I typically enjoy a good Coleen Hoover novel just as much as the next person, and *November 9has all the typical elements of a CoHo novel: alternating POV’s, twists, and some concerning male behaviors that disguise themselves as cute until you take a step back to really analyze them.
In general I took a liking to the main characters Fallon & Ben pretty quickly, though I found myself getting easily frustrated at how much Fallon’s lack of self-confidence centered around her injury. It’s ironic because I do understand how prevalent her injury was to the plot of the novel as a whole, but I did find myself slightly annoyed at Fallon hanging SO hard on every word that Ben spoke to her, particularly about her scars.
I think CoHo’s intention was for the readers to see Fallon come to love herself with the support of Ben, but it just missed the mark for me. It felt more like Fallon began to love herself ONLY because Ben loved her. The more intimate scenes had Ben focusing so much on Fallon’s scars that it seemed like he was borderline aroused by them which came off as just weird.
There were certainly elements of this book that I really loved, Ben’s quick wit and sarcastic dialogue was at the top of that list. I also loved how quickly the storyline progressed in that we as the reader were jumping from year to year. It kept me really engaged and I didn’t feel like there was any time for the plot to dull, there were constantly new plot points being unraveled because of the lengthy years in between. Of course, as always, the alternating point of view’s between characters gives the story a ton of dimension and I always enjoy the understanding I gain about each of the characters this way.
Despite my frustrations with Ben’s demanding/dominant nature and Fallon’s dependence on him for her own self-worth, I would still give this book a 7 out of 10 because I loved the structure of the story and how their lives tied in together. I am typically one to guess the twists in the story early on, but I have to say I was truly surprised by the way this one played out.
Overall: 7/10