Confess by Colleen Hoover The Book with the Art of Confession

Book Synopsis

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). Confess - Goodreads

 

 

My Opinion

3.50/5 stars.

This is the second book by Colleen Hoover I've read - my first being Ugly Love. To be honest, I picked up this book because I heard that there is going to be a TV show coming up. I saw the first two episodes and I was hooked to the story; thus, I thought I should give the book a try. (Plus the leading actors looked good together.)

So... I read the book after I saw the TV show and I do not regret that. In my opinion, the book and the TV show complete each other... But enough about the show and let's talk about the book.

My overall impression... It is an unique story and real but not flawless. The story flowed nicely. The characters fit together splendidly driving the action of the story quite well. Owen and Auburn have a great chemistry; although, chemistry is not the equivalence love. From Owen's perspective, I was able to understand the romance by the end of the book due to past circumstances - and if you read the book, you know what I am talking about. Not so much from Auburn's perspective. From her point of view, Owen sometimes was quite the creep. Do not get this wrong. I liked him. He was the sweet, good, and honorable guy. The things he said sometimes to Auburn, without her knowing what connected them, should have made her run away a little...

I understood what the author tried to do but she relied to much on the "fate" concept and not so much on the power to make a decision, to take action in your life. That left the story unresolved - literary - and underdeveloped. It felt rushed leaving plenty of room for a novella or a second book... Which... I wouldn't mind if it means that I will have a better resolution.

Despite the sad parts, there are a lot of funny scenes too.

After Ugly Love, I was expecting more from Colleen Hoover since she has such a beautiful writing style.

Overall, this was my cup of tea. And, if it happens for you to be a fan of Colleen's let me know what is your opinion on this book, the Confess TV show, and her other books.

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^

 

Genre: Romance, New Adult, Contemporary, Fiction

Language: moderate

Sexual content: heavy

Violence: moderate to heavy

Drugs/Alcohol: moderate to heavy-ish

 

P.S.

Feel Free to check out my Confess show info -->HERE<--while admiring the TV show inspired book cover below.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid kemmerer which Turn into E-mails Faster than You Can Say "Letters"

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Book Synopsis

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother's death, she leaves letters at her grave. It's the only way Juliet can cope.
Declan Murphy isn't the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he's trying to escape the demons of his past.
When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he's opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they're not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. Letters to the Lost - Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Opinion

4.5/5 stars

 I requested this book somewhat blindly from NetGalley. It looked and sounded interesting so... I thought I should give it a shot. Oh, boy! I was not disappointed.
It was a light read and easy to follow with a nice flow of events. Letters to the Lost brings into question the society and its views. Perfect families are not perfect. People can be both villains and heroes at the same time. People are people no matter the age. Lack of communication and expression of feelings can get you in deep trouble with those around you. Being misunderstood is a consequence of that. From all these books I am reading lately, including this one, I get this feeling that they are trying to transmit a message: Do not lie or, so called, protect the children from problems because things have their own way at getting back at you and backfire. Secrets are not good in a family. Children do not need to be protected from problems all the time. They need to understand and have someone to guide them through problems  because they need to learn. You can't just dump the problems onto a child's shoulders either. There has to be a balance. In my opinion, this book does a great job at presenting all these ethical issues. Also... Let's just say that in some parts... it does too much and, for me, it was quite far fetched. Oh! That might be the case because I've seen that plot twist so many times in books, movies, and TV shows. I mean, come on! It was obvious. :D
The dynamic  between the main characters is interesting. We are able to see the general two sides of human nature: the societal act and the true self. I can say the anonymous conversations were good therapy sessions for the two of them. Overall their story has a realistic-ish but beautiful resolution - too fast maybe? The romance factor was... yes and no at times. Don't get me wrong, it played nicely for the overall story. Although, it lacked some depth due to the issue I am going to discuss below.
The females in the book felt shallow and underdeveloped as characters. I was more connected with Declan which is not a bad thing... I wanted to see more sides of Juliet through her grief and sorrow. And this is my mature brain speaking, she spent a great deal of the book over idolizing her mother than paying attention to herself and others. And her best friend was just there. By the end of the storyline, I was not able to comprehend her existence in this novel. She had lots of potential from the bits of information I got about her from Juliet. Throughout the whole book, I was expecting her to be a back stabbing traitor but it was not like that - thank goodness! More details about the females characters were needed compared to the male ones. I do not know... You can say it was understandable since it is a light tragic young adult novel.  (I cannot believe that I've jut put "light" and "tragic" in the same sentence and in close proximity.) Or, that is just how I perceive it.

Finally, get some melancholic instrumental music, ask for magical power to make the weather gloomy and - by the end of the book - sunny, and see if this is your cup of tea.

 

This is my sole opinion. ^_^

 

I would like to say thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Language: none to mild
Sexual content: mild
Violence: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: moderate