November 9 - Review

November 9

By: Colleen Hoover

Published: November 10th 2015 by Atria Books

310 pages

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary

Source: Personal Kindle Library

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Goodreads description--Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

YAY another Colleen Hoover book! Colleen Hoover is guaranteed to suck me into her stories and make me fall in love with her characters. It's why I love her books so much. She has a unique gift and is one of my auto buy authors. The fact that I'm notoriously cheap doesn't even come into play with her books either. I buy them on release day or pre-order them almost every single time. That being said, I added November 9 to my TBR list when there wasn't even a description out for it. When I did hear what this book was supposed to be about I felt a little wary. It sounded a bit like One Day (the movie with Anne Hathaway). And funnily enough, Colleen Hoover actually touches on this in November 9 in a preemptive attempt to combat the argument that the stories are too similar. Okay CoHo. We get it. They're not the same and shouldn't be compared.

Truthfully, I'm not even sure what all I can say about this story without ruining anything. That's usually the way things go with Colleen Hoover's books. There's always a twist that can't be spoiled. I will say that part of the ending felt eerily similar to the ending for Confess. Yes different, but similar in some aspects that I can't discuss. Sorry CoHo. I had to.

I can say that I thought Fallon was a great main female character. She has flaws that anyone can relate to. And even though she does hide away and let her low self-confidence dominate her life, she's able to listen and take criticism and grow and change. And change she does over the 5ish years that this book takes place. There were a couple of times that I found her to be a bit dramatic and extreme, but who doesn't have a friend out there that swings toward dramatic and extreme every now and then.

Ben...I fell in love with. He swoops in to Fallon's rescue not because he doesn't think she can handle herself, but because he just can't sit by and do nothing. Of course, his motives may have been a bit skewed, but what do I care? He does everything he can to show and tell Fallon that he thinks she's beautiful despite and because of what she sees as her biggest flaws. What female out there doesn't want THAT GUY in her life? Then he's a writer on top of all of that. SWOON. Just swoon. And I absolutely love that Ben doesn't hold back from telling Fallon what she needs to hear even when it isn't what she wants to hear or what any normal person would say.

I can't imagine being able to leave someone you have such an intense connection with for an entire year with no means of communicating with them. I can see the reasoning behind why no communication. Like Fallon, I'm sure I would have folded and changed all of my plans--I'm weak when it comes to love. But I guess I can see the appeal of having an entire year to anticipate seeing that person again.

I will say that I felt Colleen Hoover was a little defensive in this book. As I mentioned already, she defends against this story being too similar to others, but she also defends against insta-love--or at least relationships that progress quickly. I know a lot of readers take issue with relationships that jump to love when they don't feel like the characters have spent enough time together or had enough time to get to that stage. Usually this doesn't bother me. And it has been a very dominant theme through almost all (if not all) of Colleen Hoover's books so far. So while the insta-love doesn't bother me, I did note what felt like defensiveness in her writing.

Of course, Colleen Hoover's books are always quote worthy. I did highlight, but not nearly as much as I normally do. Here are my favorite quotes:

-"I didn't think you needed rescuing. I just sometimes find it difficult to control my indignation in the presence of absurdity."

-"I love to read. You should hurry up and write a book, because it's already on my TBR pile."

-"People don't feel uncomfortable when they look at you because of your scars, Fallon. They're uncomfortable because you make people feel like looking at you is wrong. And believe me--you're the type of person people want to stare at."

November 9 hooked me like all Colleen Hoover books. The humor is present. The great writing. The characters you can't help but love. And twists that always make things deeper and more interesting than you could have imagined. Everything that makes Colleen Hoover's books fantastic is within November 9. And that's why November 9 gets 4.5 Stars from me. Have you read November 9? What did you think? Let me know!