Okay, folks. You know me, I’m a super critical person, I love to criticize. But, guys, I don’t have one single bad thing to say about November 9 by Colleen Hoover. I don’t usually like romance, although I enjoy writing it. I’d much rather read a horror book than a romance one. It’s not the case with this one. I was absolutely hooked from page one to the last one, to the point where I didn’t want to read the text messages I got, check my Instagram, eat, or go to the bathroom. I just wanted to read. Do you know how rare this is? I believe for romance enjoyers, this book would help with any book slump. But enough, let’s jump right into November 9 Book Review.
November 9 Book Review: Book Summary
Fallon is having a conversation with her father in a restaurant. She hates her father and blames him for the accident that happened to her two years prior to that – her body was burned in a fire. Because of that, she thinks that she’d never find anybody to love or even look at her. But she’s wrong. While she’s having a bad argument with her dad, Ben sits by her side and starts pretending to be her boyfriend. Absolutely out of the blue. She doesn’t know him but he’s so funny and charming that she plays along. They start talking and they have so much chemistry they basically fall in love right there. However, Fallon says she won’t fall in love until she’s 23 years old, 5 years from then. Ben says he’ll wait for her. They make an improbable agreement: they would meet every November 9th. They wouldn’t talk, stalk each other on social media, nor have their phone numbers. They would meet for 5 years and Ben will write a book about it. Then, they would stay together. This crazy premise works and the book is divided by each November 9th that they meet. There are good days and bad days, one in which we find a huge secret that Ben is keeping.
November 9 Book Review: The Official Cover and Blurb
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in Los Angeles 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. Can Ben’s relationship with Fallon—and simultaneously his novel—be considered a love story if it ends in heartbreak?
November 9 Book Review: The Good
- The premise is amazing and it works so well!
- The characters are amazingly well-developed
- The chemistry! Is! Fantastic!
- There are tears, happy ones, sad ones, fear, anger, regret, all the emotions!
- It has a full circle from beginning to end with no loose ties.
November 9 Book Review: The premise is amazing and it works so well!
Usually, romance books are predictable with the same tropes and clichés. Everything happens in such a way that you can basically tell what’s the next thing coming. Not this time! I had never read anything with such a premise of meeting once a year, with no communication in the meantime. I never thought this would work. A year is a long time! It made me so curious to keep reading to see if they would really show up or move on with their lives. The relationship works so well despite the distance and the lack of communication. It’s so fun when they meet, there are so many emotions. It sparks curiosity and you can’t wait to read about the next November 9th. You get excited to turn the pages and discover what’s going to happen.
November 9 Book Review: The characters are amazingly well-developed
Ben! Fantastic, well-developed, funny, witty. Such cool lines. Everything he says is interesting, and you crave more. I only felt that with very specific characters, like Jack Sparrow. He’s not cringy, he’s not a nerdy stereotype, and he’s not an alpha as*hole, like he says himself. He’s exactly what I try to say when I teach about developing characters here.
Fallon is amazing. She’s tough and brave, she goes with what she believes in. However, she’s still a girl with insecurities, who wants somebody to love. Sometimes “well-developed” girls can’t be girls, they have to act like a man who doesn’t have any feelings or doesn’t care about appearance, etc. Fallon is not like that, she’s amazing, and as well-developed as Ben. She doesn’t make nonsensical decisions “for love”, she’s thoughtful.
November 9 Book Review: The chemistry! Is! Fantastic!
I usually hate the chemistry of most of romance couples. Usually, the writer wants them to be together, after all, they spent a lot of time writing those two characters, so they better work together. Sometimes, they don’t. Most times. I usually hate either one of them or both of them. NOT IN THIS CASE! I LOVE both of them. They’re such well-developed characters that they simply work together. Both of them. They only see each other once a year but it’s like they never left.
November 9 Book Review: There are tears, happy ones, sad ones, fear, anger, regret, and all the emotions!
The book goes through it all. There are happy moments, sad moments, moments you get angry at them both, and moments you feel regret. There are just so many emotions, and all of them are developed and believable.
November 9 Book Review: It has a full circle from beginning to end with no loose ties.
The ending is so satisfying!!! No spoilers yet, but it ends exactly like it started, however, in a completely different way. In the beginning, it doesn’t make much sense that Ben would go and sit with an unknown girl and pretend that they’re dating. HOWEVER, this is explained. And it’s great. And there are no loose ties.
November 9 Book Review: The Bad
- It’s a fairy tale: it would never work in real life. Never.
- The middle part changes the tone of the whole book
- I don’t think I could have acted like Fallon
November 9 Book Review: It’s a fairy tale: it would never work in real life. Never.
Okay, so, it’s pretty unbelievable that a random guy would sit by your side and start getting in the middle of a discussion with your dad, pretending to be your boyfriend. It’s even more unbelievable that you’d play along with it, especially when it feels kind of borderline an assault. I’d be really scared if it happened to me, personally. Also, they don’t have their phone numbers, they don’t really schedule the place and time for the next date one year later, they don’t have their social media, and they don’t even know where the other one lives. And yet, they meet each other for five years in a row, on the same day every year, in the same restaurant. Nothing changes, everything always works out. That’s a fairy tale. It’s not real. It works in the book but in real life, this would never be a thing.
November 9 Book Review: The middle part changes the tone of the whole book
So, no spoilers, but there’s a huge plot twist in the middle part and it changes the happy tone of the book to get much darker, and sad, and I personally got really mad at it, because I can’t deal with sudden changes. It works out in the end, and things end up well, but it could have easily ruined the book.
November 9 Book Review: I don’t think I could have acted like Fallon
No spoilers, but Fallon learns about a CRIME against her family that ruined her life, and she’s really quick to forgive. I wouldn’t. I would have called the police. Now, you’ll have to read it to know what I’m talking about.
November 9 Book Review: Let’s Address This…
Okay, so I recently found out that this book is a little controversial, and so is the author. I found this on Twitter:
And I was like… wait a minute, I read this book. And I liked it!!!!!
It gets worse…
Okay, I know nothing about this author. I literally can’t even remember her name. I thought this specific book is really good, though. That scene is problematic – when Ben says “I never wanted to use physical force on a girl before” – and I don’t want to excuse him or her, however, we have to discuss problematic characters. Ben is not a role model – he’s a *lil spoiler* criminal. Should writers write only good perfect characters? I don’t think the writer is promoting this toxic behavior, and it’s fair that Ben thinks that. We all have horrible thoughts sometimes. And he doesn’t do anything. Also… he’s just a character. Who’s morally gray.
Now, about the author life’s controversies… I don’t know anything about it and I want to keep it this way.
November 9 Book Review: Last Thoughts
I loved the book! In my opinion, 5 stars. One of the best romance books I’ve ever read. I loved the story, and the characters, and, if you remember this is a fairy tale and would never happen in real life, then, absolutely go for it!
