Review: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

Title: All Your Perfects
Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: New Adult/Adult Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: July 17, 2018
GoodReads

Synopsis:

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

Review:

I love Colleen Hoover’s books because they’re all so real. She manages to nail every emotion, action, and moment so perfectly that her books hit you right in the feels every single time.

This book moves back and forth between the “Now” and “Then”. “Now” tells us the story of Quinn and Graham in present day and the struggles they’re experiencing in their marriage. “Then” brings us back into time to about 10 years prior and walks us through the couple’s relationship at the beginning.

All Your Perfects opens up dialogue around societal expectations, and how even the most mundane and traditional questions can hurt people. I was watching Don’t Trust the B**** in Apartment 23, and one of the characters was pretending to be in a wheelchair during thanksgiving. As they went around the table, everyone was saying they were thankful for their family, their friends, yams, and this girl suddenly snapped and asked why people weren’t thankful for their legs and their ability to walk. All Your Perfects raises a similar question. What do we take for granted on a daily basis? Why are the struggles we face only up for conversation behind closed doors? And why is it taboo to be open about the obstacles we face?

This novel addresses everyday, human struggles, and how much work and effort is needed to sustain a relationship with another human being for the the rest of your life. It’s so easy to say you’ll make a commitment to another person, but executing that commitment in both the good and bad times is so hard. As much as we try to be, we are not always perfect.

I read this book three months ago, and just thinking about it again has me in tears, and I just can’t. When I get my physical copy in the next few days, I’m doing a reread, because it was just that good. If you’re picking up this book, get ready for a love story that will change hearts, mend marriages, and affect the way you see love. Honestly the best book of the year, hands down.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: ALL THE STARS.
GoodReads Rating: 4.46/5

Book Depository Buy Link

eARC obtained via Simon and Schuster Canada and Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Giveaway: Without Merit (OR Book of Your Choice)

Because I feel like we need more good things and deeds in the world, I’ve decided to give away 3 copies of Without Merit by @colleenhoover! (YES, that means 3 winners!) This is one of my most anticipated reads this year so I want to share it with everyone.
🍁
(Note: If you win and want a different book, I’d be happy to give that to you instead, as long as it’s of relatively similar value.)
🍁
How to enter:
1. Like and comment on this post with something that makes you happy (+1 entry)
2. BONUS ENTRY: Comment with a (credible) charity that you support (Up to 3 times, separate comments). 1 extra entry if the charity is related to hurricane relief or the recent shooting in Las Vegas. (Up to +6 entries)
3. BONUS ENTRY: DM me with proof of a recent (within the past two weeks) donation. (+10 entries)
4. BONUS ENTRY: Share this post on any social media platform and comment with the link (+1 entry)
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Rules:
-Must be 18+ (or have parent/guardian permission to enter)
-Must be following me (on any of my channels)
-Book Depository must ship to you.
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Giveaway ends Oct 13, 2017 at 11:59PM EST.
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This giveaway is not associated with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or WordPress in any way.

Review: Confess

 

Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: March 10, 2015
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
GoodReads

Synopsis:

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

HOLY MOTHER OF TEARS. That hurt. Like good hurt. For the most part.

The prologue tore my heart to pieces ’cause it was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. However, the book couldn’t make me love it.

The romance, first of all, was too easy. It was too instant, and too much all at once. When I finished, I thought about it and realized that the two only actually knew each other for about a week, max. Sure, it was a week that got split up across a longer timeline, but essentially it was a week. We actually saw more of the antagonist than the protagonist’s love interest and that annoyed me, especially since they were basically declaring their eternal love for each other by the end of the novel. Like please. No.

That being said, I LOVED the concept behind Owen’s studio. It breaks my heart that every single confession in this book is real and was submitted by actual people, who actually experienced these things, or are still experiencing these things. Yes, some of them were beautiful, lovely, and cute, but others were heartbreaking and awful to read, but at the same time, gave the book something real to hold onto. And the art was fantastic. I love Hoover’s need to put a unique spin on all her books – the was spoken word poetry, a deaf artist, journal entries of the past, etc., and now art. This concept was amazing, and I think it was awesome of Hoover to have her fans participate in this.

Auburn was a fine character. She was quite whiny at times, but overall, my feelings towards her a neutral. She didn’t bore me to tears, but at the same time, my heart didn’t fall to pieces when she told her story. Same with Owen. I couldn’t make myself care about his character, especially since much of the novel could have been solved if he had told Auburn the truth, or the police the truth. Either or would have worked really.

That being said, I really hated the antagonists in this novel. They were annoying to read, and I even wanted to punch them a couple of times based on what they said. Even then, however, Auburn never made a huge comeback for me. She was tossed to the ground so often that I wanted to kick those who tortured her, but at the same time, she was so passive about it all that she made me almost not care about the situation, thus dampening the impact of the story on me. She never fought back until the very end, and even then it was only half-way to what I had wanted.

Overall, a fantastic concept, but the overall execution left something to be desired.

Plot: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
GoodReads Rating: 4.33/5

Day 29: A Book You Couldn’t Put Down

Every book! Can’t say that? Shame. UH… Most recently would be Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover.

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.

Cover Reveal: Ugly Love

Ah~! The cover is out for Colleen Hoover’s to-be-released novel, Ugly Love, which comes out August 5th!

Here it is:

Title: Ugly Love
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: August 5, 2014
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
GoodReads

Synopsis:

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.

Day 18: An Author You Wish Was More Well-Known.

This is hard because most of the smaller authors I was tooting about last year are pretty darn big now. I’ll go with what I had before though, because I honestly can’t think of anyone else – though I do have one name to add.

Colleen Hoover

I still love her books. All of them. And yes, I have read all of them. Each of her series is unique and love how her characters come alive and the plot keeps you at the edge of your seat. And 90% of the time, it will feel wrong rooting for the main couple, but that’s what she wants, and I love how she just strings readers along for the ride of their life. Her newest book, Maybe Someday, and the book before that, Losing Hope, were two amazing books that I’d recommend everyone look into.

Tammara Webber

She’s been one of my favourite authors since I read her book Easy. However, she really captured my heart with her Between the Lines series. The four book series had some of the best character development ever. I loved the characters, the plots, the romances. It was a great series that really change my perspective of the NA genre, as these fictional actors/actresses, ages 21-24, grew in front of my eyes. With each book, each character got better and I love the series to bits.

Rainbow Rowell

I’ve only read one book by her, but I plan on reading many more in the future (I own them and everything, now I just have to read them). I really enjoyed how the characters in Fangirl were so real and so utterly relatable. I think that’s the part that got me. This girl, so similar to me, got her happy ending. It makes everything seem more attainable. What I also loved was the fact that the book hadn’t been centered on romance. Sure, there was some, but the novel stepped away from all the hot and heavy, romantic, sex-filled novels that seem to make up most of the NA genre. In fact, it’s so tame, it’s often considered YA, even though the characters have finished the whole high school thing and are in university. I liked that, for once, it didn’t seem like I was living my university life wrong.

—

I’m sure there are more authors out there who are absolutely amazing, but these were the first to come to mind. Other notable authors, who I haven’t really looked in to, aside from just reading one book by them, was Beth Pond (author of Podium Finish), Jacqueline Garlick (author of Lumieré), Kara Taylor (author of Prep School Confidential), and Mia Sheridan (author of Archer’s Voice).

Book & Music Blast: Maybe Someday

If you don’t know already, Colleen Hoover has been one of my favourite authors since I read Slammed back in 2013. Since then, I’ve read and loved all of her books. Yesterday, her newest novel Maybe Someday was released and from what I’ve heard, it’s amazing ! I have yet to get my own copy, but I will soon (first, I need money…) !

Title: Maybe Someday
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: March 18, 2014
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
GoodReads

Synopsis:

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

Book Buy Links:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBook
Kobo

But Wait…

Colleen collaborated with Griffin Peterson to write the songs featured in this novel. Not only that, Griffin went on to record them, compiling them into a CD!

Here are the tracks:

1	Living a Lie	Griffin Peterson	4:31
2	Something	Griffin Peterson	3:37
3	A Little Bit More	Griffin Peterson	3:18
4	Maybe Someday	Griffin Peterson	3:59
5	I’m in Trouble	Griffin Peterson	3:00
6	It’s You	Griffin Peterson	2:43
7	Hold On to You	Griffin Peterson	3:51
8	Let It Begin	Griffin Peterson	2:54

CD Buy Links:
iTunes
Signed CDs from Griffin’s Site

About the Author:

Colleen Hoover is the New York Times bestselling author ofSlammed, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, This Girl, Losing Hope andFinding Cinderella.  In December 2012, The New York Times wrote about the New Adult phenomenon, mentioning Colleen Hoover’s NYT bestseller, Slammed.  She was interviewed by the Associated Press for a news article and featured in the nationally broadcast show ABC Nightline, (aired in February 2013) where she spoke about her books and her writing process.  She was interviewed onCBS This Morning, which aired in May 2013.  Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.

Facebook || Twitter || Website

About the Musician:

Griffin Peterson is a songwriter and artist living in Nashville. After his run on American Idol, he graduated from Belmont University and has been concentrating on releasing his first EP.  Griffin and Colleen collaborated on her previous title, Losing Hope, on which Griffin graced the cover.  Now he brings his musical talent to accentuate Colleen’s pages.

Facebook || Twitter || Website

Day 6: The Best Book You’ve Read in the Last Year

. . . -rolls back to my book list- UH… Just to toss some titles out there, I LOVED Here Without You, the 4th book in Tammara Webber’s Between the Lines Series, as well as Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, the 2nd book in the Shatter Me Trilogy, and Crash Into You by Katie McGarry. However, favourite book of the past year would have to be Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover.

Title: Losing Hope [Hopeless #2]
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: July 8, 2013
Genre: Young Adult/New Adult Contemporary
GoodReads

Synopsis:

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.

Day 2: Your 10 Favourite Books of All Time.

UMMMM… how do I choose only TEN. -flails- Don’t worry, I’m not going to do a consecutive 100 books. I’ll stick with ten… -kicks rocks around forlornly-

1. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Yeah, I’m mentioning this book again… Sorry.)

 

2. Clockwork Princess [The Infernal Devices #1] by Cassandra Clare

 

3. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

 

4. The Reckoning [Darkest Powers #3] by Kelley Armstrong

5. Here Without You [Between the Lines #4] by Tammara Webber

6. Unravel Me [Shatter Me #2] by Tahereh Mafi

7. Losing Hope [Hopeless #2] by Colleen Hoover

8. Shine [Shade #3] by Jeri Smith-Ready

9. The Odyssey by Homer

10. Easy by Tammara Webber

Day 1: Most Anticipated Book of 2014.

Because I’m way too much of a bookworm to choose one, I chose five that I’m REALLY looking forward to. Here they are.

1. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover – Release Date: March 18, 2014

Synopsis:

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

2. Breakable by Tammara Webber – Release Date: May 6, 2014

Synopsis:

He was lost and alone. Then he found her.
And the future seemed more fragile than ever.

As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise — until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.

All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…

As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.

Note: “Breakable is not a sequel. It’s a prequel story from Landon and the Easy story from Lucas. …Breakable is Lucas’s story – for those of you who wanted inside his head. It can be read as a stand-alone of its own, or as a companion to Easy.“

3. Ignite Me [Shatter Me #3] by Tahereh Mafi – Release Date: February 4, 2014

 

Synopsis:

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she’ll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as “a gripping read from an author who’s not afraid to take risks.” The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was “dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense.” Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

4. Wicked Little Secrets [Prep School Confidential #2] by Kara Taylor – Release Date: March 4, 2014

 

Synopsis:

Anne Dowling—a fresh, original, and funny new YA heroine whose knowing, irreverent voice will remind readers of Pretty Little Liars and Private—is back for her second semester at Wheatley Prep. Although things have settled (somewhat) since her roommate Isabella’s death, Anne’s still kind of obsessed with the disappearance of Wheatley student Matthew Weaver thirty years ago, since she found a picture of him and his crewmates with the words “they killed him” scrawled on the back among Isabella’s things.

When Anne learns that her boyfriend Brent’s dad is one of the now-powerful Wheatley alumni who rowed crew with Matthew, and that the crew team continues to induct new members with a creepy-sounding ritual called “The Drop,” she knows further investigation could put her relationship with Brent in danger. Determined to discover the truth, she reaches out to Anthony, Isabella’s townie brother, who helps her delve deeper into the secrets in Wheatley’s past. Secrets someone would kill to keep hidden. As the school’s Spring Formal—and its notorious afterparty—approaches, Anne sees the perfect opportunity to do some off-campus digging into the lives of Wheatley’s VIPs in this thrilling, unputdownable read—but if she’s not careful, she’ll be the next student who never comes back.

5. Landline by Rainbow Rowell – Release Date: July 8, 2014

 

Synopsis:

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .

Is that what she’s supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Note: This is not an exhaustive list, I have about 100 books, that I can’t wait for, they just didn’t have covers yet, or I wasn’t SUPER SUPER excited for them, so I did put ’em (i.e. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, Throne of Glass book #3 (still untitled) by Sarah J. Maas, What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick, Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, All That Glows by Ryan Graudin, Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong, Be With My by J. Lynn, etc).

Also, I want to hear from you! Which books are you looking forward to most this year?