Review: November 9 by Colleen Hoover

November 9 by Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: November 2015.
My rating: 5 Stars. 

This is a love story between a guy (me) and a girl (Fallon). I think. Can it even be considered a love story if it doesn’t end with love? Mysteries end when the mystery is solved. Biographies end when the life story has been told. Love stories should end with love, right? Maybe I’m wrong, then. Maybe this isn’t a love story. If you ask me…I’d say this might even be considered a tragedy. Whatever it is—however it ends—I promised I would tell it. So without further ado. Once upon a time…I met a girl. THE girl.

Colleen Hoover’s books have been a real miss for me, I’m really gutted about this, as so many of my friends have adored her books and I really wanted to find that one which I would fall in love with. I’m glad that any stubbornness paid off and I didn’t give up on Hoover’s books as November 9 is my favourite yet! 

If you don’t know me by now, I’m a huge fan of second chance romances, romances which take place over a few years and the love growing stronger as they get to know one another. The set up between Ben and Fallon was an unusual one, their chance meeting and Ben pretending to be Fallon’s boyfriend in front of her dad bought them together. And soon before they realise, fake-relationships aside, there is actually something deep and meaningful between them underneath, but Fallon’s flying out to New York in a few hours and then what? Fallon and Ben decide to meet every year on November 9 at the same place, they’ll have no other contact with each other until that point, and if they are really meant to be, their relationship should be able to withstand the five years that Fallon wants to wait to take the relationship further. I for one didn’t think this relationship could last at all, they didn’t have each other’s numbers, they’d blocked each other on social media and really they’d only known each other for a few hours. But you know what they say, time makes the heart grow fonder, and honestly true words couldn’t have been spoken. I loved watching the development of Ben and Fallon’s relationship, some could say it was insta-love, as they fell for each other so quickly, but Hoover really made the relationship work well with only the yearly meet ups. The way the relationship developed was done beautifully, there was a lot of heartache along the way, but their feelings or one another never wavered. 

I really liked Ben as our romantic interest he wasn’t the typical alpha male character, but a real sweetheart. I loved how he wore his heart of the line and how he was feeling was always apparent on his face, he wasn’t afraid to truly put himself out there and that’s what I loved about him. I adored his passion for writing, how he became obsessed with reading books that did romances well and then trying to be that sort of character for Fallon in real life. The bookish references throughout was a favourite of mine, we had Ben taking the mick of romantic declarations in books such as characters claiming “I own you” and running to show their last minute feelings to their love interest at the airport. It was fun to read, as it’s done so often in the books we read, but seeing Ben and Fallon discuss it was refreshingly funny. Ben not only was a swoon worthy crush, but also a funny guy too! I adored how he helped Fallon gain the confidence back with homework he gave her, but his genuine feelings towards her also made that possible in a massive way. I know there was a lot of miscommunication and truths held back along the way, but despite these, they never made me think that what Ben and Fallon had wasn’t worth fighting for. 

Hoover did an absolutely wonderful job with November 9, the romance was achy, raw and beautifully done and characters were ones you could easily relate to, they were witty, determined and hugely loveable, that it made them that more memorable. November 9 I can safely say is one of my favourite reads of the year, the romance that Hoover writes will easily make its way to your heart with you never wanting it to let you go.