November 9: A Novel - Colleen Hoover

Two quick things on this one, though I'll probably come back later with more opinions


1. Holy effing crap, Colleen Hoover! I've said numerous times that I love the "extras" that she does her books but that the book itself seems to come up lacking in return. Case in point, November 9. No confessions, no music, no painful poetry type stuff taking up entire "chapters". Just straight up novel. And boy does it ever work for this book. Even when I wanted to hate it, I flipping devoured every page. You go, Colleen.

 

2. And the downside. I despised the ending. Yes, yes, it was happy. But I hated it. Maybe I am too black hearted to find the awwww moment in it, but I think the ending was a cop out. Cop out. Cop out.

 

Okay, that's it for now as it is late and I need sleep. I'll continue to dwell on my thoughts about this. But as of now, I'm going with a strong 3.5. I have a few more issues with the storyline itself, but even despite those and my disdain for the ending, Colleen wrote the hell out of this book.

 

So, I've slept on my hate for the ending and lo and behold, I still hate the ending. Perhaps even more than I originally did. It wasn't the plot twist that did it, I saw that twist coming for miles away primarily because it's been done before. No, my hatred solely stems from the fact that Fallon was okay with said plot twist SO QUICKLY. No, Fallon, No. At least give the character a substantial amount of time to come to terms with such a massive development. I'm all for the power of the book because certain books have had the power to change my life, but still No, Fallon. I expected more of her. And on this note, I'm not even going to touch on my opinion of the Jordyn situation. I didn't completely dislike it, because it is a real possibility in that kind of traumatic situation. But it felt more like a way to speed up the plot rather than an authentic character development.

 

Anyway, I think that is the last of my major thoughts on this book. Honestly, I think this is one of the better written Colleen books in a long time. As much as I've raved about everything that goes into a CoHo book, I think she actually shines when there is only her writing. I love that she branches out and brings so much else to her readers, but it's books like this and Slammed that makes me appreciate when she DOESN'T try to bring so much else to her readers as well.