Title: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: August 5th, 2014
Standalone/Series: Standalone
Genre: Romance – Contemporary – Adult
Goodreads link
My rating in stars: 3,5 stars
My rating in words: I liked it
What it’s about:
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.
Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.
Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.
My thoughts:
This is a tricky one. I have mixed feelings about this book: overall I liked it, at some points I really loved it but at some points I got extremely frustrated. I know this is a super popular and hyped book, so this review may feature some unpopular opinions.
It did not take long for me to become completely invested in the story. Immediately after the first chapter I was hooked and I did not want to stop reading. I finished the book in 24 hours, which says a lot about its addictive qualities. I liked the dual POV’s of present day Tate and 6-years-ago Miles a lot, I think it really added a nice layer to the story and increased my curiosity. Because how could the Miles from 6 years ago that loved with all his heart ever become the present day Miles who never wants to love again? What happened to make him this way? This question drives the entire story and just like Tate, I as a reader was dying to find out.
At first I also really, really loved the chemistry between Tate and Miles. They were just sizzling and their scenes together were nice and steamy. I loved all of that. The story had the potential to become a 4 to 5 star read to me.
“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.”
But then my feelings became a bit more mixed up. Because while I did really like Miles, I could not understand why Tate kept on going back to him when he was most definitely not treating her as she deserved. Yes, he was clear from the beginning there was no future for them and she agreed. BUT once she started having feelings for him and once she started getting really hurt because he was not planning on loving her, she should have ended it.
“I’m terrified to lose him for good, so I sell myself short and take what I can from him, even though I know I deserve better.”
The whole middle part was just a repetition of:
Tate thinks Miles is great – sex in random place – he clarifies he doesn’t love her – Tate is hurt – Tate sees Miles again – Tate thinks Miles is great – sex in random place – etcetera.
For a little bit I can take that. I understood Tate. Miles was a great guy and because of his POV six years ago I knew he would have some very good reasons to change like that. But Tate started as such a great and strong character and something in me just could not take her acting like such a doormat for that long.
I did like the ending. The revelation was painful and heartbreaking and I did like how it was handled and how Miles eventually came to terms with it. I like how he went ahead and tried to fix it. I also did not mind the unique poetic writing style for the Miles chapters. It thought it was a nice change from usual styles and I found it fitting with the way Miles was and how he thought about life and love.
“God gives us the ugliness so we don’t take the beautiful things in life for granted.”
Overall I did like this book, even though it did frustrate me at some points. Will I read another Colleen Hoover book? For sure. Would I recommend this book to anyone? I need more time to process, but probably yes. Will I watch the movie? Definitely. I actually think I may like this better in movie format, if only because it feels shorter so I will have less time to get annoyed with the characters.
Favorite quotes:
“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 the ugly. So you give it all up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly love again.”
“What rules?”
“Well, for one, I’m not allowed to break your heart,” he says. “Second, I’m also not allowed to break your damn heart. And last, I’m not allowed to fucking break your damn heart.”
“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.”