Book Review: Ugly Love

Colleen Hoover’s book Ugly Love was something people were saying that was going to be the next 50 Shades of Grey. Curious, I read the book and I just have to say this: if you’re looking for a 50 Shades kind of book (read: the S&M stuff), this is not the book for you. To be honest, I don’t get the comparison because I thought that Ugly Love was nothing like 50 Shades of Grey.

Credit: Atria Books

Yes, there are sexy and steamy moments between the lead characters who start out as friends with benefits but the story isn’t just about that. It is about love and loss, relationships, and moving on. Not to say that there isn’t a sufficient amount of steam because there definitely is – I’m just saying that it’s not all about that.

I think the 50 Shades comparison has a lot to do with how mysterious the male lead is but that’s about it. I liked how the mystery about Miles was played out in a way that readers didn’t know what to expect until they were on that page that revealed why he was the kind of person that he was. It made you look back on everything you’ve read from a different perspective because of what you find out about him.

I love that the female lead is very different from Anastasia Steel. She is a very strong young woman and is no pushover. Tate is a much stronger character compared to Anastasia and I liked that about this story. She held her own with all the men in this book and that was impressive when you think of how Anastasia was a bit naïve and gullible around the other characters in 50 Shades.

The writing of this book is way better than 50 Shades. It was an easy read but it was also an entertaining one. I loved several lines in the book, including this one:

Ugly Love was supposed to be turned into a movie starring Nick Bateman. An Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign was started for the movie and I loved that the $1M mark had the gift of having Nick fathering the donor’s child. Yes, I am aware that it is a joke (who in their right mind would give away that much money?) but it is still an exciting idea. If I had a donor who would give that money in my name, I would be eternally grateful (hahaha)…but if Nick is willing to father the child of a woman who will most likely not marry and just wants a kid, please feel free to contact me!

The teaser for the film, which shows Nick as Miles Archer in pilot gear on a plane (which never happened in the book, oddly enough even if he was a pilot), was a bit misleading. It comes off 50 Shades(ish) because it is steamy to the point where I wanted the movie ASAP, not that I’m complaining. Too bad this movie thing didn't pan out.

Ugly love becomes you.

Consumes you.

Makes you hate it all.

Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren't even worth it. Without the beautiful, you'll never risk feeling this.

You'll never risk feeling the ugly.

So you give it up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly again.

This should have had a movie. I feel the story has more depth compared to 50 Shades and I was looking forward to seeing Nick Bateman show off his acting skills with the whole reveal about Miles and his back story because that would be a great dramatic moment. Oh well, at least Hoover's other book, It Ends With Us, will have a movie version. I loved that one too!

* This is an old entry from my old blog, edited/updated for this one. Hope you liked it!