Titlu: Ugly love

Autor: Coleeen Hoover

Traducator: Cristina Buzoianu

Editură: Epica 

Recenzie:

      Tate Collins se mută în apartamentul fratelui ei, Corbin, pentru o perioadă scurtă de timp, doar cât să se pună pe picioare și să se acomodeze cu programul de master pentru asistenți medicali pe care îl urmează. În noaptea în care sosește, Tate îl cunoaște pe vecinul de vizavi și prietenul fratelui ei, Miles Archer. Interacțiunea dintre cei doi nu este chiar de vis, ținând cont că Tate vine de la 800 de km distanță, iar Miles e beat mangă și zace în fața ușii, lăsându-i tinerei o singură opțiune, aceea de a-l târî în apartamentul fratelui ei.

      Încă din momentul în care îl întâlnește, Tate descoperă că Miles nu e doar un bețiv oarecare, ci un om bântuit de un trecut misterios, hăituit de vină și remușcare. După Ziua Recunoștinței, în care Miles merge împreună cu Tate și fratele ei acasă la familia lor, tânăra acceptă să se implice într-o relație bazată pe sex cu Miles. Sunt doar două reguli, reguli care implică doar prezentul, fiindcă Miles nu își poate mărturisi trecutul, iar viitorul înseamnă speranță, adică exact ceea ce el nu își dorește să îi ofere fetei. Trecutul este despre Rachel, un nume pe care Miles îl tot invocă, iar viitorul... Tate nu speră decât că, la un moment dat, Miles își va da voie să fie fericit alături de ea.

„Unii oameni devin mai inteligenți pe măsură ce îmbătrânesc. Din păcate, unii doar îmbătrânesc.”

      

Ruptura dintre cei doi este inevitabilă, fiindcă Tate încalcă din prima cele două reguli, în timp ce încearcă să îl descopere pe Miles. Toți bărbații din viața ei sunt piloți; bunicul, tatăl, fratele, iar Miles nu face excepție, însă e ceva mai mult la el, ceva care o sperie, o impresionează și o atrage în același timp. Este dur și puternic, dar totuși sensibil, atent. Este un contrast pe care tânăra nu îl poate descrie.

„Uneori, tăcerea spune mai mult decât toate cuvintele din lume.”  

      Ugly love este o poveste despre iubire, dar nu doar despre partea frumoasă, strălucitoare, emoționantă. Este despre vină, remușcare și o profundă tristețe, care îți pot distruge inima. Am simțit povestea zburând pe lângă mine, asemenea lui Miles, în cursele lui. Am simțit povara pe care o poartă, fiindcă suntem puși în fața a două istorisiri: prezentul, din perspectiva lui Tate și trecutul, scris în versuri de poezie slam, prezentat din perspectiva lui Miles.

       Pilotăm un avion care își începe cursa lin, duios; când credem că zborul va fi doar astfel, apar primele tulburențe, nori negri se aștern în calea avionului, dar suntem siguri că furtuna vaa trece, iar aceasta ne lasă să fim naivi, să sperăm. Și apoi ne lovește cu tot ce are mai puternic, mai înfricoșător și ne prăbușim. Teamă, disperare, vină. Neputință. Și apoi supraviețuirea. Cum trăiești, știind că ai trecut prin așa ceva? Cum îți dai voie să mai pilotezi vreodată? 

„Presupun că, dacă un om a cunoscut cea mai urâtă față a iubirii, e posibil să nu mai vrea să o trăiască a doua oară.”

       Personajele sunt foarte bine descrise, replicile lor sunt inteligente și amuzante, astfel că mi-a fost ușor să mă îndrăgostesc de poveste, de gânduri și întâmplări, de dragostea spusă și nespusă dintre Tate și Miles. Mi-a plăcut mult și traducerea, așa că țin să o felicit pe Cristina Buzoianu pentru asta.

* Singurul lucru negativ pe care îl am de spus despre carte este faptul că am găsit mici greșeli de tehnoredactare (foarte multe virgule, deși nu era cazul și cuvinte scrise greșit). * În rest, ador coperta și, mai ales, stilul autoarei, care m-a surprins din nou. Nu credeam că este posibil să scrii capitole întregi în versuri slam, dar Colleen Hoover este un geniu, așa că bănuiesc că mă aștept să fiu întotdeauna surprinsă plăcut de ea.

I watched this barely a minute ago. It was heart breaking, and it almost made me tear up. I encountered slam poetry while reading Colleen Hoover's Slammed, and it was the most beautiful form of writing I have ever made contact with. I fell in love with the way you almost give up your own soul while reciting. In my opinion, slam is the most powerful way of using your words. I love this poem right here. It's got energy, and passion, it's so alive it vibrates through you. It makes you feel.

You can watch more of Savannah Brown's videos on youtube, or you can check her up here.

Review Never Never: Part 2 by Colleen Hover & Tarryn Fisher

Synopsis: “Never forget that I was your first real kiss. Never forget that you’ll be my last.

And never stop loving me between all of them.

Never stop, Charlie.

Never forget.”

Silas races against time as more truths unravel, while others twist tighter together. And now, the stakes are higher as Silas’ control slips and others begin to point fingers. Charlie is in trouble and he must be the one to bridge the chasm between their past and their present. Because somewhere between I love yous and Never Nevers and Never Agains, a truth they can't imagine, beckons to be found.

“Where are you, Charlie?”

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance

Previous books:

Never Never

 

ADD TO GOODREADS

My thoughts:

I always get surprised when someone says they didn't know there was a sequel in the works for a certain book or the fact that they didn't know how many installments a series has. That never happened to me, because Goodreads and I are basically BFFs.

Until now, of course. And what a perfect timing for it to happen! Nahhh, it couldn't have been when I would like a gorgeous book to have a follow-up. No, no, that would've been a blasphemy. It just had to happen when I expected closure and a reasonable explanation for the previous book.

There's a part 3, people. There's a part 3. And the fact that I read this second novella without knowing that little, small and incredibly IMPORTANT detail, pretty much ensured I would be drowned in a sea of shock, frustration and anger once I read the glorious words "To be continued".

I don't really know what to say about the plot, because there's barely been any development. There were two things I liked: Silas' letters and Landon's involvement (the guy's reaction is truly awesome). Besides that, the book was a dozen shades of meh compared to the first one. I'm not saying Never Never was extraordinary (because it was a far cry from that), but it surely topped this pathetic attempt at a continuation.

And that was another thing: we spend more time in the past reading letters and notes instead of putting the tasks at hand into motion. Sure, from Silas' point of view, he needs a way to grasp the basic notions of his own life and the best (and only) way to do that is to take a ride down memory lane with their help. But from the readers' point of view, from my point of view, that option was a ticket for boredom land and the unknown stopped being mysterious and slowly became infuriatingly tiring.

That's the thing with the amnesia concept being played out too many times -- it's fun once but while the characters try to find out the same info every time it happens, the readers are already aware of it, creating a discrepancy that threatens the initial excitement.

Don't expect a sudden revelation for why the events from the first book took place. Don't expect more details about their situation. Don't expect much of anything, really. I guess that was actually my mistake -- the fact that I had expectations. If it's possible, add even more strange things (the shrimp, the voodoo witch) that will leave you in a daze. I was totally dumbfounded after I finished reading it.

It pains me to say this, but I think Colleen and Tarryn do a better job by writing separately. I know what their minds are capable of creating and Never Never, although imaginative to no end, is so far from their extraordinary previous works. But who knows? Maybe they'll make my jaw drop in the third part (that hopefully it's also the last), because I will definitely read it regardless of these bumps I keep hitting with the story. I mean seriously, I'd become insane if after all this trouble and waiting I wouldn't find out some answers in the end.

But hell hath no fury like Andreea tricked into believing there's actually an explanation, so there better be one.

I'd say wait for the next part to come out before picking this up. That way, even if you're not satisfied with the story being dragged so much, you'll have the next one close by. If you haven't started Never Never at all, run to the library to pick the authors' individual books or if you reallyyyy want to read this one, wait till all parts have been published. I can't guarantee you'll enjoy it, since I'm pretty iffy about it myself, but it's a curious concoction of mystery, intrigue, secrets, love that appeals to certain people. Perhaps you'll be among them.

ENJOY! <3

Review Never Never (Never Never #1) by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

Synopsis: Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of fourteen.
Complete strangers since this morning.
He'll do anything to remember. She'll do anything to forget.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

ADD TO GOODREADS

My thoughts:

“Never stop. Never forget.”

I don't really know what I've just read. A mystery? A drama? A romance? Or maybe a thriller?

The answer is yes. Four times yes.

Never Never turned out to be a short, compelling and very strange book. I went in completely blind (and I recommend you do the same if you haven't read it yet) having read only the synopsis but as you already know that doesn't properly explain what happens in this story. That would be kind of impossible since, if you allow me to say this, neither does the book. This is the kind of read where you just need to go with the flow if you want to truly enjoy it, because the whole 'plot' is triggered by a series of events that remain unknown to us (and ones that will hopefully be unraveled in the sequel) and that might or might not have anything to do with paranormal stuff. Trust me, it's complicated.

I'll skip the plotline talk and go ahead dissing about our two main characters that also grant us their points of view in the development of their story. And to protect you from unwanted spoilers, I'll refer to them from two perspectives: the then and the now.

First thing first, the girl. Charlie Wynwood. Then -- she struck me as a real queen bee. Cunning, smart and broken. Nonetheless, I believe she followed her own secret agenda. Now -- the impressive royal superior behavior that I'm not really a fan of is still present, but not so abundant; she's vulnerable, scared and alone. I needed some time to warm up to her, but in the end I realized I became quite attached to her character and I understood she's just hiding inside herself, creating walls of deceit, fears and regrets, all of which will soon tumble down with a dose of self-destruction.

“I consider telling him the truth. That if I were dead like Snow White and he kissed me like that, surely my heart would kick back to life. That I’d be the one to slay dragons for that kiss.”

Then there's the boy. Silas Nash. Oh, Silas. Then -- still haven't figured him out, but what I do know is that he might've been the jock type combined with a seriously swoony boyfriend. Now -- pretty much the same, albeit without the jock demeanor. He's cute, funny and smart. Loving, kind and romantic. He had me smiling from ear to ear whenever he told a goofy joke and I loved the sheer alpha protectiveness he had around Charlie. Plus, his jealousy was just the right amount to make him adorable in his lovesick puppy ways.

“I may not remember anything about her, but I would bet her smile was my favorite part of her.”

Charlie and Silas, the couple. Then -- dysfunctional, toxic, bittersweet. How (or if) they still managed to love one another is beyond me. Now -- pure, heartwarming and a bit sad. Sad that they will inevitably have to face their demons and that it's impossible for them to remain in this somewhat happy state. Suffice it to say, I want to know everything about them. About their early days. About their dreams. Their hopes. Their fears. Their families. Their secrets. But most of all, their downfall from such a glorious and perfect love. Every single little detail.

“You think you can make me like you again?”
I look over at her and give my head the slightest shake. “No. I’m gonna make you fall in love with me again.”

The biggest issue I had with Never Never was its first half. More specifically, the plot. Or lack thereof. I felt there was no direction and my mind lost focus quickly. The characters needed some temporary goals, not just "let's see how this goes and then we'll handle it from that". I needed some action, some activity, something. I needed them to take the matter into their own hands and discover as much as they could.  Of course, they were dumbfounded into next era, but a bit speed to the recovering process to get the story going wouldn't have hurt.

This book would have been a solid three stars for the first half, but the second one proved to be ten times better -- at least for me. It finally trapped me in with that captivating storytelling I wanted to experience from the very beginning. That gorgeous combination of mystery, thriller and drama hit the page with thundering force and I was completely dazed by it. I devoured page after page and soon the book was finished and I was left pondering what kind of read Never Never was.

And, ah, that ending! It deserves every constellation there is because it brought the game up a notch and it is so. Damn. EXCITING. Eeeep! That final revelation had my heart bursting into trepidation, exactly like our hero's behavior, and I couldn't help being completely bewildered by the bigger picture. Not the mention the last few pages that had me fearing for Charlie's fate. My first thought after I read To Be Continued was "What the actual fuck?", but at the same time it put things into a new light: there's so much more to the story that we still don't know and I desperately want to delve deeper and discover all of its secrets.

Now there's just one last thing to discuss. The writing style. Which, unfortunately, has been quite a letdown. Why, you might wonder. After all, Never Never is the work of the queens of heartbreak, betrayal and love -- Colleen and Tarryn. I couldn't decipher which one wrote this and which one wrote that and the overall result turned out to be pretty unitary, mixing Hoover's unique romance elements and Fisher's gorgeous way of painting them with secrets, lies and treachery. So this wasn't my issue. My problem was that, somehow, although these two amazing authors shared forces in creating this story, some lines and expressions were redundant and dulled the overall reading experience. But I also know this might be one of my pet-peeves and most people actually overlooked it, so it's not necessarily a bad point. I just would've liked, you know, things to be told a bit differently now and then.

Never Never is, in a word, strange. I'm sure some people will adore it as I'm sure some will downright hate it. But the way I see it, Never Never allowed us a second shot at a broken love. It allowed us to pick up the pieces and put them back together, only stronger this time. Equally hopeful as it is sorrowful, this story will definitely have you begging for its continuation and in awe of how love can turn to sawdust only to be transformed into molten gold by the end.

ENJOY! <3