**A Critical Analysis of Colleen Hoover's Book**

In this video review, the author expresses their disappointment and frustration with Colleen Hoover's latest book. They praise the author's ability to evoke strong emotions in her readers but criticize her handling of sensitive topics such as trauma, relationships, and consent.

The reviewer finds fault with the protagonist's behavior, particularly when she asks for forgiveness from the male character despite being the one who was wronged. The reviewer believes that this dynamic is problematic and that the author is perpetuating a narrative that can be damaging to readers, especially young women. They argue that the author's portrayal of trauma is also insensitive and glosses over the complexities of the issue.

The reviewer criticizes Hoover's writing style, calling it "nonsensical" and "terrible." They specifically take issue with the way she phrases certain sentences, such as the option presented in the letter that allows the reader to either stop reading or forgive. The reviewer believes that this phrasing is insincere and lacking in nuance.

Furthermore, the reviewer argues that Hoover's books often perpetuate unhealthy relationships and romanticize toxic behavior. They believe that these narratives can have a profound impact on readers, particularly young women who may not have the tools to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationships.

The reviewer also expresses concern about the way Hoover handles sensitive topics such as consent and trauma. They argue that the author's approach is often superficial and fails to provide readers with a nuanced understanding of these issues.

**The Impact of Books on Young Readers**

One of the most significant concerns raised by the reviewer is the potential impact that books like this can have on young readers, particularly those in high school or middle grade. They believe that if they had read this book without having the proper tools and knowledge to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationships, they may have been misled.

The reviewer acknowledges that their criticism of Hoover's book may be unpopular with some fans of her work, but they believe that it is necessary to have a conversation about the potential impact of these books on young readers. They argue that authors have a responsibility to handle sensitive topics in a thoughtful and nuanced way, rather than glossing over them or perpetuating unhealthy narratives.

**A Call for Greater Nuance in Authorship**

Ultimately, the reviewer's criticism of Colleen Hoover's book is motivated by a desire for greater nuance and sensitivity in authorship. They believe that authors have a responsibility to handle complex topics like trauma, relationships, and consent with care and thoughtfulness, rather than perpetuating simplistic or damaging narratives.

The reviewer hopes that their critique will contribute to a larger conversation about the importance of nuanced and thoughtful storytelling, particularly when it comes to sensitive topics like these.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is not a drill this is happening listen did I swear off these books yes I did am I still going to read them yes why because of Colleen Hoover prophets I might as well do so myself I'll just decide I'm not here to yuck on anybody's yum I know what that feels like I eat peanut butter from a spoon and I openly admit things on the internet that people would find embarrassing so like who am I to judge right you enjoy what you enjoy I have a rocky relationship with Miss Hoover I think it's very up and down it'll depend on the book it'll depend on the instance and so I'm here to give her another chance that's a lie I'm actually here to give her three more chances and we'll see how this goes because I'm not very confident but we are starting with ugly love foreign love and let me tell you something I'm 107 pages in and already horrified is that a bad thing to say I was walking into this not knowing absolutely anything and yet I find myself cringing about every other line basically for a synopsis we follow our main character Tate and she is an ER nurse she ends up moving to her brother Corbin's apartment and one of her neighbors ends up being miles who is also one of Corbin's friends and it just descends into madness from there because these two strike this friends with benefit situation without really being friends and the false sense of closeness between these two it's actually driving me a little bit crazy because she keeps reinforcing that their conversations are so weird but they barely had any conversations to begin with and every conversation has been confrontational because he seemed very much not into her and very repulsed by her presence and so it was very combative also the fact that at one point they crash her apartment because it's a boy thing because they have to watch the game together and because they can't do it anywhere else and she relents and that's the worst part is that Miss Hoover has given this main character absolutely no agency won and second of all no backbone because these men keep saying and doing whatever the they want to do and she's like oh my God yes my bad I'm wrong no that's your apartment if they're in there and you don't want them to be in there kick them the out it's well within your right to do that also his povs for the most part his chapters are written in verse but it's very much giving I'm a girly pup who believes that things are deeper than they actually are so I upload Tumblr Instagram poetry it's giving that and I hate that and also the fact that Miles POV is in the past and not in the present and we get to observe how he actively falls in love or becomes obsessed with his stepsister when they're 17 in an adult romance is definitely something I didn't think I'd get to read nor did I want to read and I still stand by the point that I don't want to read this because it's making me incredibly uncomfortable and to add to that this man is riddled with toxic masculinity and Obsession and so many betrayal believes that it's actually pretty crazy miles at one point mentions how every male has to at least get attention once in his life and he makes it very much a point to mention how it's only the guys I got detention in high school I almost got suspended in high school it's really not only a boy thing and then he gets a lot of Joy very oddly so and seeing women do female things like cooking or doing the dishes this man was very indifferent towards our main character Tate up until he sees her do the dishes and then he smiles I don't love that also these obsessive thoughts with Rachel about I'm gonna fall in love with Rachel she is gonna fall in love with me she is going to love me she is going to be mine the possessive language is already so unbelievably toxic especially for somebody who in his POV for the entirety of it so far is 17 years old is there a single thing about this book I am enjoying I can tell you right now no we'll see if she realizes at any point of this book that that's what it is but honestly I have zero hope this has got to be the worst phrasing I've ever seen for somebody kissing somebody else miles is in my mouth he's invading me again invade me invade me invade me somebody take me out oh my God no no he says brace yourself this disgusting for being horrified why should I brave myself for not slam nobody is slamming into anyone she said animalistic the only animalistic thing I want to do right now is Rip this book to shreds she did not just say I let him me she says what the hell is wrong with him I mean there's plenty wrong with him girly Bob but how much is wrong with you too she's so dramatic this felt like an end for what no start anything I'm sorry I'm I'm sorry ugly love has been finished and I am so torn on a rating part of me is going give it one star because it's sort of what in my mind the book deserves and the other half of my brain is going give it two stars it's not pretending to be anything other than what it is and even though it was a train wreck at least it's an easy one to fly through so that's not necessarily a good thing and listen I think there is a really big conversation to be had about what exactly goes down with Colleen Hoover as an author in general her books are more often than not pitched as a romance and whether that's coming from the actual writing to the marketing of things or the audience reception I think there's a lot to be said about why her books are marketed as a romance and exactly what the end product ends up being where it ends up in this gazed romanticizing emotional abuse and toxicity and loads of misogyny and again patriarchal beliefs that are so outdated and just so up in so many different ways and whether it's her writing that ends up romanticizing that or if the marketing is it's just all kinds of all something in there fails and I think it's a complete disservice to everybody to Brand this as a romance does it have romantic elements to it absolutely yes that does not inherently make it a romance Cattail incoming hello that doesn't make it a romance and I think also branding this as a literary fiction is way too generous for what it does I do wonder if the meaning that people see behind what goes on in this toxic relationship is something that is within the line of the book which I don't believe it is or if it's people giving the book a deeper meaning that it actually has I don't think this is some deep commentary on toxic relationships I don't know if it's attempting to give commentary on a toxic relationship at all because it's very confusing in the way that it's structured in the way that it's written and I think these types of books would be amazing as a literary Fiction with an undertone of romance because then you can provide loads of commentary about toxic relationships and these constant cycles of abuse is that women find themselves in because of like this and how it sometimes it's very hard to notice those patterns to the point that you sometimes don't even realize it and so I think it lends itself for a lot and doesn't do any of those things there is absolutely no development in this book we go from them meeting up to them quote unquote hating each other to then falling in-laws because I don't believe for a second that these two people fell in love ever I don't know if either of them know the true meaning of love but they fall in lust with each other curly pop thinks she can fix miles which is not at all how it works and then he keeps giving her the most mixed signals ever and she takes them and she applies meaning to them in a way that does not exist and so he ends up being emotionally abusive in so many ways without her realizing it and she ends up romanticizing every single thing this man does because everything he says is somehow romantic no girl you just want to him and that's totally fine and he leaves it very clear very early on that all he wants to do is have sex and this girl keeps thinking that she can change him and that she will be the first person that he loves and whether or not that's the end product it's such a toxic mindset to think that you either a to serve somebody or B that you can change somebody because that's not the way things work and then there's no development whatsoever from the point of we're just having sex to the point of oh my God I love you and oh my God let me open up to you I do not believe for a damn second that this man was able to overcome all of his life's trauma in two weeks also at one point in time he mentioned how he found it so attractive or somewhere amongst that wording that she was so ambitious and she was such a goal getter and how she was so committed to her job we never got to see her do any part of her job and I think that's also a disservice to the characters and a disservice the dialogue that the book gives us because we don't get to see any of those things I don't want you to tell me I want you to show me so maybe I will give this one star we've got a package and we're going to start it starts with us let's talk about it starts with us mainly I'm not hating this and I shouldn't be as surprised as I am especially because Atlas is the love interest is not toxic at all in comparison to most of Colleen Hoover's love interest and this romance is nowhere near as insta lobby as most of her romances go which is a breath of fresh air I quite like that in this one we've got a pre-existing pre-established relationship that we got to observe very closely in book one and then at this point it's been spanning out if not for a decade then a little bit over a decade and so I quite like the fact that this has been building for a really really long time have the same criticism for this as I did in book one which is the letters to Ellen I thought we wouldn't be getting those in this book I absolutely abort those in the first one I hated every single second of it I thought we were moving being past the Ellen love but I guess from one controversial girly also known as Colin Hoover to another controversial girly also known as Ellen DeGeneres I guess it's not that far off that this is still a topic in her book the subject of letters all together in this series is not something I enjoy I feel like it takes me out of the story very very quickly and I just don't enjoy reading them because although it serves as a tool to relive the past and to introduce scenes and moments that are very prevalent for these characters in the past I just don't enjoy the way that it is executed and so that is the one part that I constantly go hate every second of it however a good thing to note about this is that it is a direct continuation of book one I thought this would be a book that would stand on its own however it is an immediate sequel the first one ends and then this one starts and it truly does follow the same timeline so if you haven't read it once with us this one could be potentially a little bit confusing but I am quite liking the alternating povs because we not only get to see Lily who was our main character in book one we also get to see Atlas who was mostly prevalent in the flashback or letter portions of book one and I quite like his relationship Dynamic with Theo who is one of his friends slash co-workers business partners son I absolutely love their conversations and their Dynamic I think it is very wholesome quite enjoying their interactions every time Theo is on page it's again a breath of fresh air I love the energy he is bringing into the story so I quite like that you don't know what the series overall is about we follow our main character Lily who meets Ryle in the first book Ryle is a doctor he's a surgeon in particular very established very successful she very quickly falls in love and unfortunately finds herself in the position of an abusive marriage the entire first book navigates the Dynamics of an abusive relationship however the biggest thing with the book is that it is a very hard one to review if only because it is partly biographical to Colleen Hoover's mom and so I quite like that this one is easier to review for that reason because Lily is now out of that relationship and she is trying to build up her life outside of this marriage and although Ryle is very much still a part of her life because he is her daughter's father she is trying to pick the pieces back up and build a life for herself that feels sustainable and that feels exactly like what she would want out of life and that she does not feel contained and claustrophobic by this man's presence and part of the reason why this book breaks my heart is that we really get to see the Dynamics of Ryle and Lily still in present time as they are not together but they are still co-parenting and not only her still being afraid of Kim as a person but also him not fully relinquishing those semblances of control and possessiveness that we got to observe in book one another thing I like about this really is the pace is the fact that Atlas and Lily are going very slow despite the fact that they are very well into each other and they know they are into each other they know they have been into each other for a really long time they do not rush into anything not only because of the circumstances surrounding them but also because Atlas is very respectful of where Lily is at right now and exactly what relationship she left a year ago and the only other thing that I can tell you that it's kind of off-putting sometimes is the dialogue sometimes the dialogue does not feel natural it does feel a little bit forced on the author's end but beyond that nowhere near as unlikable as the first book we read foreign I finished it and although I did like this more than ugly love not by a lot there are still things execution wise that I did not enjoy there are still many a thing that work to this book's detriment mainly the things I already mentioned in the past update but also this book's lack of nuance is something that continues to bother me it also happened and it ends with us and although I don't think the cooling compassing theme of the series of the books is incredibly unnuanced I do think that the way certain conversations are taking place lack the Nuance they need in order for them to be as impactful as they need to be one and two as the writer thinks they are specifically this one because I won't talk about it on for those because I read that a long time ago but particularly in this one there are many passages in which Colleen Hoover really writes as if she is sending a tweet and she's not saying as much as she hopes to say or as much as she thinks she is saying because there is no depth to the word you can say something and you can think oh my God I'm such a feminist you can say something and you can think oh my God I did that but did you really do that and there were very few instances in this book where the statements that needed to be had were given and that is definitely something that in this book I did not enjoy one of the biggest subjects in this book as the book goes on is obviously Lily's past relationship with Ryle it's a recurring thing and it keeps coming up because they're co-parenting however the book lacks the conversation surrounding sometimes when these situations are happening behind closed doors and then people find out friends and family it's gonna be a weird line to walk because they're still gonna hold defection over the person committing the crime but they are also gonna want to hold them accountable and although it does happen sometimes in the book how many chances are too many chances on all ants from friends from Family from Lily herself and I think that is something that the book does not explore very well and Adler us although significantly less toxic than many of calling Hoover love interests still has his own issues with possessiveness and control this whole hero complex that he has and again continues to develop as the book goes on is really just another form of control for him to show up and help her in whatever way he can and a lot of the time that's not her choice but he is just giving those things to her it's not wholly a bad thing but it is still a form of control and not only that but we see this one particular scene in the book where Ryle and Atlas are having a conversation and it really ruffled my feathers Royal is just constantly being aggressive he is definitely not dropped a lot of his abusive techniques and the minute he talks to Atlas he magically starts stepping back and while it's true that when you've got some really strong support that happens it really is just playing into the whole internalized misogyny thing that I'm definitely not a fan of that keeps coming up in books like these all in all were there things I enjoyed yes were there things I didn't enjoy yes I think it falls at like a 2.5 for me like right smack down the middle where truly a lot of things could have been done better and I wish they would have been so that's kind of where I stand with this and now for the final showdown we've got November 9. why is this horrifying let me just keep this honest I think there's loads to be said as I've mentioned with ugly love about the marketing of these books and these being pit as romances I also think there is a lot to be said about romances fantasy romances because it tends to cross over with a variety of different genres how these books end up romanticizing toxic relationships toxic situations and end up in a way glorifying them so that people will find them to be the norm and I think there's also a lot to be said about people reading certain books and it's happened to me too in the past like I'm Not Innocent of that but it happens to a lot of people where sometimes we read books and we open them and we're like oh my God it's so good and I don't know if it's either the fact that we're already desensitized to these things or where it comes down to but we can't really notice that these things are toxic and I think this book is the prime example of that now if you don't know what this book is about we follow our main character Fallon and Fallon used to be a child actor her father is also an actor and she was in a fire accident that left her entire left side of the body where with a burn marks and because of it her father always sort of pushed this idea that she would not fit into the acting industry or any sort of Industry that relied on the visual just because of her scars she finds herself believing that because it's always been reaffirmed in her life and then one day she's having lunch with her dad they're talking about her moving to New York to pursue acting in Broadway and it is there that we meet the love interest Ben Ben ends up sliding into the booth to save the day which in and of itself is sort of a red flag I can't find many instances about why a man should sit down beside you to quote unquote save you it's supposed to be like a cute act but it's sort of creepy to begin with and then not only that but a lot of what is happening in this book is her building her confidence through his words of affirmation but his words of affirmation are very backhanded he constantly reaffirms how people are so uncomfortable looking at her and it's her fault because of the way she dresses and because of the way she acts and because of the way she carries herself and he is constantly pushing this idea that she shouldn't be ashamed of her body and that's starting from now on you're not gonna allow that shame to come in it's very sort of keep calm and carry on in the worst way possible because he is not allowing Rome for the trauma that is already pre-existing in her life and he is also not acknowledging that at any point of the book which is very very disturbing to me and so there's lines like you're the one making people uncomfortable and it's your choice to do that or I hope people laugh at you because at least it means that you're trying with acting but that's not the way to say things then he was also at some point talking about how he is not an alpha male and he doesn't really fit The Stereotype of like a romance novel because she is very into books which by the way there are things that in books just are very cringe the fact that she keeps mentioning how she has a TBR pile I know it's supposed to be super quirky I don't care I don't give a and then at some point she's like well he's maybe much more different alpha male than he initially believes how is that supposed to be cute there are literal passages in this book like from now on when you think about your scars you aren't allowed to resent them sir who are you to tell her what she can and cannot feel especially when it's a trauma response and there is a lot of healing to be done in that I just absolutely hate how he diminishes the pain she feels and here's the thing don't get me wrong I'm not asking for this book to be completely realistic and to not contain those toxic elements however there is a distinction between having toxic elements just for the sake of it and vilifying certain characters just for the sake of it and playing up how people are so evil and how they're so villainous just because you need somebody to hate in the book other than your main characters that are very clearly terrible there is a difference between that and then actually establishing conversations about toxicity and navigating those conversations in a very nuanced way instead of romanticizing them and glorifying them as we tend to see in these books and honestly what it boils down to to is I don't need it to be realistic at least just make it make sense that's all I ask make it make sense because here the math is not mapping and the literature is not literaturing like I just help that's what that's I need help the book doesn't even need help the book I need help so yes I am indeed having a horrible time with this and I think what is making it even worse for me is the fact that these characters have really only known each other for five hours at a time the very first section of the book is the first November 9th that they experience together and so they meet they hang out for about five hours ish and then they don't see each other again for a year and then they meet up again in the next November 9th and it's also like a five and a half hour meet up and so at this point if that's all this book is going to be like if this whole story is reduced to only like 20 hours of their lives you can't expect to fall in love with somebody and totally know who they are in that amount of time I generally need somebody to remind me why I'm reading this willing way they're having sex just girly things and he tells her thank you for this beautiful gift baby you have already made this the best sex I've ever had and I'm not even inside you yet I'm saying that real slow so y'all can process that because what the am I read oh my God I am going to have a reaction right now not him dictating everything she has to do and how she has to feel but the minute she wants to do something that is actually smart he goes you can't just agree to love me and then take it back because you don't think it's what's best for me that's not how it works the Audacity Of Men oh my god oh my God what an emotionally manipulative you're kidding me you know what he's asking you to give him a chance to give him a choice but he doesn't want to give you a choice oh my God please tell me this is not the process of this book girly Pop I don't think this is made up the call is coming from inside the house baby girl it would actually be hard of you do you want to bite it not even Vin will bite this this is how you know it's bad now let me tell you something right now I have never been this happy that a video is over first of all and never will I ever pick up another Colleen Hoover book I've officially I'm done with Miss calling Hoover I don't like it I'm not for it the fact that once more she utilizes somebody's drama her character's drama completely a choice on her end as an author and she utilizes that as a plot twist with no trigger warnings with no warning whatsoever and all of these books are pitched sold put on the Shelf as a romance books is something that continues to rub me the wrong way but what it communicates to a lot of readers is that it's okay if romance looks like this it's okay if you decide to forgive people for things like these and I think in this particular book there's a lot more gray area because is the act that leads to a lot in this book is not necessarily Insidious but him befriending her I would say is pretty Insidious only because he is aware of a really big thing that concerns her and he does not disclose that ever up until she finds out and not only that but then the author Colleen Hoover has a choice makes her ask for his forgiveness at the end when that is not something that she needs to request ask or do anything with if anything he should be apologizing and even then it's not it's not his job to apologize if he doesn't want to do it she has nothing to apologize for and the fact that that is the route she takes as an author of yes once more let me grab my female character and put her in a position where she succumbs in a way to the male character and that she is the one that needs to apologize because as a woman she's in the wrong Vin is also scratching the couch she is also angry and so this is definitely the worst book I've read in this video I think the way a lot of things are phrased are just terrible the fact that in his letter is like well you've got two options and one of them is to just stop reading the manuscript and to come forgive me again it really is the lack of nuance that bothers me in every single one of her books but in this one in particular the fact that her trauma is continuously brushed away it's just so nonsensical to me and again not asking for it to be wholly realistic but at least make it make sense at least make these conversations that are so sensitive be navigated in a way that makes sense even if that is not the intent of the book sometimes impact Trump's intent we know this but it really is the fact that inadvertently authors with these sorts of plot lines and stories can end up glorifying normalizing desensitizing people to the idea that this is what love is supposed to be that it's okay if love looks like this and no if love looks like this run away because you should never be put into a situation like this where you associate the meaning words the meaning behavior and toxicity as words of affirmation and love and so I don't like that I don't like that at all and listen young adult adult middle grade all of that is just an age suggestion but I know if I would have read this in high school and it's like full disclosure I'm Not Innocent of those things but I know if I would have read this in high school without having sort of the proper tools and knowledge to distinguish one thing from the next I probably would have loved this I probably would have looked at this and gone oh my God that is so cute look at how he treats her and loves her and that is the sad reality I know a lot of people are gonna be mad with me about this subject matter as well because there's a lot of people who love these books and don't get me wrong that's not my intention I never want to on whatever people are reading and liking and enjoying if it gets people reading that's one thing all together but I do think there's bigger conversations to be had about this that's the bottom line for me I'm not rating this because if I have to rate this on a scale from one to five I will probably have an aneurysm and I don't want to go through that so yes that is where I kept this video I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did don't forget to give it a massive Thumbs Up Down Below and leave me a comment down below as well have you read any of these books have you read Colleen Hoover what do you think about these books what do you think about the conversation overall I'd love to have you guys bitched in because I think it is a great conversation and discussion to be had obviously in the most respectful way possible because I know this is very sensitive but I'd love to hear you guys takes down in the comments if you want to leave that don't forget to subscribe down below if you haven't done so already and if you want to support the channel further I do have a patreon it is linked down below you'd be able to see me read books like these on live shows and see like my live reactions and be able to pitch in in the chat which is always super fun and also you guys will find out about video projects um beforehand and just a bunch of other stuff book clubs Discord servers readathons the whole 90 yards we are also doing a little Rebrand income the new year and I'm super super excited for it that is it for today I love you guys so much and I shall see you on the next one byethis is not a drill this is happening listen did I swear off these books yes I did am I still going to read them yes why because of Colleen Hoover prophets I might as well do so myself I'll just decide I'm not here to yuck on anybody's yum I know what that feels like I eat peanut butter from a spoon and I openly admit things on the internet that people would find embarrassing so like who am I to judge right you enjoy what you enjoy I have a rocky relationship with Miss Hoover I think it's very up and down it'll depend on the book it'll depend on the instance and so I'm here to give her another chance that's a lie I'm actually here to give her three more chances and we'll see how this goes because I'm not very confident but we are starting with ugly love foreign love and let me tell you something I'm 107 pages in and already horrified is that a bad thing to say I was walking into this not knowing absolutely anything and yet I find myself cringing about every other line basically for a synopsis we follow our main character Tate and she is an ER nurse she ends up moving to her brother Corbin's apartment and one of her neighbors ends up being miles who is also one of Corbin's friends and it just descends into madness from there because these two strike this friends with benefit situation without really being friends and the false sense of closeness between these two it's actually driving me a little bit crazy because she keeps reinforcing that their conversations are so weird but they barely had any conversations to begin with and every conversation has been confrontational because he seemed very much not into her and very repulsed by her presence and so it was very combative also the fact that at one point they crash her apartment because it's a boy thing because they have to watch the game together and because they can't do it anywhere else and she relents and that's the worst part is that Miss Hoover has given this main character absolutely no agency won and second of all no backbone because these men keep saying and doing whatever the they want to do and she's like oh my God yes my bad I'm wrong no that's your apartment if they're in there and you don't want them to be in there kick them the out it's well within your right to do that also his povs for the most part his chapters are written in verse but it's very much giving I'm a girly pup who believes that things are deeper than they actually are so I upload Tumblr Instagram poetry it's giving that and I hate that and also the fact that Miles POV is in the past and not in the present and we get to observe how he actively falls in love or becomes obsessed with his stepsister when they're 17 in an adult romance is definitely something I didn't think I'd get to read nor did I want to read and I still stand by the point that I don't want to read this because it's making me incredibly uncomfortable and to add to that this man is riddled with toxic masculinity and Obsession and so many betrayal believes that it's actually pretty crazy miles at one point mentions how every male has to at least get attention once in his life and he makes it very much a point to mention how it's only the guys I got detention in high school I almost got suspended in high school it's really not only a boy thing and then he gets a lot of Joy very oddly so and seeing women do female things like cooking or doing the dishes this man was very indifferent towards our main character Tate up until he sees her do the dishes and then he smiles I don't love that also these obsessive thoughts with Rachel about I'm gonna fall in love with Rachel she is gonna fall in love with me she is going to love me she is going to be mine the possessive language is already so unbelievably toxic especially for somebody who in his POV for the entirety of it so far is 17 years old is there a single thing about this book I am enjoying I can tell you right now no we'll see if she realizes at any point of this book that that's what it is but honestly I have zero hope this has got to be the worst phrasing I've ever seen for somebody kissing somebody else miles is in my mouth he's invading me again invade me invade me invade me somebody take me out oh my God no no he says brace yourself this disgusting for being horrified why should I brave myself for not slam nobody is slamming into anyone she said animalistic the only animalistic thing I want to do right now is Rip this book to shreds she did not just say I let him me she says what the hell is wrong with him I mean there's plenty wrong with him girly Bob but how much is wrong with you too she's so dramatic this felt like an end for what no start anything I'm sorry I'm I'm sorry ugly love has been finished and I am so torn on a rating part of me is going give it one star because it's sort of what in my mind the book deserves and the other half of my brain is going give it two stars it's not pretending to be anything other than what it is and even though it was a train wreck at least it's an easy one to fly through so that's not necessarily a good thing and listen I think there is a really big conversation to be had about what exactly goes down with Colleen Hoover as an author in general her books are more often than not pitched as a romance and whether that's coming from the actual writing to the marketing of things or the audience reception I think there's a lot to be said about why her books are marketed as a romance and exactly what the end product ends up being where it ends up in this gazed romanticizing emotional abuse and toxicity and loads of misogyny and again patriarchal beliefs that are so outdated and just so up in so many different ways and whether it's her writing that ends up romanticizing that or if the marketing is it's just all kinds of all something in there fails and I think it's a complete disservice to everybody to Brand this as a romance does it have romantic elements to it absolutely yes that does not inherently make it a romance Cattail incoming hello that doesn't make it a romance and I think also branding this as a literary fiction is way too generous for what it does I do wonder if the meaning that people see behind what goes on in this toxic relationship is something that is within the line of the book which I don't believe it is or if it's people giving the book a deeper meaning that it actually has I don't think this is some deep commentary on toxic relationships I don't know if it's attempting to give commentary on a toxic relationship at all because it's very confusing in the way that it's structured in the way that it's written and I think these types of books would be amazing as a literary Fiction with an undertone of romance because then you can provide loads of commentary about toxic relationships and these constant cycles of abuse is that women find themselves in because of like this and how it sometimes it's very hard to notice those patterns to the point that you sometimes don't even realize it and so I think it lends itself for a lot and doesn't do any of those things there is absolutely no development in this book we go from them meeting up to them quote unquote hating each other to then falling in-laws because I don't believe for a second that these two people fell in love ever I don't know if either of them know the true meaning of love but they fall in lust with each other curly pop thinks she can fix miles which is not at all how it works and then he keeps giving her the most mixed signals ever and she takes them and she applies meaning to them in a way that does not exist and so he ends up being emotionally abusive in so many ways without her realizing it and she ends up romanticizing every single thing this man does because everything he says is somehow romantic no girl you just want to him and that's totally fine and he leaves it very clear very early on that all he wants to do is have sex and this girl keeps thinking that she can change him and that she will be the first person that he loves and whether or not that's the end product it's such a toxic mindset to think that you either a to serve somebody or B that you can change somebody because that's not the way things work and then there's no development whatsoever from the point of we're just having sex to the point of oh my God I love you and oh my God let me open up to you I do not believe for a damn second that this man was able to overcome all of his life's trauma in two weeks also at one point in time he mentioned how he found it so attractive or somewhere amongst that wording that she was so ambitious and she was such a goal getter and how she was so committed to her job we never got to see her do any part of her job and I think that's also a disservice to the characters and a disservice the dialogue that the book gives us because we don't get to see any of those things I don't want you to tell me I want you to show me so maybe I will give this one star we've got a package and we're going to start it starts with us let's talk about it starts with us mainly I'm not hating this and I shouldn't be as surprised as I am especially because Atlas is the love interest is not toxic at all in comparison to most of Colleen Hoover's love interest and this romance is nowhere near as insta lobby as most of her romances go which is a breath of fresh air I quite like that in this one we've got a pre-existing pre-established relationship that we got to observe very closely in book one and then at this point it's been spanning out if not for a decade then a little bit over a decade and so I quite like the fact that this has been building for a really really long time have the same criticism for this as I did in book one which is the letters to Ellen I thought we wouldn't be getting those in this book I absolutely abort those in the first one I hated every single second of it I thought we were moving being past the Ellen love but I guess from one controversial girly also known as Colin Hoover to another controversial girly also known as Ellen DeGeneres I guess it's not that far off that this is still a topic in her book the subject of letters all together in this series is not something I enjoy I feel like it takes me out of the story very very quickly and I just don't enjoy reading them because although it serves as a tool to relive the past and to introduce scenes and moments that are very prevalent for these characters in the past I just don't enjoy the way that it is executed and so that is the one part that I constantly go hate every second of it however a good thing to note about this is that it is a direct continuation of book one I thought this would be a book that would stand on its own however it is an immediate sequel the first one ends and then this one starts and it truly does follow the same timeline so if you haven't read it once with us this one could be potentially a little bit confusing but I am quite liking the alternating povs because we not only get to see Lily who was our main character in book one we also get to see Atlas who was mostly prevalent in the flashback or letter portions of book one and I quite like his relationship Dynamic with Theo who is one of his friends slash co-workers business partners son I absolutely love their conversations and their Dynamic I think it is very wholesome quite enjoying their interactions every time Theo is on page it's again a breath of fresh air I love the energy he is bringing into the story so I quite like that you don't know what the series overall is about we follow our main character Lily who meets Ryle in the first book Ryle is a doctor he's a surgeon in particular very established very successful she very quickly falls in love and unfortunately finds herself in the position of an abusive marriage the entire first book navigates the Dynamics of an abusive relationship however the biggest thing with the book is that it is a very hard one to review if only because it is partly biographical to Colleen Hoover's mom and so I quite like that this one is easier to review for that reason because Lily is now out of that relationship and she is trying to build up her life outside of this marriage and although Ryle is very much still a part of her life because he is her daughter's father she is trying to pick the pieces back up and build a life for herself that feels sustainable and that feels exactly like what she would want out of life and that she does not feel contained and claustrophobic by this man's presence and part of the reason why this book breaks my heart is that we really get to see the Dynamics of Ryle and Lily still in present time as they are not together but they are still co-parenting and not only her still being afraid of Kim as a person but also him not fully relinquishing those semblances of control and possessiveness that we got to observe in book one another thing I like about this really is the pace is the fact that Atlas and Lily are going very slow despite the fact that they are very well into each other and they know they are into each other they know they have been into each other for a really long time they do not rush into anything not only because of the circumstances surrounding them but also because Atlas is very respectful of where Lily is at right now and exactly what relationship she left a year ago and the only other thing that I can tell you that it's kind of off-putting sometimes is the dialogue sometimes the dialogue does not feel natural it does feel a little bit forced on the author's end but beyond that nowhere near as unlikable as the first book we read foreign I finished it and although I did like this more than ugly love not by a lot there are still things execution wise that I did not enjoy there are still many a thing that work to this book's detriment mainly the things I already mentioned in the past update but also this book's lack of nuance is something that continues to bother me it also happened and it ends with us and although I don't think the cooling compassing theme of the series of the books is incredibly unnuanced I do think that the way certain conversations are taking place lack the Nuance they need in order for them to be as impactful as they need to be one and two as the writer thinks they are specifically this one because I won't talk about it on for those because I read that a long time ago but particularly in this one there are many passages in which Colleen Hoover really writes as if she is sending a tweet and she's not saying as much as she hopes to say or as much as she thinks she is saying because there is no depth to the word you can say something and you can think oh my God I'm such a feminist you can say something and you can think oh my God I did that but did you really do that and there were very few instances in this book where the statements that needed to be had were given and that is definitely something that in this book I did not enjoy one of the biggest subjects in this book as the book goes on is obviously Lily's past relationship with Ryle it's a recurring thing and it keeps coming up because they're co-parenting however the book lacks the conversation surrounding sometimes when these situations are happening behind closed doors and then people find out friends and family it's gonna be a weird line to walk because they're still gonna hold defection over the person committing the crime but they are also gonna want to hold them accountable and although it does happen sometimes in the book how many chances are too many chances on all ants from friends from Family from Lily herself and I think that is something that the book does not explore very well and Adler us although significantly less toxic than many of calling Hoover love interests still has his own issues with possessiveness and control this whole hero complex that he has and again continues to develop as the book goes on is really just another form of control for him to show up and help her in whatever way he can and a lot of the time that's not her choice but he is just giving those things to her it's not wholly a bad thing but it is still a form of control and not only that but we see this one particular scene in the book where Ryle and Atlas are having a conversation and it really ruffled my feathers Royal is just constantly being aggressive he is definitely not dropped a lot of his abusive techniques and the minute he talks to Atlas he magically starts stepping back and while it's true that when you've got some really strong support that happens it really is just playing into the whole internalized misogyny thing that I'm definitely not a fan of that keeps coming up in books like these all in all were there things I enjoyed yes were there things I didn't enjoy yes I think it falls at like a 2.5 for me like right smack down the middle where truly a lot of things could have been done better and I wish they would have been so that's kind of where I stand with this and now for the final showdown we've got November 9. why is this horrifying let me just keep this honest I think there's loads to be said as I've mentioned with ugly love about the marketing of these books and these being pit as romances I also think there is a lot to be said about romances fantasy romances because it tends to cross over with a variety of different genres how these books end up romanticizing toxic relationships toxic situations and end up in a way glorifying them so that people will find them to be the norm and I think there's also a lot to be said about people reading certain books and it's happened to me too in the past like I'm Not Innocent of that but it happens to a lot of people where sometimes we read books and we open them and we're like oh my God it's so good and I don't know if it's either the fact that we're already desensitized to these things or where it comes down to but we can't really notice that these things are toxic and I think this book is the prime example of that now if you don't know what this book is about we follow our main character Fallon and Fallon used to be a child actor her father is also an actor and she was in a fire accident that left her entire left side of the body where with a burn marks and because of it her father always sort of pushed this idea that she would not fit into the acting industry or any sort of Industry that relied on the visual just because of her scars she finds herself believing that because it's always been reaffirmed in her life and then one day she's having lunch with her dad they're talking about her moving to New York to pursue acting in Broadway and it is there that we meet the love interest Ben Ben ends up sliding into the booth to save the day which in and of itself is sort of a red flag I can't find many instances about why a man should sit down beside you to quote unquote save you it's supposed to be like a cute act but it's sort of creepy to begin with and then not only that but a lot of what is happening in this book is her building her confidence through his words of affirmation but his words of affirmation are very backhanded he constantly reaffirms how people are so uncomfortable looking at her and it's her fault because of the way she dresses and because of the way she acts and because of the way she carries herself and he is constantly pushing this idea that she shouldn't be ashamed of her body and that's starting from now on you're not gonna allow that shame to come in it's very sort of keep calm and carry on in the worst way possible because he is not allowing Rome for the trauma that is already pre-existing in her life and he is also not acknowledging that at any point of the book which is very very disturbing to me and so there's lines like you're the one making people uncomfortable and it's your choice to do that or I hope people laugh at you because at least it means that you're trying with acting but that's not the way to say things then he was also at some point talking about how he is not an alpha male and he doesn't really fit The Stereotype of like a romance novel because she is very into books which by the way there are things that in books just are very cringe the fact that she keeps mentioning how she has a TBR pile I know it's supposed to be super quirky I don't care I don't give a and then at some point she's like well he's maybe much more different alpha male than he initially believes how is that supposed to be cute there are literal passages in this book like from now on when you think about your scars you aren't allowed to resent them sir who are you to tell her what she can and cannot feel especially when it's a trauma response and there is a lot of healing to be done in that I just absolutely hate how he diminishes the pain she feels and here's the thing don't get me wrong I'm not asking for this book to be completely realistic and to not contain those toxic elements however there is a distinction between having toxic elements just for the sake of it and vilifying certain characters just for the sake of it and playing up how people are so evil and how they're so villainous just because you need somebody to hate in the book other than your main characters that are very clearly terrible there is a difference between that and then actually establishing conversations about toxicity and navigating those conversations in a very nuanced way instead of romanticizing them and glorifying them as we tend to see in these books and honestly what it boils down to to is I don't need it to be realistic at least just make it make sense that's all I ask make it make sense because here the math is not mapping and the literature is not literaturing like I just help that's what that's I need help the book doesn't even need help the book I need help so yes I am indeed having a horrible time with this and I think what is making it even worse for me is the fact that these characters have really only known each other for five hours at a time the very first section of the book is the first November 9th that they experience together and so they meet they hang out for about five hours ish and then they don't see each other again for a year and then they meet up again in the next November 9th and it's also like a five and a half hour meet up and so at this point if that's all this book is going to be like if this whole story is reduced to only like 20 hours of their lives you can't expect to fall in love with somebody and totally know who they are in that amount of time I generally need somebody to remind me why I'm reading this willing way they're having sex just girly things and he tells her thank you for this beautiful gift baby you have already made this the best sex I've ever had and I'm not even inside you yet I'm saying that real slow so y'all can process that because what the am I read oh my God I am going to have a reaction right now not him dictating everything she has to do and how she has to feel but the minute she wants to do something that is actually smart he goes you can't just agree to love me and then take it back because you don't think it's what's best for me that's not how it works the Audacity Of Men oh my god oh my God what an emotionally manipulative you're kidding me you know what he's asking you to give him a chance to give him a choice but he doesn't want to give you a choice oh my God please tell me this is not the process of this book girly Pop I don't think this is made up the call is coming from inside the house baby girl it would actually be hard of you do you want to bite it not even Vin will bite this this is how you know it's bad now let me tell you something right now I have never been this happy that a video is over first of all and never will I ever pick up another Colleen Hoover book I've officially I'm done with Miss calling Hoover I don't like it I'm not for it the fact that once more she utilizes somebody's drama her character's drama completely a choice on her end as an author and she utilizes that as a plot twist with no trigger warnings with no warning whatsoever and all of these books are pitched sold put on the Shelf as a romance books is something that continues to rub me the wrong way but what it communicates to a lot of readers is that it's okay if romance looks like this it's okay if you decide to forgive people for things like these and I think in this particular book there's a lot more gray area because is the act that leads to a lot in this book is not necessarily Insidious but him befriending her I would say is pretty Insidious only because he is aware of a really big thing that concerns her and he does not disclose that ever up until she finds out and not only that but then the author Colleen Hoover has a choice makes her ask for his forgiveness at the end when that is not something that she needs to request ask or do anything with if anything he should be apologizing and even then it's not it's not his job to apologize if he doesn't want to do it she has nothing to apologize for and the fact that that is the route she takes as an author of yes once more let me grab my female character and put her in a position where she succumbs in a way to the male character and that she is the one that needs to apologize because as a woman she's in the wrong Vin is also scratching the couch she is also angry and so this is definitely the worst book I've read in this video I think the way a lot of things are phrased are just terrible the fact that in his letter is like well you've got two options and one of them is to just stop reading the manuscript and to come forgive me again it really is the lack of nuance that bothers me in every single one of her books but in this one in particular the fact that her trauma is continuously brushed away it's just so nonsensical to me and again not asking for it to be wholly realistic but at least make it make sense at least make these conversations that are so sensitive be navigated in a way that makes sense even if that is not the intent of the book sometimes impact Trump's intent we know this but it really is the fact that inadvertently authors with these sorts of plot lines and stories can end up glorifying normalizing desensitizing people to the idea that this is what love is supposed to be that it's okay if love looks like this and no if love looks like this run away because you should never be put into a situation like this where you associate the meaning words the meaning behavior and toxicity as words of affirmation and love and so I don't like that I don't like that at all and listen young adult adult middle grade all of that is just an age suggestion but I know if I would have read this in high school and it's like full disclosure I'm Not Innocent of those things but I know if I would have read this in high school without having sort of the proper tools and knowledge to distinguish one thing from the next I probably would have loved this I probably would have looked at this and gone oh my God that is so cute look at how he treats her and loves her and that is the sad reality I know a lot of people are gonna be mad with me about this subject matter as well because there's a lot of people who love these books and don't get me wrong that's not my intention I never want to on whatever people are reading and liking and enjoying if it gets people reading that's one thing all together but I do think there's bigger conversations to be had about this that's the bottom line for me I'm not rating this because if I have to rate this on a scale from one to five I will probably have an aneurysm and I don't want to go through that so yes that is where I kept this video I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did don't forget to give it a massive Thumbs Up Down Below and leave me a comment down below as well have you read any of these books have you read Colleen Hoover what do you think about these books what do you think about the conversation overall I'd love to have you guys bitched in because I think it is a great conversation and discussion to be had obviously in the most respectful way possible because I know this is very sensitive but I'd love to hear you guys takes down in the comments if you want to leave that don't forget to subscribe down below if you haven't done so already and if you want to support the channel further I do have a patreon it is linked down below you'd be able to see me read books like these on live shows and see like my live reactions and be able to pitch in in the chat which is always super fun and also you guys will find out about video projects um beforehand and just a bunch of other stuff book clubs Discord servers readathons the whole 90 yards we are also doing a little Rebrand income the new year and I'm super super excited for it that is it for today I love you guys so much and I shall see you on the next one bye\n"