Confess by Colleen Hoover: Book Review

Synopsis from Goodreads:  Don’t miss #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover’s beloved novel about risking it all for love—now an Awestruck original series, coming soon to go90.com and the go90 app, available for iOS or Android.

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?

With her moving and compelling prose, Hoover “will pull heartstrings in this second-chance love story” (Booklist).

Publisher: Atria Books

Date of Publication: March 10, 2015

Date Read: March 2017

No of Pages: 306 pages

Source: Own copy from National Book Store

Get it Here: Book Depository and Amazon

I don’t know if it is just a case of bad timing, or if my heart has grown stone cold that I didn’t feel any of the giddiness I usually feel when it comes to Colleen Hoover romance novels. Or maybe Colleen Hoover’s power lost its brilliance on me or maybe the fact that I already have seen the trailer for the mini series that ruined it for me. I honestly can’t pinpoint what went wrong with this one. All I know is that this book didn’t work out for me. Let’s just say, I just wanted it to end just to be over and done with. And I’m starting to think that maybe I am done with Colleen Hoover’s books, just as much as I am done with John Green’s. I hope not, I really hope not. But the last two books (I read November 9 last October and boy did I hate it) by her made me want to pass up for the next ones. I have not read all of her books, but I’ve read enough, so don’t discredit me on this one. Let me say my piece.

Confess didn’t offer anything new on the table. I commend the idea of “Confess” and all the paintings, it was original I have to at least give them that, but everything else was mediocre. Nothing I have not read or seen before. To be quite honest I had no intention of reading this book immediately, I was waiting for the right moment and state of self to read it, because that’s how I decide what to read next, I go with the gut feel. I go with the book that calls me, this book didn’t. The only reason I read it this time around was because of the mini series. Of course there will be a lot of spoilers in the internet. God knows how everyone can’t seem to shut the hell up about those stuff haha. So to avoid further spoiling myself and ruining it all for me, I went ahead and read the book. That’s the only way to battle spoiler. And now I felt like I forced it on myself, I did not enjoy the reading experience. If I have read this one the moment it came out, maybe I would have a different opinion than I do now. And now it is a lesson learned the hard way – always go with the gut feel.

I’ve seen the pattern of Colleen Hoover’s writing. She always surprises her readers in the end. Confess was no different. If it weren’t for that last chapter, which to be completely honest is the only redeeming quality I found in this book, I could have given it a lower rating. You have to give it to Colleen Hoover to salvage everything in the end – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I’m amazed and sometimes I’m underwhelmed, the case with Confess is the latter.

Okay, I have to let this one out as well. WHAT’S WITH ALL THESE CHARACTERS’ WEIRD NAMES! Seriously Auburn Reed? I wanted to laugh, but I’m more annoyed than pleased. And Owen Mason Gentry, OMG, do you really have to sell it as OMG, I was cringing to say the least. (Let’s not forget about Lily Bloom who owns a flower shop, like seriously a flower shop, from It Ends With Us, okay?) Can we for one second make a believable character. Im sorry but this story didn’t connect to me as one good story should. I know it is a work of fiction, but it wouldn’t hurt to make the characters to feel real ones, like a person you would meet in your lifetime.

I had issues with the characters in the book, Auburn was a little immature, and doesn’t speak up to defend herself. She keeps on masking her cowardice by saying she didn’t have a choice on the things that has been happening to her. That her hands were tied and all that excuse, I found her character to be too weak and too passive. She takes what she could get, and let people do the same to her. Which was toxic. Owen on the other hand had issues of his own, well all of them always have some horrible skeleton inside their closets. I mean it has been a pattern, a person in a book would always be too damaged to fully commit to someone else. Again, another too unrealistic scenario for my own liking. They always have this baggage, always. Well they had to tell a story anyway, to explain their actions and their motives over things. I get it, I do, but sometimes it is too much. Too much drama, which is getting old for me. Auburn and Owen’s love story is forgettable. With Colleen Hoover books, I always take something out of the story of each characters – but with Confess it fell short. I had nothing to bring with me. It ended, and that was it, no impact whatsoever. If you haven’t noticed that I’m disappointed, where were you this whole time? Anyway, I won’t be stopping with Confess, I’ll still give her books a try. I wouldn’t want to think that my relationship with Colleen Hoover books has run its course, no, I could salvage this. I’ll try.

“I love you so much.” His voice is breathless and full of fear. “I’ll love you forever. Even when I can’t.” My tears fall harder at his words. “And I’ll love you forever. Even when I shouldn’t.”
― Colleen Hoover, Confess

Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine: Book Review

Synopsis: Pixie and Levi haven’t spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now things are… awkward.

All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they’re forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.

Date Published: March 14, 2014

Date Read: September 21, 2016

Publisher: Forever

No. of Pages: 272

Setting: Copper Spring, Arizona

 

Review

Cute Banters and Palpable Sexual Tension, what’s not to love?

 

Best Kind of Broken brought out the fun in reading New Adult books. I have been on a New Adult reading spree these days. It doesn’t happen often, and so I took advantage of it. Often times after reading a new adult book, I would immediately jump to a different genre – in need of a palate cleanser. I’m not one who binge read one after another, I tend to mix it all up or over-compare the stories, making me favour one more than the other. It’s like choosing a favourite child (well, I don’t have kids yet, haha but I’m sure you get my point). I wanted to savour every story, value them as one should – this is the main reason why I seldom read books in the same genre consecutively. And so because I am in a New Adult streak, it was surprise that I loved almost every book I have read, Best of Broken being the latest. I never expected anything out of this book. I never read the blurb or others’ review for that matter, I went into this blind. I never wanted to be influenced by what others thought of it.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

This is the kind of romance I enjoy reading, I love Levi and Pixie’s banters and the palpable sexual tension is not hard to miss. I loved that it is funny where it is supposed to and serious when it should be. It is entertaining and engaging you wouldn’t want to put it down. Their story though a typical one as new adult theme, was presented in such a way that you would want to eat up every words and savour every page. It is a decent new adult book, nowadays we are bombarded with new adult books with either too heavy topic the world could not bear it or with too much explicit contents it is not even new adult anymore. In Best Kind of Broken, you will get the right amount of romance and drama. It is an easy story yet an unforgettable one. The story unfolded with ease and the readers are taken on this story of healing and forgiveness, of fear and despair yet choosing to risk it all over again. It was everything and then some.

The blurb hardly gave anything away, you see, blurbs like this can either be a hit or miss. It could work to lure someone into reading the book or make someone pass up completely. And because I don’t often read blurbs, including this one, I went ahead reading this book without passing any preconceived notion. I just went ahead and read through. Glad that I did. The book will take us into the story of two people trying to tiptoe through the wreck of the year that changed their lives. And I tell you, it is not just “awkward” as mentioned in the blurb, it is beyond that. It was hurt and guilt masked by annoyance, anger and indifference. How the author played around the two characters will make you see the depth of this book, it is not just a simple summer read, it has a story, it has sense of gravity and seriousness to it that one could not simply miss. And I wish more people could see that, it is not simply a book categorized under “cute-read, swoon-worthy male protagonist, love-hate relationship” it was so much more than that.

I loved how the two characters were going around in circles suppressing what they truly feel towards each other. Levi and Pixie had issues they soon need to address, and the journey on how they developed and grew in this book is really a fun thing to read. Again, the banters and the palpable sexual tension is such a delight to read, I laughed a lot of times, and tear up at some parts. It was the perfect combination of comedy, romance and drama. The sure hit formula for a good book. And oh yes!! I love love love that goat, cracks me up all the freaking time! The alternating point of views is also a big plus for me! It was beautifully written. The writing style is clean and polished. I think Chelsea Fine is an underrated author. People should seriously take a look at her works. Best Kind of Broken sure won’t be the last book I will be reading by her.

 

Rating: 

“Love isn’t safe and life isn’t guaranteed. So yeah, I could die and you could lose Levi and your heart could hurt again, but that’s just life. The only alternative is living without fully loving anyone else. And that’s not living at all.”
― Chelsea Fine, Best Kind of Broken

The Deal (Off Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy: Book Review

 

Synopsis: She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

Date Published: February 24, 2015

Publisher: Self-Published

No. Of Pages: 342

 

REVIEW

HIGHLY ADDICTIVE. ROMANCE OVERLOAD. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.

But wait there’s more, read now and you will get to fantasize about dreamy hockey players.

 Hahah ir seems like I am advertising a drug haha. But seriously, that’s how I loved this book. It was so addictive, I could not literally put it down, save for when I have to participate in life and do mundane things. If I could go on a day without eating just to finish this book, I totally would.

I’ve asked my dear friends for some NA recommendation, since I was in the mood for one. It has been so long since I have read a good NA. The Deal was constantly recommended to me (hi Bea, Pearl, Cath and Elena) and I couldn’t thank these people enough for introducing me to this series. Ah Garrett Graham. *insert heart eyes*. The Deal definitely was the kind of NA I was craving for. You have no idea how deprived I am of reading new adult, so much so, that after reading The Deal, I might just binge read all the other books in the series, which is very unlikely of me, so that says a lot  You know what they say, you’ll always go back to your first love, which it was NA for me, it was the genre that ignited my love for reading again.

Cheesiness overload? CHECK

Dreamy Guys with Dreamy Bodies? SUPER CHECK. Everyone is gorgeous in this book.

A Strong Female Protagonist? CHECK

A DARK PAST? YUPPPP.

SWOON WORTHY? OH YEAH

All that and more. A college bad boy and a goody good girl kind of story is always right up my alley. These are the kind of guilty pleasure reads I would so willingly give in. Because come on, what’t not to love? I do understand that themes in NA books run the same storyline. A dark past, an unexpected meeting, steamy scenes… those comprise the formula of NA, it is just a matter of hitting the right spots, writing the perfect characters, putting some variation and some oomph or flavor and The Deal did just that, it was not the most original storyline, yes, but it worked for me. I was hooked from the beginning until the very end, and yes to the extent that I even dreamt about it.

Garrett Graham was the captain of the hockey team, he was of course drop dead gorgeous with ripped abs and face that could melt anyone’s panty (*author’s words not mine* haha) and Hannah Wells the regular girl with a sordid past she was trying to outlive. It was a sure recipe for a good romance don’t you think? I loved how feisty Wellsy is. I loved her strong personality, and how she doesn’t back down to anything, I just had a little issue with her sometimes, there were Eh? moments, but it was easily overshadowed by her over-all personality, so it was still okay. Garrett, on the other hand is someone that is more than what meets the eye. He was not a dumb college boy, he was actually good in school, save for Ethics haha. He was a little cocky and maybe a little too good to be true. But I loved both of them, I love them so much I want to hug them haha. And I so love their banters! They are just so cute, I cannot even!

The whole story was something I really enjoyed reading, I loved the set of friends both Hannah and Garrett have, they were all good people and good looking haha. I love Hannah’s parents! But sometimes it was bordering unrealistic, but it was something  I could live with. It tackles sensitive issues, but I loved how the author didn’t press too much on that subject, making things just easy and fun to read.

This book was definitely a sweet surprise, I can’t simply swipe off that stupid smile on my face after I read the book. It was just so good, it will leave you with that satisfied feeling. I highly recommend it!!!

Now excuse me as I continue on with the other books. 🙂

“Him: Confession: I deleted all the 1 Direction from your iPod when u were in the can.
You’re welcome.
Me: WHAT?? I’m going to kiss u!
Him: With tongue?
It takes me a second to realize what happened, at which point I’m completely mortified.
Me: Kill u! I meant KILL. u. Damn autocorrect.
Him: Surrrrrre. Let’s blame it on autocorrect.
Me: Shut it.
Him: I think someone wants to kiss me…”
― Elle Kennedy, The Deal

With This Heart by R.S. Grey

Synopsis: If someone had told me a year ago that I was about to fall in love, go on an epic road trip, ride a Triceratops, sing on a bar, and lose my virginity, I would have assumed they were on drugs.

Well, that is, until I met Beckham.

Beck was mostly to blame for my recklessness. Gorgeous, clever, undeniably charming Beck barreled into my life as if it were his mission to make sure I never took living for granted. He showed me that there were no boundaries, rules were for the spineless, and a kiss was supposed to happen when I least expected.

Beck was the plot twist that took me by surprise. Two months before I met him, death was knocking at my door. I’d all but given up my last scrap of hope when suddenly, I was given a second chance at life. This time around, I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.

We set out on a road trip with nothing to lose and no guarantees of tomorrow.

Our road trip was about young, reckless love.

The kind of love that burns bright.

The kind of love that no road-map could bring me back from.

**Recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual situations.**

Date Published: April 6, 2014

Publisher: Createscape

No. of Pages: 318 pages

Date Read: June 2014.

REVIEW

Simply Amazing.

Unlit Star by Lindy Zart

Synopsis: We are not guaranteed anything, not even this life.

Rivers Young is the popular guy untouchable by reality. He is like a star—bright, consuming, otherworldly. The thing about stars, though, is that they eventually fall, and he is no different.

He falls far and he falls hard.

Delilah Bana is the outcast enshrouded in all of life’s ironies. Alone, in the dark, like dusk as it falls on the world. When Rivers hits the ground, she is the night that catches him. In the darkness, they meld into something beautiful that shines like the sun.

Only, the greater the star is, the shorter its lifespan.

Date Published: August 20, 2014

Date Read: November 5, 2014

REVIEW

I loved it. Desperately. Undeniably. Wholly. Without regret.

I am still currently wiping tears off my face. It was achingly beautiful as it was ultimately satisfying. It was as true as it could get. There are just too much wisdom contained in this book that I could not help myself but stop and ponder, all of it were true. Delilah and Rivers’ story just opened up too much realizations, realizations I couldn’t help but agree. I loved that each chapter wasn’t really revealing everything all at once there was still the sense of surprise, of constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and when it finally did, it was played out beautifully, exceptionally tear-inducing even. I think I have found another favorite, also the author writes amazingly, it was spot on. It just tugged every heart strings. It wasn’t solely about love, but more than anything it tackles, loss, pain, family and the awful realities of life but more importantly how one must live life the way he pleases it, without regrets. No more second-guessing, just basking into the abyss of the unknown.

I loved how the characters evolved, especially Rivers Young. How he turned out into someone worthy and Delilah Bana who was stubborn for all the right reasons, I loved her character, the way she reacts towards things and her principles in life. How she didn’t give up despite of the shitty hand she was dealt with. I loved how Rivers and Delilah meld into something stellar, into something so true, it hurts.

Maybe all I am saying is that, you should just read it and see it for yourself and feel the rawness of all the emotions. Now I am pretty sure I cannot fully move on from this. Ah it is just so beautiful it hurts, but I already said that and whatever, just let me sulk about it some more.

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤  ❤ /5 stars

“I could choose to be sad, or I could choose to be happy. Life – it’s one choice after another. And how our lives are, that’s our choice as well.”

The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher

Synopsis: Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.

Date Published: November 14, 2011, 278 pages

Series: Love Me With Lies

Date Read: April 2013

REVIEW:

        “You can only give your heart away once, after that, everything else will chase your first love.”

Heart-wrenching to the core. I cried buckets over this book, the feeling was highly proportional to the feeling of break-up. I literally needed a new heart because my current heart seemed to stop functioning because of all the unwanted emotions that I have been having. This book my friends will shred your heart into unrecognizable state, then pulverizeit after and let it be blown with the wind knowing for sure it will never be the same again.
Crying-spree. I was crying my hearts out until 3am in the morning and woke up with puffy eyes. This book is just so packed with all the story that will get you hooked up to the very end. Though it is not as long as other novels, but all the important details are there perfectly written. I highly commend Tarryn Fisher’s writing skills, it was brilliant. This will definitely not be the last book that I will read of her. But I cannot jump immediately to the second book Dirty Red because I am still too emotional over The Opportunist.

Why does a great love have to be so complicated? What I liked most about this book is the fact that it depicts a figment of reality. It says that not everything is meant to happen, not everything will end up the way we planned it in our heads. But fate has its funny way, even ridiculous way of showing what might have been, and that’s how this book got me. That no matter how you resist things you thought you are better off, it will come back like a boomerang. This book tugged every heart strings, including those that I didn’t even know existed. I am so glad I have read this book, it taught me so much about life and love.

My Rating: 5/5 stars

“I think that after the first time you give your heart away, you never get it back. The rest of your life is just you pretending that you still have a heart.”