Review: Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover @colleenhoover @AtriaBooks

Blurb from Goodreads:
At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.
Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

Title: Maybe Someday
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria
Publication Date: March 18, 2014

RATING: 5/5 STARS

Brooke's Review:

Holy...WOW...Im not even sure I'll be able to write a review for this...just...WOW!

This was my first Colleen Hoover book. I will say that I had heard some great things about her writing, but I am always leery of contemporary reads. In most cases they do not live up to my expectations and then I get upset that I bothered to read them. This was SO not the case with Hoover. This author knows how to take your heart, make it sing, wrench it out of your chest and then put it back it building it up to a complete explosion. To say I was floored by her ability to do this would be an understatement.

I will say that I didn't have a clue what this book was about. I went purely on the fact that one of my friends at work absolutely loved it and told me I had to read it. So I jumped in with both feet, not having any clue what I was getting myself into. I had no idea the emotional roller coaster ride Hoover would take me on. And a ride it was!

The characters in this book are some of the most well developed characters I have ever seen. First we have Sydney, 22, trying to make it on her own without any help from her family, boyfriend, roommate, a good life. But it all comes crashing down when she finds out Tori and Hunter have been lying to her about their relationship. Sydney is forced out of her apartment, to become much more independent than she ever thought she would. What I love about Sydney is that she's such a strong character. She knows exactly what she wants. And, she's not afraid to step away from her situation with Hunter even though she's been with him for so long.  But Sydney quickly gets herself immersed in a life with someone she becomes completely connected with. So much so that she finds it hard to even pull herself away from him, despite the fact that she knows she can't have him. But he becomes everything she needs, everything she never knew existed. Sydney frustrated me a bit in this book. She refused to rely on her family and instead stayed in a situation that became a bit toxic for her. Overall I really loved her character and understood her need to feel loved and accepted, despite the fact that she wanted it from someone she just could not have.

Ridge, oh Ridge. I really loved his character. I won't give away his secret, because it was a surprise to me and I loved it. But I will say he is burdened with a disability you never would think he had. And the way he does things to overcome his disability is sweet and sincere. But Ridge has his own baggage. Things that he is tied to and can't seem to extract himself from. A love he thinks is forever but is more about taking care of someone rather than letting them live. It's hard to watch his relationship with Sydney develop knowing he has things that hold him back. You want so much for him to realize there is more out there, but you understand his commitment and why he chose it. In his own way, Ridge was a bit selfish. Allowing Sydney to live with him, forming a relationship with her that he knows is not something he should be doing. You feel his pain, his struggle, his heart splitting in two.

I have to clarify that even the traits that annoyed me with Hoover's characters in this book were understandable. I think she needed her characters to show their selfishness. I think it made for a much more solid understanding of how hard it truly is to deny a love that is so obviously there. So even though I may have gotten annoyed at times, I was ok with that in the end. Because I knew the struggles these characters went through was what would bring them to their ultimate realizations. The best part of the relationship between Syndey and Ridge was their honesty. They were never anything but honest with each other. They both knew exactly what they wanted, even if they couldn't have it. They both knew they needed to sever their bond, even if they couldn't do it. It was their honesty with each other that really drilled a whole in my heart and caused it to ache because their attraction and chemistry was so undeniable, they could not possibly lie to each other about it.

Another thing I love about Hoover's books is that she always finds a way for the main characters to have friends that are so important in their lives. With Hopeless, she had Six and Daniel. With Maybe Someday we have Warren. I love this character and I would love to see him have at least a novella, as Daniel had with Hopeless. There's so much more depth to this character than is explored in this book. He's completely committed to Ridge. He's been friends with him for a long time. But he is also drawn to Sydney. I love how this actually makes him angry, like he has no idea what to do with his feelings that are torn between the two. It makes him a greatly developed character and perfect friend.

As for Hoover's writing, well my reading this book in a day and giving it five stars is a testament to how well she writes. Her words flow effortlessly off the page. Her descriptions of emotions are what really kept me reading. Her ability to make you feel exactly what the characters were feeling their happiness, their pain, their struggle shows me that Hoover truly knows how to get inside the head of the reader. I had the same feelings when I read Hopeless. And I love that in this book while there is definitely sexual tension, and you get a few scenes where that tension is explored, it's not the focus of the book. Unlike so many other New Adult authors, Hoover chooses to focus on the storyline and the importance of what her characters experience emotionally throughout the story. Do you get some sexy scenes, sure you do, but they are not why you're reading her writing. You're reading her writing because she has an amazing ability of getting you into her characters heads and wanting to know the outcome of their situations.

Having grown up being very immersed in music, I had a great connection with this part of the book. I loved how Sydney and Ridge created music together. I loved that their songs were an extension of their relationship: how it grew and formed and cracked and broke. Each song from this book told a depth of emotion I don't think you could get without seeing them created. So the music really made this book for me. And I now want to go out and buy Griffin Peterson's album because I heard him sing Maybe Someday and it cracked my heart right back open!

Would I recommend this book, absolutely. Would I tell you to go in with tissues, probably. I can say I didn't blubber sloppy ugly tears, but I did cry and I could see how others would be a mess when reading the emotional roller coaster Hoover takes you on. You will feel completely vulnerable, but you will come to terms with that vulnerability and realize it is right where Hoover wants you to be so you can experience the importance of the story. Anyone who is a fan of well developed characters, an interesting story line that is unexpected, and a range of emotions that will break then heal your heart will love this book!

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