Review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Book: Confess

Author: Colleen Hoover

Pages: 320

I read it on: My Kindle

I read it in: 4 hours

Plot Summary: Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin. 

What I Liked: In bullet points: 

• Colleen Hoover has written a few really nice 'New Adult' books. I have read and reviewed a few of them on this blog before. You can click on the names of the books to read my reviews of them- Maybe Someday and Hopeless. So, I was rather looking forward to this new book from her. She writes about damaged young people and how you need to overcome your issues and embrace your pain/imperfections to find true love. Sounds rather practical and nice, right? So, Confess has a similar premise- Auburn is haunted by her past and so is Owen and will they/won't they be able to live happily ever after in the light of said past is the question. Sounded fairly interesting. 

• The confessions used in the book (much like what you see on Post Secret) are, apparently, real confessions from readers and are quite heartbreaking and often insightful. I liked the idea of confessions inspiring art.

• Owen is a great character. Most of Hoovers leading men are pretty great.. so, no surprise there. 

What I Didn't Like: Oh LOADS! 

• The big twist or big secret that Owen was keeping was massively lame. It was not such a big deal and it did not majorly impact anything at all in the story. 

• Auburn was annoying! She was spineless, passive and just NO! She always needed someone to rescue her and I just don't like weak women characters. 

• Auburn and Owen fall in love INSTANTLY! In Hoover's previous books, there were no insta-love scenarios, which was one of the main reasons I read her books in the first place. Most New Adult books have massive insta-love and I abhor that! No one really falls in love- the real thing not lust- in just one meeting. The series of fairly intense events that unfold in this book all have Owen stepping in and helping Auburn because he fell madly in love with her, like, in an instant. 

Rating: 2.5/5
Confess is not Hoover's best work. If you'd like to read a good love story, then Maybe Someday is a much better book by Hoover.