Ugly Love Book Review

Title: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Rating: 10 orange juice jugs out of 10
What It's About: Tate moves in next door to Miles and the two decide to start a "no strings attached" sexual relationship, but then they start to fall in love with each other, but Miles' tragic back story is preventing them from actually being together.
Recommended For: Fans of J. Lynn's "Wait For You" series

Review: This isn't the first Colleen Hoover book I've read, but it is the first contemporary NA book of hers that I've read and I'm starting to see what all the hype is about with her. Normally in contemporary romance, the tragic back story for whichever character is suffering from the "I want to love you but my past is getting in the way" trope, is very cliche. "My daddy didn't love me," "I've had my heart broken before," "I'm just not good for you." They're all so played out. But with Ugly Love, there was a really, REALLY tragic story behind why Miles couldn't let himself pursue a romantic relationship with Tate, and it was the first time I'd read about the complicated love interest being complicated for this certain reason (which I'm not going to spoil). I think that this back story worked even better because of the way that the book is written. There are chapters in the present from Tate's point of view, where she talks about how frustrating it is that Miles won't tell her anything about his past, but those chapters are alternated with Miles' flashbacks to six years ago. The flashbacks lead to a climax where we finally find out what happened to Miles, and it's much sadder than you think it's going to be when you start the book. Another thing I really liked about this book was that even though Tate is the main character, this is Miles' story. He's the character that grows the most and goes through all the development, Tate is just a catalyst for that to happen. Normally, I'd be like "why is the girl only here so the man can get his shit together?" but the moral of this story is the most important part, and the moral comes from Miles' character arc. The lesson he learns is what's supposed to stick with the reader, and it's a good thing that the romance was a little sidelined so that the reader could focus on what Miles was going through. It's not often that we see New Adult books that go beyond "hot 20-somethings have sex and there are mild inconveniences thrown in." There's an actual story to be told with Ugly Love. And it's a pretty great story.

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