“Ugly Love” by Colleen Hoover is about a girl named Tate Collins who moves in with her brother, and across the hall lives Miles Archer, her brother’s best friend. Tate and Miles are immediately attracted to each other, and they enter a friends with benefits relationship. Miles makes it very clear from the beginning that he does not do relationships but is very vague on the reasoning. He has two rules: do not ask about his past, and do not expect a future.

First thing is first, the sex scenes are exquisite. If you are looking for a smutty book to read, this is the one that will not disappoint — 7/10 spice level. Of course, that should not be the only good thing about a book.

In any romance story, it is crucial that the reader is voting for the love interests. It is like a mathematical equation. Tate is a lovable character because she is not afraid to be honest with her feelings and to be vulnerable — the opposite of Miles. Although Miles is a likable character as well, he has deep-rooted trauma that he has not been able to work through, and Tate seemingly has to “fix” him. This is where the love gets ugly.

The alternating perspectives was not my cup of tea. I preferred Tate’s perspective. It switches from Tate’s present day and Miles’ past. I was not as invested in his past. It was a huge build up, and I felt like the final reveal did not deliver as much. His past trauma is understandable and made me cry when I read it, but I think the lack of being invested into his side of things is what made me feel like the climax plateaued. The reasoning it made me cry is, well, I am emotional, and I cared about the character. In general, I am not a big fan of dual perspectives.

What I do like is the sneaking around. In a “brother’s best friend” or “fake dating” trope, there is always a tense risk, and I eat it up every single time. Corbin, Tate’s older brother, ends up finding out about their little arrangement and is furious. It is even better when the brother punches the best friend.

Another character that deserves to be mentioned is Cap. He is an elder gentleman who is the elevator operator to their apartment building. At first, I did not understand the purpose of his character, but I grew to enjoy every time he was mentioned. He offered wisdom to the main character and picked on how she was feeling. They had personable talks throughout the novel that made it all feel more real.

I always really enjoy an ending in a romance story where one partner chases after the other whenever they finally come to their senses. It leads to a powerful monologue of a confession of their undying love. This one does not fall short either. I was rooting for Miles and Tate to get their happy ending that both deserved.

Hoover teaches the message that not all love has to be ugly. Fingers crossed that they turn this beautiful novel into a film one day, because this is my favorite Hoover book thus far.

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