Well, its time for my first real book review. Past time actually! With social distancing now a part of all our lives, I have decided it is high time to kick this into gear. Thanks for reading!

BOOK REVIEW: Too Late
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publish Date: November 13, 2016
⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars

What’s it about:

We follow Sloan, a college student who is trapped in a horrible relationship with Asa, the drug kingpin of the university.  She cooks, cleans and puts up with a whole lot of bullshit from Asa and his pals. 

She meets the handsome Carter in class and has a bit of flirty flirty time. But she is soon disappointed when she finds he is Asa’s new drug trafficking partner. Despite her plan to get away from this sort of life, she finds Carter too irresistible. They both put themselves in terrible situations to sneak in time together.

But of course, Carter is not really Carter. He is really Luke, an undercover police officer investigating Asa’s empire. So not only is he risking Sloan’s safety by pursuing her but his whole investigation. 

The Good: (Spoilers Ahead!)

I enjoy a good forbidden love/slow burn in a romance, and Too Late has quite a bit to enjoy. Hoover’s angsty prose conveys beautiful emotion which I loved. Sloan and Carter/Luke’s push and pull has its moments of fun and it definitely had me rooting for them to just make out already. Also, Asa is a decent villain. His assholery makes Sloan’s desperation to have a normal life seem plausible.

The Not So Good:

I am not a huge fan of insta-love. I would prefer a little time to go by, even off-screen before the characters are so smitten with each other they can’t think of anything else. Carter and Sloan are so infatuated with each other that they make stupid choices from the get-go. I can get past it, but it’s not at all realistic. 

There were also some head-scratching moments when I wondered if Luke was quite possibly the worst cop in the nameless city. He’s a terrible liar and looks at Sloan with puppy dog eyes every time he is near her. When they finally hook up, it is a quickie in his car parked right on the street in front of Asa’s house. Not always a big thinker, our Luke.

The Really Not So Good:

The ending. Holy hell.

The whole thing really fell apart. It would have been fine if Hoover had finished the story at the point where Asa is defeated and Luke and Sloan go off into the sunset. But instead, it pivots into a series of epilogues, an epilogue to the epilogue and a prologue. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

There is a prologue. 

At the end of the book. 

Told from Sloan’s point of view, it details her thoughts as Asa manipulates and rapes her on their first date. A story that was already told in graphic detail through a lengthy and unnecessary monologue Asa gives to Luke. I am not one who shrinks from dark and violent imagery but I seriously can’t understand why she added this scene. 

But the weird doesn’t end there. There are still six or seven chapters to go, complete with a fumbled court case, an unexpected pregnancy,  Asa finding their hideout then breaking in and raping Sloan several times and a car accident. Oh, and how could I forget the voyeuristic sex scene in which a bound Asa is forced to watch Luke and Sloan screw right before he gets taken away. 

Final Thoughts:

This is my first book by Colleen Hoover, and I’m not giving up on her yet. Her word choice and prose intrigue me enough to give her work another go.  Once I do, I’ll make sure to write another book review and post it to my blog!

Thanks for reading!