Confess: A Novel

4.5 “OMG” “Even when I shouldn’t.” “fate” KissesWell…surprise surprise - Colleen Hoover did it again. Confess just devoured my heart…brain…soul…all of it was just sucked up into 320 pages of unputdownable bliss and I was simply helpless to the awesomeness. I’m not joking…I Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down. I finished it in less than a day…I was captivated and entranced…possibly even hypnotized – I mean, we are talking about Colleen Hoover, the woman is a genius with words. I really don’t know what to do right now. I’m beside myself because I seriously am not ready to let go of these characters. Welcome to Book Hangover…party of me.Auburn Mason Reed…well, this chick held my heart in the palm of her hand from basically the second paragraph and she never let go of it for one second. There is something about Auburn that pulls inexplicably at every single one of my heart strings. I want to comfort her…hug her…protect her…because she’s never had that. Life hasn’t been fair or kind to Auburn…and surprisingly you would think that would result in a negative attitude or a huge chip on her shoulder…but she takes everything in stride. She does what she needs to do and she makes the best of it…ignores the pain and the emptiness and just remains resolute on moving forward. That takes an enormous amount of self will and determination cause I’ll be honest, if I’d been through half of what she had…I can’t say I would have made it. I ached for Auburn to have some kind of peace…happiness…something just for herself because good Lord did she deserve it…and lucky for me she got all of that and more in the form of a gorgeous boy with beautiful green eyes.‘“I’ve been wanting to do this since the moment I laid eyes on you,” he whispers. His mouth connects with mine, and at first his kiss is like the one I gave him in the tent. Soft, sweet, and innocent. But then the innocence is stripped away the second he runs one of his hands through the back of my hair and slides his tongue against my lips.I don’t know how I can feel so light and so heavy all at once, but his kiss makes me feel weighted to a cloud. I slide my hands up his neck and do my best to kiss him the way he’s kissing me, but I’m afraid my mouth doesn’t even compare to his. There’s no way I could make him feel like he’s making me feel right now.’Owen Mason Gentry…my sexy artist with a ginormous heart. Owen is…a lot of things…so many amazing things...where do I even begin. Well…he’s kind and generous...incredibly thoughtful…sweet and sincere…funny…charming…oh who am I kidding, he’s completely swoon-tastic. He has a cat – which in my book makes him awesome…plus he named it Owen…and it’s a she, really? I can’t even with how amazing he is. I already said he was an artist…but he’s also incredibly talented, which makes him 10 million times sexier, but what led him to painting and what he paints takes everything about his art to a whole new level. The confessions and what he does with them is…like giving a visual representation to a secret…a fear…an emotion…a dream. I mean…it’s truly a mind-blowing concept and something you just want to dive into headfirst and never re-surface. When I say Owen has a ginormous heart it might be the understatement of the year. I’ve never met someone more self-sacrificing…more giving…he never thinks of himself first and while he may not have a lot of people in his life, he would do anything for those he loves. And…lastly…the most amazing thing about Owen is that his initials are OMG. :-)‘His mouth meets mine again, and he lands a kiss as soft as velvet against my lips. He slowly moves his head until his mouth is directly over my ear. “Is this it? Is this how it ends?”I nod, even thought it’s the last thing I want to do. But this is the end. Even if he were to change his life completely, his past choices still affect my own life.“Sometimes we don’t get second chances, Owen. Sometimes things just end.”He winces. “We didn’t even get a first chance.”’I loved everything about these two. From the moment they locked eyes I had a smile on my face and even through every angsty second I could not help but fall more in love with every little nuisance that was revealed. From the same middle names…to all the different ways they connected…they just got each other and I felt every second of their connection. I reveled in it…and considering the way Auburn and Owen’s relationship develops, that speaks volumes. I’ve always said that if I can feel the emotions from the characters...nothing else matters…so when it was actually brought up how many days they had spent together, I kinda had to do a double take because it felt like so much longer. They had this brilliant chemistry…it was effortless, the way everything was blended together just aligned perfectly and I really fell hard for these two, my heart simply overflows with love and adoration for Auburn and Owen.‘“You’re being unfair.”“No, I’m being selfish,” he says.“It’s the same thing.”He takes a step toward me. “No, Auburn, it isn’t. Unfair would be giving you an ultimatum. Being selfish is doing something like this.” His lips connect with mine with strength and purpose. His hands slide into my hair and wrap around the back of my head. He kisses me like he’s giving me every kiss he wishes he could have given me in the past, and every kiss he’ll wish he could give me in the future.All of them, all at once.His hands drop to my back and he pulls me against him. I’m not sure where my hands are at this point. I think I’m holding on to him for dear life, but every part of me other than my mouth has just gone completely numb. The only thing I’m fully aware of is his mouth on mine. His kiss is all I know in this moment.All I want to think about.’This plot…gah…it’s not called Confess for nothing…so many secrets…so many little details…so many things that could be spoiled…hence the reason why I’m not really talking about it. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out what the secrets were that they were keeping…but it really didn’t matter - that didn’t make me want to hear it directly from the characters any less. And trust me knowing the secrets beforehand did not change the emotional impact it had on me when the truth finally came out. There’s a million different ways to write a heart wrenching scene…but I promise you, Colleen has a direct line to whatever controls my tears…because she nails it every time. I mean I knew when I was crying two pages in on the prologue this book was going to be a doozy, but I was blown away. It was everything I needed…the entire emotional rollercoaster set to level 10 – and maybe it was because I was so connected and invested in these characters but I felt everything so deeply and I couldn’t stop loving it. I guess that my only complaint would be the ending, it felt a little…abrupt. I have come to expect a full story…a complete experience…and not that I didn’t love the insight that we get after the final chapter (I truly loved it)…I guess I was expecting an epilogue or maybe a little bit more closure. After I sat back and thought about it…I was fine with the ending…I don’t have to have everything spelled out for me, but I guess I was just a little surprised.‘“I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. Because I know that if you walk out that door, then ten years from now…twenty years from now…we’ll wish we had listened to our hearts when we think back on tonight.”“That’s what scares me,” I tell him. “I’m afraid if I listen to my heart once, I’ll never figure out how to ignore it again.”Owen lowers his mouth to mine, and in a whisper he says, “If only I could be so lucky.” His mouth connects with mine again, and this time I’m very aware of every part of me. I’m pulling him to me with as much desperation as he’s pulling at me. His mouth is everywhere as he kisses me with relief, knowing this kiss is me agreeing to whatever he’s asking of me. It’s my way of telling him he can have tonight.’Confess is a classic example of why Colleen Hoover is an absolute must read for me…her books demand to be read because they’re just excellence personified. She has this unique capability to create characters that steal my heart...compel every emotion out of the spectrum…concocts unique and original plots…and then packages it all up nicely with writing that blows my mind. I don’t even know how to explain it and do it any sort of justice. Her dialogue is some of the best that I’ve ever read…she is able to infuse the deepest emotions into the most simple of things – in fact everything she writes feels like it just bleeds emotion, and that might be why her books are like crack to me. She can have me dying laughing and bawling crying, sometimes all in the same chapter…heck it could be in the same paragraph…and while her books are no where near erotic, she’s still able to make things sexy and give you those feelings without taking it to that level. Plus anyone that can work the line ‘Texas is turning me into a whore.’ into a book…is seriously a genius.

THE STORY:Becca: I actually went into Confess completely blind, having read the synopsis quite some time ago I decided to avoid reading anything else so that I could go in with an open mind and no premonition of what was to come. Besides knowing that it would have something do with Art I was clueless. That is my favorite way to go into a book (movies too!) This approach really worked with how Colleen Hoover built this story. Bits and pieces about both main characters lives are introduced throughout the story until at the end we have a complete picture of not only their past, present and future, but also a clear picture of who both Owen and Auburn are. I really cannot reveal too much about the story without spoiling it, but I will see that as things were revealed Lisa and I were texting back and forth “OMG!” and then “OMG AGAIN!!” (and by the way for those who have read this.. pun intended on the OMG!) Oh and by the way… that prologue?! It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read, it sets the tone for the entire story and once I read that I was completely hooked! I was so enraptured by Confess that I did not want to put it down! Once again Colleen Hoover has worked her epic, magic, writing genius and my love her has grown grown even more!“I love you so much.” His voice is breathless and full of fear. “I’ll love you forever. Even when I can’t.” My tears fall harder at his words. “And I’ll love you forever. Even when I shouldn’t.”Lisa: CoHo, you can do no wrong in my eyes. You continue to blow me away with your creative writing style, insanely gorgeous words, and knack for pulling your readers in instantly and never letting go.Becca’s definitely right about that prologue. It was so, so beautiful. Sweet, and sad, and definitely set the stage for story. Like Becca, I went into this story with no idea whatsoever about what I was going to encounter. I rarely read descriptions, so this is the norm for me. I just love going into a story with a blank slate. And with Colleen especially, this always pays off. The way she tells a story with so many questions, then revealing bits and pieces throughout, is one of my very favorite things about her. It definitely encourages the “I cannot stop reading!!!” behaviors we all struggle with from time to time. ;)She’s like a light, unwittingly brightening up the darkest corners of a man’s soul.THE CHARACTERS:Lisa: This beautiful story is told through the alternating points of view of both Auburn and Owen. (Oh, how I love me some dual narration!!) Auburn has relocated recently, living with a girl she just met in a small apartment near the salon where she works. She has her entire life planned out for her… minus the part where she needs more money. And fast. She stumbles upon an art studio looking for an assistant where she can make some major money, so she immediately agrees to the job. This is where she meets Owen, the studio’s owner. Owen was a bit of an enigma at first. Even though we have the pleasure of his voice for a lot of the book, at the beginning I wasn’t quite sure on how I felt about him. He had a few secrets, and I unsure of whether I would want to smack him or hug him as the story progressed.This is one of the things I love most about Colleen Hoover and her ninja writing skills… so many secrets that really keep you guessing until they are finally revealed… and then… SO MANY FEELS! Good feels, bad feels, ugly feels… she brings them all out of me! Oh, Colleen… how you torture me so!Owen smiles, and I suddenly wish we were in the cleaning aisle, because someone is going to have to mop me up off this floor.Becca: So many feels is right and this book had them all! I would go from grinning, to crying and then to irrationally angry as I read! But these were all good things because each emotion was an integral part of the story!I liked Auburn a lot, she was so strong and her perseverance was one of the things I loved the most about her! As I learned more about her, my heart went out to her. She worked so hard for everything and never gave up on what she wanted, no matter how hard it was.Lisa is right about Owen, I wasn’t too sure about him either. My head couldn’t decided if it should trust him, but my heart was screaming at me to do so! His creative mind was absolutely beautiful! The way that he thought and spoke was as if his words were painted with colors and it was magical. The art work/paintings are such a major part of this book. Because we had an E-ARC we did not get to see the paintings and it made me so sad :( Luckily, I received my pre-order in the mail shortly after finishing and I immediately searched through to re-read the passages and look at te art work… OMG the paintings are AMAZING!!!!! I seriously just stared at them and petted them while my brain soaked them in! By the way, the Artist’s name (not it’s not Owen LOL) is Danny O’Connor :DI tilt my face toward her neck and inhale the scent of her. If her smell had a color, it would be pink. Sweet and innocent with a touch of roses.OVERALL:Becca: Once again, Colleen Hoover has amazed me! She is so talented and her writing speaks to my soul. I will continue to devour any and everything that she writes because her ability to incorporate real characters and beautiful stories packed with so many feels keeps me coming back for more! I had a serious book hangover after reading Confess, I was still so in love with Auburn and Owen and the amazing art that I had to give my brain and heart time to recuperate! If you have not read this yet, DO IT! Trust me, I don’t think that you will be disappointed!Lisa: As I’ve said before and will continue to say, I always rate books based on how they make me feel, and not necessarily on any technical aspects. Because of this, I have zero hesitation about rating this book a full 5 stars. I loved it. From page one I connected with this book, and it never faltered. I’m continually blown away by Colleen Hoover’s talent in writing such realistic and shockingly-defined stories. Her mind is a powerful tool, and I feel lucky to have the chance to experience it when reading her books. Once again, Colleen has made me feel things. ALL the things. And I couldn’t be happier. If you enjoy Colleen’s books (Are there really people out there that DON’T enjoy her books?!) this is one you will not want to miss!