“Maybe Someday” by Colleen Hoover
★★★★★
At twenty-two years old, Sydney has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter’s cheating on her–and she is left trying to decide what to do next.
Sydney becomes captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbor. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…
*NOTE: This is going to be a spoiler-free review but I will be sharing some of my favorite quotes from the book, and general opinions on its’ characters, story-line, etc. No big reveals!*
“Nothing in my life has ever felt so good, yet hurt so achingly bad.”
Where do I even begin with reviewing this book? It…I… *takes a moment to calm oneself*
This is the first novel I’ve read by her and I can already begin to tell that Colleen Hoover is an author that will make it to my favourites list (if she hasn’t already made it on there with this book). After reading the blurb, I had it pegged down as another cheesy YA romance in my mind. Having read several YA love stories before, I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into when I decided to read Maybe Someday. I should have known better than to judge a book by it’s blurb, because I was completely thrown off by it. And it’s one of those rarities when you’re actually happy you were misled because the surprising read that follows is possibly one of the best you could ever get.
I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster while reading this book.
I have nothing against the quality of the writing and the way in which the characters’ stories are delivered to the reader. The fact that it’s written in alternating points of view between Sydney and Ridge makes the reader grip their emotions on a higher level. This book packs a punch of the feels but there are also a lot of heartwarming moments, and pure comedy in the first half of the novel that’ll have you laughing out loud (or in my case, snorting orange juice out my nose). I read it in one sitting because of a combination of several factors that made it a wonderful read.
The first thing that drew me in was how original the story is. I’m not going to lie, though. I started reading it with a ‘this is going to be a predictable love story’ mentality fixed in my head. Up until I got up to a point that made me go ‘huh, that’s interesting. I bet this’ll happen next’. You know what next was? Next was me going ‘holy flippin’–wut.’ I can tell you this: I seriously doubt that there’s one book out there that is similar to the love story this one has to provide.
“Desire is easy to fight. Especially when the only weapon desire possesses is attraction. It’s not so easy when you’re trying to win a war against the heart.”
There is one crucial piece of information that we discover along the first few chapters of the story which completely flipped my perspective of it. I stopped trying to predict what would happen next because I simply couldn’t come up with any possibilities. The journey that I ventured on with these characters was completely unlike anything I’d read before. That brings me to my next point.
I fell in love with the characters. And no, I’m not just talking about the very sweet, incredibly romantic, guitar-playing Ridge (cause who can’t not fall in love with a musician?) I mean all of the characters. This story isn’t just about Sydney trying to pick up the pieces of her love life after getting her heart stomped on by her cheating ex-boyfriend and best friend. This story is just as much about all the other characters in it. There’s no villain. There’s not one character you can single out and hate because all of them are as loveable and entertaining as the next (even the ones that are meant to be annoying just come off as funny).
What’s the best part? None of them are perfect. Each of them has a convincing back-story that you want all of them to end up with their own happily ever after. As I was reading and discovering more, not only about the two main characters Ridge and Sydney, but about Warren (I heart him), Bridgette and Maggie – I felt my heart being torn in different directions. Call me a masochist but I loved all that emotional conflict.With the addition of the soundtrack, it just brought the emotions to life even more!
Huh? What soundtrack? This book has a soundtrack? YES. IT DOES. AND IT’LL FEAST ON YOUR SOUL IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.
I’m worried that feelings are the one thing in our lives that we have absolutely no control over.
Colleen Hoover worked with Griffin Peterson (who I’m shocked I hadn’t heard of until I read this book) who made an accompanying soundtrack to go with the songs that come up in the story. Listening to it while reading whatever scene incorporated with it was just… — no words —. Two of my favourite things were being brought together: music, and a good novel Need I say more?
Now, I really tried hard to come up with something that is wrong with this book. It took me a while to come up with it but here: there’s nothing wrong with this book. That’s what wrong. Except for the fact that this story is too perfect and beautiful. Just kidding.
I think the only thing that bothered me a little was the ending. I kind of predicted that sequence of events correctly, and it happened just as I thought as it used a ‘routine’ of sorts that I’ve seen employed in other YA novels (which, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will not disclose). Honestly though? I didn’t really mind.
I promised myself before I started reviewing books that I would never rate one 5*s. Because 5*s isn’t something that should be taken for granted. And yet, here I am, giving 5*s to the very first book that I’m reviewing on this site and thinking ‘screw it, I love this book too much’ because I seriously do.
If you haven’t already read this book: do it. And do it while listening to the soundtrack. Don’t be like me and be misled by the description it has on it’s back cover. This story is a story worth living. I say living, not reading, because that’s what Colleen Hoover’s Maybe Someday does. It brings the characters to life in such a way that will have you completely captivated in their lives and stories till the very last page. So don’t miss it!
me to colleen hoover right now – “take my money, and give me the damn book”