Ugly Love Audiobook Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Ugly Love Audiobook ReviewUgly Love by Colleen Hoover
Narrator: Deacon Lee, Elizabeth Louise, Grace Grant
Published by Atria Books, Simon & Schuster Audio on 2014-08-05
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Women, Family Life, Fiction, General, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
Length: 9 hrs. 14 mins.
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-half-stars
Also by this author: Slammed, Point of Retreat, Maybe Someday, November 9, It Ends with Us

#1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with a new heart-wrenching love story.When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn't think it's 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.

Colleen Hoover’s books always bring on the feels and Ugly Love certainly gave me a knot in my stomach as I was reading it. Miles is an airline pilot who is broken, and Tate is the nurse who wants to heal him. Miles comes with a list of rules and restrictions, but Tate thinks whatever he’s willing to give is worth the gamble with her heart.

Ugly Love is a different, and more mature book from Ms. Hoover. It’s a little more A than NA. This book is an edgier, darker read as the title suggests, and things felt more than a little “Hopeless” as well (to borrow another Hoover title.)

Ugly Love has an interesting narrative structure that’s told in “Then” and “Now” by two different characters. Tate’s chapters cover the “Now” when she moves in with her brother and meets Miles. Miles chapters cover the “Then” which is 6 years ago- when he became the broken man he is today. The story feels very ominous since we don’t get Miles present day POV- and in fact his voice is so happy and positive and opposite of this present state of mind. What happened six years ago that makes him so closed off to the possibility of love?

Hoover said in an interview with Goodreads that she wrote Miles story first and later added in Tate’s, and this is the first book that made her cry when she was writing it. I didn’t cry when I was reading it though I did feel like I was under a dark cloud – feeling like Miles and Tate’s love story couldn’t possibly end well.

I did connect more to Tate’s present day story than Miles’ chapters. I wanted to know what happened to Miles but at the same time was anxious to get back to current events. And I don’t have a copy of the print book (I listened to the audio) but I’ve read that Miles’ chapters are stylistically very different than Tate’s. The text is centered, and in a poetry style. Perhaps that’s why I preferred Tate’s POV. Even though I wasn’t distracted by the different style on the page, the words flowed so differently than Tate’s chapters.

Grace Grant (The Beautiful and Inside Out series) and Deacon Lee (Tamed, Five Ways to Fall) perform the audiobook. I’ve listened to Grant many times and she’s a good fit for Tate, conveying her longing for Miles and sadness over the situation. Deacon Lee is a new-to-me narrator, and his voice kind of reminded me of Christian Slater. It was jarring to hear his chapters since his transformation from past to present is so extreme. This is an audiobook that I wanted to keep listening to and see if Hoover would fix what she broke. Since the print style is off-putting to some readers the audiobook might be a better way to go.

I’d recommend Ugly Love to fans of angsty love stories, and Colleen Hoover superfans. It’s not my favorite of her books, but I like that she tried something new here, and I’m sure I’ll add her next book, Confess, to my shelf.

Ornament

4 thoughts on “Ugly Love Audiobook Review

  1. Sounds like a worthwhile listen, Lucy. I still have her whole back catalog to read, too!

    fishgirl182 @ nite lite recently posted: Manicure Monday (74): Where’d You Go, Bernadette
  2. I’m not really sure if I want to read Ugly Love. I did really like Hopeless, but this one seems maybe too angst-ridden for me.

    Quinn @ Quinn's Book Nook recently posted: Review: Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
  3. I liked Ugly Love, I thought it showed nice growth from Hoover moving from new adult to more adult, even if it did have some of her melodrama. I agree with you about Tate’s chapters being stronger than Miles. I also wanted to stay in the present and I thought Miles was a little too romantic/lyrical for me.

    Maggie @ Just a Couple More Pages recently posted: Top 10 Tuesday: Books People Have Been Telling You That You MUST Read
  4. Rachel says:

    I can’t wait for her next book already! I’m still tentatively dabbling with audio books but I definitely read books by authors I love in case the reading affects my enjoyment. Loved this book!

    R x

    Rachel recently posted: Review: Ugly Love

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