Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014
Pages: 322
Song I Played While Reading: All You Had To Do Was Stay by Taylor Swift
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t 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.

This was my first Colleen Hoover book. I've been dying to get my hands on one of her books ever since they exploded across the book world a year ago. It's funny because she's been writing books for years but I never heard her name until last year, when my favorite booktuber mentioned her, and then she started popping up everywhere I looked. All I knew of her was that she wrote NA contemporaries and that they simultaneously gave you the feels but ripped your heart open. So I was excited to start this, and I wasn't disappointed.
Her writing style was the first thing I noticed. Specifically, how straightforward it was. There was no frilly, lyrical woos or descriptive metaphors. It was black and white, and I found it refreshing, albeit a little odd in the beginning. I've been reading so much fantasy lately that whenever I'm stuck on Earth with regular human issues it takes me a little while to adjust.
Something that really really REALLY bothered me while reading other reviews on Goodreads was all the shit people were talking about Tate and how she "let this hot guy walk all over her." If you had a heart, or even any sympathy at all, you'd realize that is so not the case. Tate was an awesome narrator and I hate seeing people demean her just because she enjoys sex and agreed to have a purely physical relationship with a guy. You know from his chapters he has some emotional trauma and that's the reason why he doesn't want a relationship. But just because we know that doesn't mean we also don't know HE CLEARLY WANTS TATE. He was just as hurt as Tate was, and the whole situation was shitty, but don't belittle the book by saying all that garbage. It's rude. Tate is independent and knows how to handle herself. Don't hate her because she fell for a beautiful, broken boy. It happens. 
Okay rant done, I promise. 
As you can probably tell I have MAJOR feels for this book and loved it. I was drunk off it for the fist 100 pages and was cackling to myself like the weirdo I am. Theres nothing sweeter then the first stage of the relationship; meeting, usually not liking the person, begrudgingly noticing how hot they are, and the rest that leads to them getting together. Specifically, epic stare downs that had me choking on my own spit because picturing it in my head was too ridiculous. 
I loved Tate and sympathized with her immensely. If I had been in her situation, I would have done and felt the exact same feelings, which is rare for me. Miles was a more surprising character, simultaneously being closed off and super emotional. The chapters from his pov were such a contrast to the man he was with Tate that I would often think of them as two different people, so I was a little caught off guard at the ending and how everything came full circle. 
I loved Corbin and how protective he was of Tate. I also absolutely adored Cap and all his little jokes and knowledge, specifically the one about birthmarks and how there placement signifies how you were killed in your past life. How cool of a thought is that?!
The reason why I didn't give this a full 5 stars is because I lost a little interest in it after Miles and Tate settled into their arrangement. It was the same thing; sex, emotional confusion, sex, more emotion confusion, sex, emotions, emotions, emotions. I didn't hate it, but I had to dock half a star for it. But besides the little lull this book was fantastic!

Quotes
"I toss the covers off and stand up, then walk to the door and meet his gaze. "Do me a favor and take a step back."
Surprisingly, he does. I keep my eyes locked with his until the bedroom door slams in his face and I'm looking at the back of the door. I smile and walk back to my bed. I lie down and pull the covers over my head.
I win."

"Everything is Miles.
That's how it is when a person develops an attraction toward someone. He's nowhere, then suddenly he's everywhere, whether you want him to be or not."

"When we reach the bathrooms, he walks into the men's restroom without pause. He doesn't turn and look at me. He doesn't wait for me to walk into the women's first. I push the door open, but I don't need to use the restroom. I just want to breathe, but he's not letting me. He's invading. I don't think he means to. He's just invading my thoughts and my stomach and my lungs and my world."

"The different between the ugly side of love and the beautiful side of love is that the beautiful side is much lighter. It makes you feel like you're floating. It lifts you up. Carries you.
The beautiful parts of love hold you above the rest of the world. They hold you so high above all the bad stuff, and you just look down on everything else and think, Wow. I'm so glad I'm up here."


(Synopsis from Goodreads)