Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Summary of Ugly Love:

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.

Length:

337 Pages

Reading Speed:

4 Hours and 45 Minutes

My Opinion of Ugly Love:

What. The. Hell.

I would like to make this review as objective as possible, instead of simply rambling about how shit it is.

Trope:

The romance is non-existent. Nothing, and I mean nothing connects these two on an emotional level. Not even to mention, that I’m not sure the romance is between Miles and Tate or Miles and Rachel.

It starts with them being friends with benefits and her falling for him first. First, I would like to express that I never liked that trope. There are rare instances where it is done right and this was not it. This cannot be classified as friends with benefits, these two aren’t friends. As I said, no emotional connection whatsoever. At most, Tate is Mile’s therapist.

Miles’s Character review:

Every chapter we have in Miles point of view centers on one thing. Rachel. His ex and the mother of his child, but we’ll get to that part later.

Rachel is seen as perfect for him. He is consumed by her, and constantly wants to be around her. The step-siblings plot in that, as in her mother and his father being together, could have very easily been thrown away. I don’t know why that is in there, it is never relevant. Never. Stop making partners step-siblings, it’s weird.

Not once does he show this type of devotion to Tate. With her, it’s very clearly only about sex. He never cared about her emotions. There is not one line where he cared more about her than his dick. And if you have read the book, you know which scene I’m going to reference now, and if you don’t, it will be written at the end. It contains spoilers.

When he came back to Tate, there was no groveling. Not that any amount of groveling would have made me accept him. But it’s the lack of effort that just pisses me off. But honestly, it’s not his fault. If you allow a narcissist to do whatever he wants with you, he’ll do whatever he wants and not give an ounce of shit for you. At this point, I don’t even want him to go to therapy. Just put him down. Just, end it.

Ugly Love would have been better, if he had died in a plane crash, just saying.

Tate Character Review:

Honey, what are you doing?

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

This isn’t even an “I can fix him” complex at this point. This is… Well, I don’t know what this is. For Tate, I definitely suggest therapy. A shot of self-esteem might do her some good. Though if she took him back after what he had done… This might be a lost cause.

What kills me is that there is no point in fixing him, you know? It’s not like she knew him as a kid and has loved him forever. It’s not like they experienced something horrific together and are now trauma-bond. There wasn’t even any romance from his side. Most girls with the “I can fix him” complex had sweet and gushy moments with their partners and they seek that feeling out. This didn’t even happen here. He was shit from A to Z.

Girl, seriously. Get a dog, go to therapy, and learn to love yourself.

Now that the character review is over, let’s get to the actual plot.

Not that there was any….

Plot:

Miles’s entire character and the big secret that is revealed is that he and Rachel experienced a tragedy. Miles was involved and Rachel blamed him. She quickly ended that relationship and got far away from him.

I’m not going to discuss whether or not their behavior was right. We don’t have a say in how people are supposed to react when something horrific happens to them. Rachel later accepts that it was an accident and not Miles’s fault. I think Miles never stops blaming himself. He hates himself for what happened and he hates that it also cost him Rachel.

This idea, let’s call it, is original. Each of Colleen Hoover’s books has an underlying tragedy. Some I read, others I have only heard about. In my opinion, it is what sets her apart as an author.

But this plot was done in the worst way possible.

Miles seemed more distressed over the loss of Rachel than what happened. Whatever tragedy he had endured, does not excuse his behavior toward others. He has it hard, I’ll admit that much. But he had not shown an inch of improvement. This idea, this plot could have been dealt with much better. It could have been much more about his hurt, instead of him hurting others. If could have shown him as completely isolated. That would have been much better than using Tate for sex.

This section will include spoilers.

I’ll write out a snippet:

He pulls out, then thrusts inside me again, this time with all his strength.

It hurts.

Give me your pain, Miles.

“MY GOD, RACHEL.”

My God, Rachel…

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel

Before we get into it, let me just point out that she is in pain. Not once does she stop him or tell him to go gently. Girl, what is wrong with you? And if it hurts, guaranteed she wasn’t hiding it all that well. Which also means he didn’t particularly care as long as he got his fill.

And now to address the elephant in the room: Rachel. He called her Rachel.

If my husband ever uttered his ex’s name during sex… Well, there are a lot of things I would do, and most of them will put my name in a true crime podcast. The author is right, it is an ugly love.

This made me so uncomfortable, I physically had to put the book down and go on a walk. Once I came back, I tried to continue reading. Emphasis on try.

She told him to finish.

I… I don’t even know what to say.

There is one scene I like, and it’s the one where Miles sees Rachel again. Showing him that she has healed a little bit and that she doesn’t blame him anymore, showed more character growth in one scene than our main characters had for the entire book. It was beautifully written and I applaud the author for this.

But everything else was shit, so it won’t change my rating.

Recommendation for Ugly Love:

I wouldn’t even recommend this to my worst enemy.