Regretting You
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': 'When I saw Colleen Hoover\'s new release I was excited, and very happy to see it was listed as a Women\'s fiction /Contemporary Adult read but that was far from what this read was. The book starts off about teenagers then splits sort of down the middle of the life of a mom and her 16 year old daughter. The book is more than half about a teen romance and teen romance just isn\'t my thing at all. The portion about her mom had promise but it went south for me very quickly. What I thought was going to be a real emotional ,gritty read for the mom just turned out to be a half of a half of a unbelievable storyline in my opinion. And very unfortunately when I thought that I might get some insight to the " other character\'s " sadly I did not. It just kind of went all kinds of silly and sappy ,much like a PG rated after school special. The author could have done so much more with these characters but they just didn\'t really go anywhere. I kept thinking maybe this will happen, or maybe that is finally going to happen but it never did. It just fell flat and again so very young adult for my taste. I swear I felt like I needed to buy some Clearasil after this read and maybe write in my dairy about the boy from my class 30 years ago. And the ending was so sweet and cute, just so cute it could have given me a cavity but it didn\'t match the contents of this read with all the heavy issues this book started with ,it should have never had ended so cute. If you are going to go with a dark read I say stay with a dark read, this book touched on real darkness and then went to unicorns and rainbows and cute little puppy kisses. It was just not a hit for me sorry to say.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Finding passion in life after fulfilling everyone else’s dreams. Time to live life for herself after living through the aftermath of loss.\n\nThis is a lesson on love and the effect it has on everyone’s lives.\n\nOverall:\nOnce again I find myself enraptured by the words Colleen has gifted me, the reader. Hook line and sinker, I’m so caught up in this story just like all the others she’s written before this one. I tell you this woman is gifted in the creative department. It’s no wonder she’s a best selling author. She makes reading fun and entertaining. This story is simple and easy to read, yet the emotions and feelings that it creates in me is complex and complicated. Colleen hits all the marks for what it takes to captivate her readers. For me anyway.\n\nColleen is really good at writing the emotional side of her characters. I’m not sure I have any heart strings left to pull after reading all her books. I can’t imagine sitting down for the first time to read one of her books then decide to read them all from start to finish. I’d be a puddle of goo after draining my life source of emotions. Yet I wouldn’t want to miss out on each one. I don’t envy anyone who hasn’t yet discovered Colleen’s books because to sit down and start from the beginning would require a bulk size box of tissues. I got a little teary eyed during the video. Sniff. Sniffle.\n\nI see so much of Colleen’s personality shine in these characters actions and words. The scene with the picture sounded very much like something Colleen has done. I hate how Colleen has me reflecting on myself with her good hearted characters. They sicken me with there ability to have each other’s back. I’m jealous of them. It makes me want better for myself by surrounding myself with these types of individuals only I don’t know how to find them.\n\nBTW orange isn’t the worse color. I think it’s yellow.\n\nFavorite quote: “The search for myself is becoming my favorite part of my new journey.”'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I always find myself at a loss of words when it comes to reviewing books that hit my soul hard. It typically happens when I read Mrs. Hoover's books. This one is no exception. No matter what words I use to try to express my thoughts and feelings I can't do this book justice.\n\nThis book is full of love, loss, mending, finding who you are, family, friendship, trust... I think you get the point. There is so much wrapped up in this book. I found myself lost in the story of these two women who have lost so much, but they forgot what all they still had.\n\nThe writing and telling of this story is everything. It's told in the best way possible. There is no way it could be told any other way. The characters are well developed. The story flows. The plot is heavy. I was completely lost in these characters and their journey.\n\nI don't know how Hoover does it time and time again. Her writing and creativity blow my mind with each book. Even if you don't connect to any of her books on a personal level, there is always an element to her stories that will grab you and not let go. Her books always tend to stay with me for long after I have finished them. This one is no different."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I don't want you to know a single thing before you open this book. I'm not even sure how much the blurb gives away because I still haven't read it. I just want you to dive headfirst into Regretting You exactly the way I did and let it swallow you up in the absorbing way only Colleen Hoover seems to be able to. I couldn't read this book fast enough. I went to bed thinking about it, woke up thinking about it, and now that I'm finished, I guarantee I'll be thinking about it for days to come. In Miller's words, this was EPIC. \n\nAs I've already said, I don't want to say a thing about the storyline itself. The way it unfolds, the shocking twists and turns in the story are simply BRILLIANT and if you know anything at all about it ahead of time, it might not nail you in the gut the way it should. The way it's written, through alternating perspectives of a mother and daughter whose lives and relationship are on a downward spiral is just FANTASTIC. The way the secrets and the truths reveal themselves at just the right times... STELLAR. Everything about this book is quintessential Colleen Hoover yet so unlike anything else ever written before. I can't say it enough, it's perfection and I loved every single bit of it. \n\nI'll tell you that this is a story as much about love as it is about family. It's a wholly relatable story about the mother/daughter dynamic and it hit home for me HARD as both a mother and as a daughter. It really does illuminate the growing pains of parenting, the way so much can change while the need to protect and shelter never will. It was a kick right to the gut feeling Clara's resentment and anger toward her mother, such completely authentic reactions yet so brutally heartbreaking to witness. I just FELT all of it. I got it, the way we so easily unleash on those closest to us, on the people who make us feel safest. And as maddening as it was to watch Morgan absorb all this pain silently, I understood that relentless need to protect her child. It was such a REAL, honest portrayal amidst the most jaw dropping course of events and I felt it. I felt all of it. \n\nRegretting You is such a beautiful story about things turning out perfectly okay under the most imperfectly complicated circumstances. CoHo had me feeling so many things on these pages, palpable things like anger and heartache, grief and injustice, longing and forgiveness, joy, satisfaction and blissful contentment. I had so many questions, so many unanswered things I felt like I needed answers to, explanations for. I felt precisely what Morgan must have felt initially, like she wanted to  rage but there was no one there to answer for it and even if there was, what answers would ever be sufficient? It was so well done, this book, so RIGHT and so REAL and so unbelievably emotional along the way. I laughed. I cried. I was stunned speechless. I was giddy over the romance, I ached over the drama. I wanted to scream and knock holes in things and destroy. I felt ALL OF IT and it was just incredible."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I went into this novel not knowing much about it except having read the basic description of the book, and I recommend doing the same...knowing little as possible!!! I really loved this novel and couldn't put it down. It is very character driven and the dialogue is sharp.\n\nThirty-four year old Morgan begins to see her life as predictable and struggles with her identity as a housewife. Her teenage daughter, Clara, feels like she is treated with too many rules but respects her parents wishes. That is, until an unexpected event occurs leaving their family in shock. How can they be honest with each other when the trust has already been broken?\n\nChapters alternate between the mother, Morgan, and her her daughter, Clara. It starts off at Morgans high school graduation party and reveals Morgan's realization that she is pregnant. After this first chapter, everything takes place during Morgan's life as 34 year-old -mother and Clara's life as a 16 year-old on the brink of 17 years old.\n\nTopics include- underage drinking, marijuana usage, teen pregnancy, teen sex"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I have so many thoughts about this book and no words to describe them.\nI have shed some tears after finishing the book and I can't even really pinpoint why.\nSure, it's a romance. I love romance books. But this book is so much more. As a mom, I think this book really hit me in the feels. This story is really a book about Morgan and Clara with romance sprinkled throughout. There was just an appropriate amount of betrayal and hurt that really grips me in a story. But the story about a mom and her daughter is what I loved the most. I have 2 sons and they are just about to enter their teen years and I could see myself having to navigate some of these issues myself. And my mom and I totally went through a lot of this stuff when I was a teenager.\nI really hope that I have half the amount of patience and dedication to their happiness that Morgan has, even at the risk of making herself the enemy for the greater good.\nColleen just nails her characters so well. You can love them, be mad at them but understand that they are human and we all make mistakes. Miller is just the swoon-worthy type of teenage boy that I strive for my sons to be.\nThe ending was just perfection. You will love this book. :)"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Regretting You, by Colleen Hoover, packed an emotional sucker punch. My heart and soul took a swift kick in the feels. I swear romance readers have an extra body part dedicated to processing all the feelings that some books bring out. It’s a part of your heart that can quiver, shake, or explode after going on a catastrophic emotional rollercoaster ride.\n\nI love going in blind when I read a book by Colleen Hoover. I know I’m going to get a sensational story no matter what genre. I knew going in that his was going to be a YA’ish type of book. I love her YA/NA books. Regretting You elicited so many of the same kinds of feels that I had encountered while reading Hopeless and Slammed.\n\nDo you know that feeling when you start reading a book, and it’s going to be life-changing for the characters and epic as a reader? That happened to me when I started reading chapter six. Regretting You is the story of a mother (Morgan) and daughter (Clara) and their journey through personal tragedy, love, loss, and the ugliness of betrayal. Clara and Morgan’s story is real, raw, and peppered with a touch of something sweet like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. You’ll understand the reference when you read it.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This book is complicated. It’s about life, love and relationships. Some romance? Yes. Drama, hell yes!\n\nWhere do I even begin?!\n\nThis book was AMAZING. I couldn’t put it down even though it was wrecking me. I didn’t see the twists and turns coming. My heart hurt so many times yet it also soared. I wanted to scream out in rage and I had to suppress sobs. I was rooting for some characters yet physically yelling out reprimanding them. Why did I endure all of this? Because this book has everything I love. It follows a story that could happen or has happened to any us. It was realistic and genuine. It made me stop and reflect on my life. Overall this story made me FEEL.\n\nColleen is a master at crafting a story. This story was so well written and the characters were complex, realistic and relatable. The plot kept me guessing from the very first page and never did I feel bored nor did I think any of it was out of this world unrealistic. This book hooked me.\n\nWithout giving too much away this is a story about a family. Specifically centered around a mother and her daughter as they navigate series of complicated events called “life”. We, the readers, get to see how these individuals react to these events and see how life forces them to grow, change and take new paths.\n\nYou want to read an amazing story that will take you on a roller coaster ride!? This book is 1 million percent for you.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I wanted to like this. I thought the reviews were promising, and it really seemed like it would be my kind of story. I was so hopeful that I continued pushing on for several chapters, despite the red flags, thinking it might improve. The only honest way to describe this writing was cliche and cheesy. Even if the book is meant for young adults, (which it might be--I couldn\'t tell) the writing felt immature, and there were too many events that "just so happened" to be this way or that. I couldn\'t press on because it was just not good.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I must admit I picked up this book with the expectation that it wouldn’t be more than a DNF. I clearly opened this book with low expectations. But I was shocked when I read on and on and couldn’t put it down. I finally had to, at around 29% to go to bed, but those first 29% were AMAZING. At this point I already had a good idea that this book might actually turn into a 5 star read for me.\n\nThere were many scenes between Morgan, the mother and Jonah that squeezed my heart, and I got all gooey because the feelings just overwhelmed me. Their memories of eyes locking, emotions just short from igniting, touches that went beyond anything either experienced before, an undercurrent that was deep and real, touched me in the most profound way. And being someone’s first choice, maybe even his only choice – struck me deep!!! Their interactions gave me goosebumps. And my thoughts are rambling just thinking about it all.\n\nClara’s own love story wasn’t less impactful. It was all about first love. And a backstory that made me go aww. Their interactions were the cutest at times. And the entire story was so well done. Not OTT as man other YA love stories, just genuine and fitting for a teenagers first go at a relationship. The epilogue, you’ll know what I mean with it, made my heart explode!\n\nTHE COMBINATION OF BOTH, A YA ROMANCE AND A WOMEN’S FICTION ROMANCE – WORKED INCREDIBLY WELL. BOTH PLOT LINES WERE EMOTIONAL, TOUCHING, AND ENDEARING. THE OVERALL ARC, THE PLOT THAT MADE THEM COME TOGETHER, WAS THE ONE THAT CHANGED IT ALL. WHAT A TWIST.\n\nI feel like the overall story line, and the combination of the two love stories, will be something any romance reader can connect with and appreciate. As I mentioned above, I love a great story, and this book is an easy 5 star story for me.'}]