Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Genre: NA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book): 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 OPINION: ****
Despite the fact that it's been a while since I finished this book, I remember a fair amount. With school and work, I have only just gotten around to writing book reviews and I will try to catch up with them over the next coming days (though no promises!).
This is yet another really hyped book on Booktok and social media, and I've heard many good things about it. As someone who has NEVER read Colleen Hoover before (I know, GASP!), I was not sure what to expect from this book. I had heard she often writes heartbreaking tales full of angst and bittersweet romance but this one ended up being much darker and sadder than I ever expected it to be.
This book is told from the dual perspectives of Tate and Miles, though Miles's side is told mostly from six years in the past. Tate moves into her brother's apartment and meets his friend and fellow airline pilot Miles, who seems to have some sort of dark past that causes him to be unreachable. They are both instantly attracted to each other and after admitting that they aren't looking for relationships (at least, Miles definitely isn't), decide to start a friends-with-benefits relationship.
Of course, all friends-with-benefits relationships, at least in books, seem to end poorly. Tate soon finds herself feeling herself falling for Miles in a way that she promised him she wouldn't. However, Miles is completely cut off and detached, claiming that he can never love again, though he does not disclose the reason why.
The entire perspective of Miles tells his side of the story slowly, building up to the reveal of his trauma but creating a fairly grim tale. Miles falls in love instantly with a girl named Rachel but is heartbroken when he learns that his father and her mother have been in love for a while, making Rachel basically his stepsister. While they aren't related, it's still fairly taboo but both of them can't keep to themselves, vowing to start a secret and short-lived relationship which of course can't end well.
When we finally get to learn Miles's full story, it starts to make sense as to why he feels unable to love another. It was heartbreaking to read about his past and everything that led up to where he is today and while I still don't think his treatment of Tate was justified, it all makes a little bit more sense in the end.
Tate. I felt bad for her for the entire book but technically, it was her own doing. She knew she was in a toxic relationship-that-wasn't-a-relationship and yet she kept forgiving Miles and going back to him, even though it hurt her. For someone who was supposed to be older (I forget the exact age), she sure acted quite immature. Sure, I have never been in love so can I REALLY understand what she's feeling? However, I feel as if I would not have yet myself be as manipulated and hurt as she was again and again by Miles. One of the last scenes before their undoing (if you know, you know) was shocking and disgusting and I cannot believe how easily Tate forgives Miles. He does no groveling and basically just info-dumps his trauma on her finally and instead of apologizing for the awful things he did to her, they both pretend it never happened and live in some sort of la-la-land.
I liked the other characters in this book for the most part, except the one cheating man who was so irrelevant to me that I can't even remember his name. I loved Cap and the relationship that he had with both Tate and Miles and while he seems like a side character, he did play a fairly integral role in their relationship and realization of their feelings for each other.
For someone who is new to Colleen Hoover, I am quite interested in reading her other books. This book was beautifully written and told a heartbreaking tale of... ugly love. The love in this book is not the amazing, buoyant, beautiful kind that is so often represented in the romance novels of yore... no, it's a heartwrenching, angsty, painful book. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a beautifully-written novel full of angst and love and hate and heartbreak, but beware of having your heart broken.
Main Character: Tate, Miles
Sidekick(s): Cap, Ian, etc
Villain(s): Misunderstanding, trauma, manipulation, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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