An emotional ride with relatable characters | November 9

Title: November 9
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: November 10th 2015

Goodreads summary: Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day of her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist. 

REVIEW

The only new adult novels I’ve read were written by Colleen Hoover, so of course I had to read this one! I think of you haven’t ventured into this genre yet, you could start with this one, because we can relate more easily to the characters – considered the story starts when they’re eighteen and ends when they’re twenty-three – and there isn’t a lot of sex. However, be prepared to be involved emotionally, because dang, this book made me cry a river, or so it seems. Reading it after Winter wasn’t such a good idea, ha-ha.

“Meeting up once a year on the same date sounds like a really good basis for a romance novel. If you fictionalized our story, I’d add it to the top of my TBR.”

The premise of this story was so interesting. Our two characters meet on November 9, a painful date to remember for Fallon, because it shattered her whole life. The way they started to interact with each other was really funny, because Ben pretended to be her boyfriend to help her against her father, to make it simple. After that, they couldn’t leave each other and stayed together the whole day. It was so cute and more about their initial attraction. By the way, it was hilarious when Ben said that if instalove was what Fallon disliked the most about a romance novel, they were screwed up already. This idea to meet each other once a year on the same date with no contact in between was pretty romantic – even though so painful, I think I cried at the end of every November 9.

There was a major plot twist toward the end of the book, I wasn't expected it at all, I'm pleased about that. Apparently, there was a cameo from Ugly Love because we saw Miles and Tate, but I haven' read that book yet, anyways.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, what I enjoy a lot in Colleen’s books is that she always put a form of art in her books, here it was writing, so yay! At the end of the book, we got to read Ben’s manuscript; it was really interesting, especially because everything in it was true and not fiction. The fact that Fallon was so aware of books, with notion like TBR, instalove and everything was quite refreshing, because it made me connect to her and it pleased my little booklover’s heart. One of the funniest things of the book was that there was a scale rating for kisses, and Ben was always looking to be more than a ten.

Of course, it is a Colleen Hoover’s book, so there is drama. Some choices the characters made I didn’t completely agree with, even though I understood them, it was pretty realistic. Like when Ben was in a relationship I was like: WHY ON EARTH CAN YOU BE WITH HER? I UNDERSTAND BUT YOU CAN’T DO THAT! And then, Fallon went out with a guy who was wearing whale pants, I didn’t know that was a thing but apparently it is?

Ben and Fallon were interesting characters, I’m happy we got to read from their two perspectives, because it made me understand the story as a whole, and well, it felt like there weren’t hole in it. I loved Fallon, because she changed so much throughout the novel, she was so unsure of herself and then gain confidence, mainly because of Ben. I could relate so much to that because being confident is always hard, and I’m not the most confident person in the world, she went through so much and OMG I want to cry while writing this. A lot of readers can also connect to Ben, because let’s face it, a lot of us are writers (#NaNoWriMo). The characters dynamics were great and I was just shipping it during the whole book, I know it’s the point, but Colleen did great.

Final thoughts:

I think this is my favourite novel by Colleen Hoover, I felt so connected to the characters – it wasn’t necessarily the case in her other books. I cried, I laughed, what else can you expect from a book?

Have you read this book? What do you think about Colleen's books in general? Do you like new adult?