover fan. I have all her books on electronically and on paperback. I will still buy Ugly Love on paperback… but this story really just didn’t work for me.

Good

This is a really good book! I'm going too read it again at some point!

Goed en vlot leesbaar boek. Mooi en aangrijpend verhaal!

This book is a sad story that follows a girl named Tate. I cannot say more. Buy it.

Good book