(currently trying hard in school so that's why i'm not active anymore and im sorry about it I read smut when I can bc it helps me with my anxiety but E(currently trying hard in school so that's why i'm not active anymore and im sorry about it I read smut when I can bc it helps me with my anxiety but Elle kennedy did not give what was needed there)
OK. So... At first, I didn't want to read this book AT ALL. I've decided after reading The Deal that, even if it was a good romance in my opinion, i will not continue the series bc 1) im not interested enough about the characters 2) the way college athletes were portrayed by Elle Kennedy (what they say to girls, what they say to other boys, what they think about themselves) was cringey as fuck. But I've seen people talking about Dean on booktok TOO MANY TIMES. Like he was the favorite after Garrett. So I told myself, maybe you can give it a try. WTH IS THIS. Dean calling his dick Little dean was enough for me to close the book, you know. But I kept reading and it kept getting worse. Their first sex scene (after the one that is not described) was so poorly written, they kept talking and saying cringey things, it was horrible. Usually when there is spice, I get kind of excited and stuff... lol u know..... but with their sex scene ? i wanted to laugh. Also, can authors stop with the golden vagina trope ? This is irritating and ridiculous, just like the magic dick trope in The Deal. DNF...more
I said I wanted to read other Penelope Douglas books because I found her writing addictive in Punk 57. I regret this idea. Her writing DNF @ 85% 1,5/5
I said I wanted to read other Penelope Douglas books because I found her writing addictive in Punk 57. I regret this idea. Her writing in Bully was really bad. And so was the story.
Bully screams Wattpad to me, and in a terrible way. I mean : many well-known tropes used, some tension, but a poorly written, and in the end just a worthless story full of bullshit you will easily forget.
I tried my best to enjoy this book and keep reading. Although at one point the story really excited me, it also irritated me to the point where I couldn't stand to read it anymore. Yeah, when the author tried to make Maddoc likeable, Maddoc the fucking abuser, that's when I said stop.
Btw, can Penelope Douglas stop writing about teenagers and putting them in such situations ? Why do they have to be 17 ?
Many things bothered me: - Tate is an insufferable character. Being into her mind made me want to jump off a cliff. She slut-shames absolutely every girl in this fucking book, even her best friend, because they wear certain clothes or get too close to Jared. She thinks she's better than those girls for some obscure reason. Being a virgin doesn't make you superior, sweetheart. An absolutely hilarious moment: She reprimands Ben for jumping to conclusions about KC, then a page later, A PAGE LATER, she says about a girl that she "looked trashy in her short, tight black dress and heels. Who wore heals to the beach ?"
An absolutely jaw-dropping passage too: "Ben and his friends were about as interesting as cornflakes, the girls had no other interests beside shopping and makeup" girl stfu you're so annoying. A judgmental ass as a main character in a NA book ? I'm so surprised !
Speaking of Ben, he was lovely, kind to Tate, he respected her (and he was very attractive), but she found him boring for some dumb reasons such as him enjoying country music LMAO Is there any NA book where the good and respectful boys have some recognition? Or is it always all about the toxic and abusive guys who get away with everything they did before ?
And why does every main character in this genre have to be a virgin? And it's never for religious convictions!
- Jared so happy to hear she's a virgin. Disgusting.
- There is no girls supporting girls in this book and it makes me sick because that was also the case in Punk 57. Penelope Douglas seems to refuse to represent any kind of support between women, and prefers to represent us hating each other for some asshole's dick.
In one scene, Jared orders the girls in the gym group to leave the locker room to be alone with Tate, him her bully, and the girls obey without flinching. Absolutely none of them stayed. They left to find their teacher, yes, but Tate could have been sexually assaulted in that time. Why such reactions? Did he threaten the family of every student in this school? It just doesn't make sense. When one girl helps Tate, she asks her not to say she helped her because it could go bad for her and because Jared is a good guy (lmao). What the hell is this ? Is Jared part of the mafia?
- The completely senseless representation of how high schools work. The fact that such stupid rumors about Tate could convince even one person is surreal to me. Or the fact that Tate has such an effect on everyone that all the boys are suddenly interested in her after she comes back, and her whole class stares at her for absolutely no reason: is this a Hollywood movie?
- The friendship between KC and Tate. KC is the worst best friend in the entire world. She hooks up with her best friend's bully, kissing him and hanging out with him. KC even encourages Tate to forgive Jared for what he did just because he's hot, minimizing her trauma. HE BULLIED HER FOR OVER A YEAR, ISOLATED HER FROM THE REST OF THE SCHOOL, AND KEPT HER FROM HAVING BOTH FRIENDSHIPS AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS BECAUSE OF VILE RUMORS AND YOU TELL HER TO MOVE ON. What kind of best friend acts like that? That bitch deserved a few slaps, but Tate was so easily forgiving of her behaviour ; it drove me crazy.
- Speaking of forgiveness, Jared gets Tate back without ever groveling and I wanted to smash my phone on the floor. At 40% of the book, they hadn't had a single complicit moment, not a single sweet moment between the two of them where you would think "maybe Jared has feelings and regrets his behavior", there is NOTHING, Jared was dating her best friend, called Tate a slut, and he was overlooking the fact that his buddy Maddoc assaulted Tate. It was a VERY bad start to succeed in convincing me that he was feeling regret! I started to worry that his change in attitude towards her will be sudden, and not developed enough, so poorly written. My fears were confirmed.
I wrote in my notes after the monologue, "If Jared changes his behavior because of a monologue, I'm giving this book one star."
He changed his behavior because of a monologue.
His excuses for what he did are absolutely ridiculous and did not convince me. His story is sad but it doesn't make sense for him to attack Tate. Besides, it's also absurd that Tate never went to him to ask him about his bullying. Your best friend starts bullying you and making up rumors about you and you never go to him for an explanation? I would have insisted for weeks to understand! We're talking about your best friend!
"He can't win. He can't treat me like shit and then have me."
Of course he can. And he did.
"I wanted to forgive him and forget about everything right now, but my pride held me back." Forgiving him because he put lights on a tree ? are u serious ? God someone please sent her to therapy
Another one :
"I don't hate you. I mean I'm a little pissed, but mostly I just hate the wasted time."
he bullied you for a year and you're only "a little pissed" hmmm ok
- I couldn't appreciate the romance between them because of Jared. He was a piece of shit and did not deserve anything from Tate but disregard. The fact that after they kissed they had sex and everything, he still says horrible things to her infuriated me. Like this :
He pinned me with disdain. "I think we've moved beyond friends, Tate, but if you want to play that game, then fine. We can have a sleepover, but there will be fucking involved."
FUCK YOU JARED This guy is a f asshole ?? so you're telling me he was in love with her from the beginning, are you kidding me ?
Their relationship had nothing to be passionate about, it was awful. I didn't feel their connection, the love between them, it was just hate and angst and jealousy and desire to have sex.
I hated this book. The childhood friends to enemies to lovers trope is one of the best ones to me, but Penelope Douglas used it poorly. Unlike Punk 57, I couldn't even find some pleasure reading the smut, because it is in here kind of soft. I'm giving + 1/2 star only because I really enjoyed the tension between them in kissing scenes (I love the enemies to lovers tension), but that's it. Those characters are ridiculous and so is the story....more
I will try to explain why I don't like this book. It's almost a DNF - I couldn't get into the story, and while the writing was still enjoyable, Olive'I will try to explain why I don't like this book. It's almost a DNF - I couldn't get into the story, and while the writing was still enjoyable, Olive's annoying tendency to drool over Ethan on absolutely every page was starting to get on my nerves.So I skimmed through the second part to the end, without much regret, since it's the worst part of the story!
This book is overrated. I weigh my words. I don't understand how it's possible that a novel with so little character, so little singularity, can have such a buzz. Actually, no, I kind of get it - it's like reality TV. Does the fact that so many people watch it make it a work of art? No. If you ask viewers why they watch such a thing, they'll say, "it's funny, it kills time, it's kind of the same old thing, but I don't mind."
First of all,the setting of the book is completely far-fetched, surreal. Olive's sister who manages to finance her entire wedding with coupons, how ridiculous. Then the fact that everyone is excessively sick except the two lovebirds... I'm not asking for much, just a somewhat believable storyline. I started the book with a bit of annoyance.
The characters. They look like other characters of the same genre (chick-lit, with colorful covers like this one that I avoid like the plague now). Olive is clumsy, a bit wacky, talks a lot, and of course she is more beautiful than a goddess but pretends not to know it. Ethan is a jerk, mocking, handsome as a god, with a good situation.The two, of course, hate each other (The Hating Game who?). Or actually, no, they just pretend to. I've seen a lot of people say it's an enemies-to-lovers ; This is completely false, please don't mislead people. They were never actually enemies, they only bicker with each other as an old couple and that from their first moment together in the book. Olive pretends to hate him at the beginning while constantly drooling over him and thinking "why the hell does he hate me?"; say right away that you want to be his friend and stop the bullshit... I was very disappointed, I thought I was going to see some tension between the two but it's not really the case. This is only a fucking MISUNDERSTANDING. the fuck
Ethan is sorely lacking in charisma. Just because we are told he can hold a conversation with anyone doesn't mean his charm is palpable in the book. I like it when male characters are bold, charismatic, determined, a little bossy but not too much. I love it when they don't let themselves be manipulated and the love they have for the heroine is all that matters to them. Ethan is an indecisive, insecure, inconsistent man who doesn't know what he wants and doesn't know how to behave properly. The way he reacted when he saw his ex made me want to close the book. The way he reacted to Olive's accusations about his brother made me want to punch him.
So the romance is disappointing. Where are the emotions? Where is the tension? When do we see them fall in love? Where is the passion? The anticipation? When do they love each other enough to stand up for each other? to support each other? It was sorely lacking in intensity. They bicker a lot but I didn't feel a connection between them at all. The fact that Ethan's ex-girlfriend was present in their hotel annoyed me greatly because Ethan was really concerned about her, which emphasized the lack of chemistry between Olive and Ethan. I can't even console myself with sex scenes, since they are absent! They are suggested, but that's it. The kissing scenes are also poorly written, total lack of tension. Then, when they return from the honeymoon, the fact that Ethan is defensive and refuses to support Olive really pissed me off and I realized one thing: of course I didn't feel the love, since there was none! no evidence!
A lot of embarrassing scenes that made me cringe. It was not funny, it was just cringey. I'm not here to read some cartoon stuff. I'm here for a good romance. But anyway...
The end. Ethan tries to put things right in the conclusion of the book, but it's over the top, it's corny, it didn't work for me at all. The second part was very annoying and then the whole drama is running out of steam in a quick and sudden way. I was left unimpressed and pissed off.
Why 2 stars then ? I liked the writing style, it's quite addictive. Olive isn't an insufferable character, aside from the fact that she never stops describing every bit of Ethan's skin and every move he makes while drooling over him. I can see why people might like reality TV, because you turn your brain off. Just like with this book....more
Too Late is the worst book CoHo has ever written. No one can convince me otherwise. I think it is impossible to do worse.
I absolutely ha(read in 2020)
Too Late is the worst book CoHo has ever written. No one can convince me otherwise. I think it is impossible to do worse.
I absolutely hated everything in this book. CoHo tried something different, darker, but totally failed.
- Annoying and unbearable characters. Sloan was so passive and whiny, reaching such a point that I wanted to punch her. She is portrayed as someone strong when all she knows how to do is cry and let herself be walked over. I didn't like her at all. I didn't understand why she didn't leave Ash (girl, go get a job, whatever this job is?) and let herself be treated that way. She could totally escape this relationship on her own. If I had really felt all the pressure Ash was putting on her, I might have understood her reactions. But it was very poorly executed.
Obviously, the poor weak little woman needs her Prince to come and save her. Carter is the most annoying thing we do in terms of male characters - he's perfect, sexy, he is a hero and in love with the lady in five seconds. He didn't touch me either, since he isn't really developed. He's mostly used to free Sloan from Ash. Finally, and this is rather ridiculous, the only character who is a bit special and interesting is Ash. But his thoughts were so disjointed, incoherent, that I felt like I was reading a caricature.
- The romance bothered me. Instalove. I like it when the romance is built slowly enough that you can understand why the two characters fall in love. Here, it's rushed too quickly. I didn't feel any depth.
- The story really tries too hard to seem obscure. Unnecessary drama, and over the top. The ending..... ugh. The author didn't highlight enough the trauma Sloan went through with her relationship with Ash. She gets away with it too quickly and immediately want revenge.
Ultimately, the message of this book - about the danger of toxic relationships - loses credibility and everything just completely sucks.
Their relationship at first, ohhhhhh so perfect... The superfluous promises that made me roll my eyes... The stupid and aberrant moral of the story that says that when the love of your life dies, you have to stay faithful to him at all costs until you join him in the stars (and not enjoy the life you have left, fall in love again, just keep loving)...
The guy who repeats Poppy Poppy Poppy ten times a page as if she had forgotten her name... The naivety that shines through their love (I didn't think I was so insensitive to childhood loves until I read this book)... Their statements that made me smile the way I smile when my little cousin tells me she's going to marry her kindergarten teacher, with disillusionment and an undertone: "Ah, you have so much more to learn"... The two main characters without any personality, laughably inconsistent, who spend their time kissing each other, say I love you and promise each other the moon (as for the secondary characters, I don't even remember them)...
In short, this novel is surely too childish for me. It is, childish, clearly. I would suggest it to my 8 year old niece. Me, it was too much perfection to touch me. Too fake, not believable, candy pink for a subject as important as this one - the disease that pushes you to the scaffold despite all your thirst for life (which I experienced very, very closely... and that's why I felt drawn to this book. I wanted to feel emotions, to feel better, not to feel annoyed).
Of course, the fact that it is told from the point of view of young children explains all this innocence... But seriously, it was poorly acted and hardly impactful (Oscar & The Lady in Pink was relevant, not this one). And then, at 17 years old, excuse me but we are still a bit mature, the "I love you forever", "I will remain yours until death", "you are mine for eternity" or whatever, it was too much. I was 16 when I read this book, so you can't attack me :)
The love between Rune and Poppy (god, I hate that name, I just pictured her as a chihuahua in my head, it was disturbing) remains simple from beginning to end.
The only good point I could give is the fluidity of the writing, and Poppy's reaction to her illness, the only thing remotely realistic in this story.
The concept of the kissing jar was really interesting to exploit, but the simple fact that this jar was filled almost methodically, at each of their reunions, was enough to make the idea boring. It would have been much more interesting if Poppy had lived several loves during her life, if she had discovered all the aspects of love and not only the nice ones, and if the last and most important kiss had been given to her by Rune.
In short, you understood it, I did not appreciate this discovery of the world of the Care Bears in company of Rune and Poppy, very unpleasant tourist guides. Such a shame, seeing all the positive comments. Well, if it was the first time......more
- CoHo writing, which continues to amaze me. She could honestly write absolutely anything, any type of story(read in 2019)
What I liked in this book :
- CoHo writing, which continues to amaze me. She could honestly write absolutely anything, any type of story or trope, and I will still give it a try because I love her writing. - I really appreciated the fact she inserted in the book real confessions, that were sent by her readers. Some of those confessions really broke me. It was an amazing and touching idea.
What I disliked in this book :
- Boring characters. I would not say they are unbearable, but they were really random. In every NA romance, characters went trough a lot of things, but it doesn't give them automatically a place in my heart. What makes Auburn and Owen stand out from the crowd ? Absolutely nothing. They left me unimpressed, cold. Oh, and Owen was a judgmental ass. Auburn was too much passive. - Instalove. I didn't feel any real connection between Auburn and Owen. No chemistry. They fell for each other so quickly, it was quite annoying but also unexplainable. The author didn't give me any proof that they were really in love. She simply told us "they are" and filled the book with romantic writing. But she never showed us. It was not intense at all. - Useless and forced drama with Trey. Also unrealistic.
I'm the I hated a lot of your books but still loves you kind of CoHo fans. Let's continue with trying to love her books as well....more
I will try to be brief but clear about this novel by Colleen Hoover. I tried, I promise you, to love it as much as you did.
Let's keep it brief.
I canI will try to be brief but clear about this novel by Colleen Hoover. I tried, I promise you, to love it as much as you did.
Let's keep it brief.
I can't stand to read a book where the heroine 1) gets treated like shit by the male character 2) the male character gets away with his behavior because the girl loves him too much and doesn't love herself enough 3) when the chemistry between the two is completely annihilated because of a fucking ex relationship.
Let's be clear.
1) Tate needs someone to set her straight. Her ability to get past the horrible way Miles treats her really made me want to slap her. She's a heroine with so little self-esteem, and most of all she's a complete idiot! Miles shows her over and over that he doesn't give a shit about her, but she keeps hoping that she'll change him by sleeping with him.I couldn't even figure out her obsession with Miles! Did he put a spell on her? Magic dick? It was infuriating. I didn't understand her. I would have left. It is absolutely unacceptable for me to support such actions. The author romanticized an unhealthy relationship.
2) Miles made me so mad. Yes, his past is awful and sad. But that in no way excuses his behavior. Well, at least he warned Tate. In fact, what really bothered me about him is that I honestly think he loved Rachel more than he loves Tate, and that is one of the most disturbing things about this novel.
His ex-relationship seems to be the one of a lifetime. And that's not my own interpretation, no! it's the author telling us! all those POVs of Miles where he's completely obsessed with Rachel... someone explain the point? No but seriously, I was starting to wonder where this was going. Why portray Miles so in love with another girl at the time, so tender with her, when in the present moment he treats Tate like crap...what does that mean? It completely debunked the sincerity and depth of the relationship between Tate and Miles. This aspect of the story was very poorly exploited. I still think Rachel is the love of his life. Tate is not. Tate took the leftovers. No one can convince me otherwise.
3) I really hated the way Tate forgave him after THE HORRIBLE MOMENT COMES. WHEN HE DARES, HE DARES TO SAY HER NAME AND NOT TATE'S. I was really shocked, I couldn't believe my eyes. I hoped she had enough dignity to react properly after Miles had, shall we say, spat in her face. But she didn't.
I felt betrayed by this book. I wanted to read a love story of two people falling in love. I didn't want to read a story where the two people in love can't be together anymore, and the girl getting the leftovers is the heroine of the book....more
read a long time ago, i've never written a review about it, because it was a DNF. However I wanted to address few words because of the 1/5 rating.
I lread a long time ago, i've never written a review about it, because it was a DNF. However I wanted to address few words because of the 1/5 rating.
I love CoHo, but Slammed and Hopeless were honestly bad in my opinion.
There is slut shaming, annoying characters, too much drama to a point it felt forced. The male interest is a douche bag who gets away with it because he is hot. Skye is insufferable. Nobody moved me. I remained completely hermetic with this book. It was getting on my nerves so I dropped it....more
You know what it feels like to read this book? It's like someone dunks your head in the water to drown you, and then releases you for a few seconds soYou know what it feels like to read this book? It's like someone dunks your head in the water to drown you, and then releases you for a few seconds so you can breathe, just before they try to drown you again. A chapter on their current situation. Drowning. Then a chapter on their previous situation. Breathing. Again and again.
Even though in the end I was finally released and could take a deep breath, the experience was still torture. It was not enjoyable at all. The first point I hated in this book was this.
I read books primarily to escape reality. I love moving, dramatic stories, but when those balance white and black. This book by Colleen Hoover was a very very dark color of gray, and was straight up depressing with those flashbacks meant to accentuate the sadness of Quinn and Graham marriage.
The author kept piling on the dramatic situations, to a point where it was way, way too much. And I don't understand the point if these situations are resolved in the last twenty pages? The conclusion of this book is nonsense to me, and brings to the fore two aspects that bothered me in the book:
1) If you go purely by the author's narrative, Quinn's infertility is not what nearly broke up her marriage, but the ABYSMAL lack of communication between her and Graham! Two adults in love, who were tearing each other apart, just needed to finally take the time to confess their feelings through fucking letters, so that everything could work out. Then they could have done that a lot earlier, right? So the story could have been shortened by 200 pages if Quinn and Graham had actually talked, even once, is that what you're telling me? RIDICULOUS. I hated this ending.
2) For this ending not to be botched, they should have taken the time they needed to put their lives back together, especially for Quinn to take her time to heal from her depression. That's the problem: they would have needed therapy, but the author completely negates this idea by minimizing the effectiveness of therapy and giving a financial pretext, which revolted me. This gives a bad image of therapy, whereas it is crucial? In fact, I've only seen Colleen Hoover praise therapy once, and that was in Without Merit. It's unfortunate, since in every book, her characters suffer from mental illness and/or go through traumatic experiences that are too easily "solved" in the last few pages, in the name of love and other bullshit. There is no substitute for therapy. I can't imagine that Quinn, after suffering from depression and having told us a thousand times about her distress in the book, only needed Graham's letters to see life in a new light. This is unrealistic. Especially since she suffered from so much that it ended up overwhelming me: (view spoiler)[cheating, miscarriage, uterus removal. (hide spoiler)]
I failed to appreciate either Quinn or Graham. At first, Quinn made me sad. I sympathized with her pain of not being able to be a mother, being a strong desirer of having children myself. However, she also annoyed me: I know she's depressed, but how can I enjoy a character who hates herself so much and is so pessimistic? Reading her monologues really took away my energy. I felt sorry for her, but she's not a character I hold in my heart. Also this sentence : “Women nowadays are supposed to want to amount to more than just being a mother. Feminism and all that.� hmm wtf? Feminism stands for letting women be ANYTHING they want. I don't understand your point, Quinn.
As for Graham, it's almost worse. I hated with all my heart his excuses for (view spoiler)[ the cheating. They are the worst explanations I have ever seen. He even tries to partially blame his wife on this? (hide spoiler)]Asshole. Some people almost seem to blame Quinn in their comments for what her husband did. I would like to say one thing: Getting married is also about accepting your partner's conditions, in health and in illness. Quinn was in considerable pain. She was depressed and(view spoiler)[ Graham could think of nothing better than to kiss his fucking colleague in an excess of loneliness? I don't care that Quinn was distant with him, his action is unforgivable. (hide spoiler)]I hated that she forgave him so easily without him groveling. Other than that, he was pretty likable, I liked the Graham we meet in the past. I got the real feeling that he was much more in love with Quinn than she was with him. But I couldn't get past (view spoiler)[ his cheating (hide spoiler)] for the rest of the book.
Other than that, I didn't enjoy the romance in the past part. Their discussions often seemed ridiculous to me, especially Graham's comments on their meeting and how it was destiny, they sounded like bad pick up lines. The build up of their relationship was rushed ; He decides to have her meet his parents without asking her permission first and she's totally fine with it... cute, isn't it?... Everything was so cheesy and then the author destroys everything in the next chapter. Pure manipulation I tell you! Those back and forth really didn't work for me.
The side characters are not numerous, and are sorely lacking in development. In the end, it makes a depressing and forgettable story.
Overall, I liked the idea of the author dealing with such a subject, which I had never seen in any New Adult book I read. But the way Colleen Hoover forces you to read the story in the worst possible way so that you suffer completely, only to have the issues eventually resolved in a few moments, will never stop irritating me....more
I read this a long time ago, maybe 5 years from now. Mixed feelings for this one. I liked the humor, Charley was not unbearable and the writing was deI read this a long time ago, maybe 5 years from now. Mixed feelings for this one. I liked the humor, Charley was not unbearable and the writing was decent. However, it didn't pique my interest at all - i was bored. I'm not sure I finished to read it or not....more
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