Click here to read the book synopsis on Goodreads.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
I picked up November 9 during a major reading slump – nothing was making me turn pages quickly and I was getting really frustrated. Many people recommend Colleen Hoover to me in the past, so I thought that this was an opportune time to pick up one of her novels.
After the first couple of chapters, I felt absolutely captivated by the story. Not only was it reading really quickly, the concept of two strangers meeting up once a year every five years (without any contact in between) felt different from any other book I’ve read before. I also felt really connected to both of the characters – I love stories told from dual POV’s.
The book as a whole was definitely 4 stars for me – the storyline, the characters, their chemistry. But what I didn’t realize before going into this book was how sexually graphic it would be in comparison the majority of novels that I read (my fault for not realizing that the book is classified as romance). For my personal taste, it was really overdone, and I found myself skipping over the sex scenes. They did not add to the story for me.
I also struggled with the age of the characters and just how unbelievable their interactions were for people their age – they spoke as though they were late 20’s, but their ages span from 18-23 as the book goes on. I know I should throw realism to the side when reading a romance novel, but I found some of the cheesiness to be eye roll worthy and their conversations to be far more romantic/deep than what people their age have.
Overall, a solid read. Not sure if I will read the other CoHo’s that I own for a while, but I’ll definitely save them for a reading slump when I need a fast paced book to bring me back!
Jenna, Stop Reading! 