Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: Review & Giveaway

Title: Maybe Someday
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books 
Buy This Book: Book Depository / Amazon
Buy The Soundtrack: Amazon

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance—and the enchanting music that inspires one young woman to put her life back together.
At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.
Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…From the author of the New York Times bestsellers Slammed, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, This Girl, and Losing Hope, Maybe Someday is destined to become another bestseller and long-lasting fan favorite. (Goodreads summary.)

FYI:

I shall break all the rules now!!! Muahahahahahaha

Okay, I am mad right now! No, not just mad but really damn infuriated (I really wanted to swear right then - starts with f and rhymes with ducking - but I shall refrain!). Colleen Hoover is clearly the tricksy woman I always knew she was. Do you want to know why blogosphere? Well, if you don't look away now because I am about to (For just the review, scroll down a whole bunch, past all the ranting.) She has made me come back and redo a review. This is almost despicable and something I have never done but I need to do it. It would be wrong of me not to do it. I read this book almost THREE WEEKS AGO and I still can't get it out of my head or off my mind.
I joined the discussion group because I needed to see what other people were thinking about this book. Were they still obsessively thinking back on it weeks later? Had they listened to the soundtrack over and over again? I realised I have a serious Maybe Someday addiction when I bought my ticket on StageIt to watch Griffin Peterson and his band sing live at the book launch. Now it might not sound too crazy but you have to consider the fact that started at 3:30am here. I feel like she may have actually ruined all new reading experiences for me. What, just a book? No soundtrack to go along with it? No music that perfectly sets the scene and describes how the characters are feeling? I don't think so, try again. Why don't you come back and see me when you are willing to give me a reading experience like Maybe Someday. Damn it, I think I am ruined! *weeps* No, I have not been ruined people, I have been Hoovered. I know I am not the first and I won't be the last. We should really get a support group up and running. In light of this, I'm breaking all the rules and redoing a review because reading back on it, it doesn't in any way, shape or form express what this book has done to me.

Review

I want to start out by saying that this was one of the greatest reading experiences I have ever had. Colleen Hoover explains on her website why she wanted a soundtrack to go along with her book, so you can read that if you want more information. She got the help of Griffin Peterson, who I believe was on the US American Idol, and who had previously been on the cover of her book Losing Hope. He recorded eight songs for an album that you can listen to online for free if you have the book. I decided to download it and pay for it because I got the eARC for free and wanted to support the album. It turned out to be one of the greatest decisions of my life or the worst depending on how you look at it. I have spent the last three weeks listening to that ONE album on repeat. I have listened to it so much I know all the lyrics. I've listened whilst trying to fall asleep, whilst brushing my teeth, walking to work, walking home from work, while blogging and so on. It added so much more to this book and to the experience as a whole. I want to send Colleen Hoover a truckload of chocolates, flowers, kittens and, depending on how well my kidnapping abilities are, The Avett Brothers as thanks. Maybe Someday was so much more than a book, so much more than a soundtrack; it was a truly unforgettable experience.

After finding out that her best friend and boyfriend are sleeping together, Sydney is devastated and in need of a place to stay. This is where it's Ridge to the rescue, the mysterious neighbour who she has watched from her balcony from quite some time. He offers her a place to stay in exchange for help writing lyrics to go along with the music he has been writing. As Sydney and Ridge begin writing together, their relationship grows and they realise they are developing feelings for one another. This would all be simple if it wasn't for the fact that Ridge has a girlfriend. A girlfriend that he has been with for five years and who he is madly in love with.

I know some may not like the fact that their is another girl involved in this story, but I honestly believe that it's handled so well. It's not just another pointless love triangle. It's used to show how complex love is, that it's not always easy and not always so simple. It's not just boy falls in love with girl followed by The End. It doesn't always work that way, in fact it rarely ever works that way. I applaud the fact that I was given two amazing women that I couldn't help but fall in love with. Yes, I picked a side but I could completely see and understand why Ridge would want to be with or choose either of these women. It was refreshing to find that I was struggling with the fact that I wanted Sydney and Ridge to be together so much. Wanting that meant Maggie would get hurt and that I actually struggled with.

Ridge was probably one of the most extraordinary male leads that I have come across in fiction. I won't spoil anything because there might be people out there who haven't read this yet. I will only say that it was a pleasant surprise to find that he wasn't your typical romantic love interest. There's more to him than meets the eye and I couldn't wait to find out more about his life. He plays guitar, writes songs, is attractive and super sweet and you would probably really struggle to find a guy like him in real life. But isn't that what fiction is for?

Music was such an important part of this storyline. It's the whole reason that Ridge and Sydney even come into each others lives. I loved being able to stick in my headphones and listen to the song they had just written together and hear it for myself. It helps that Griffin Peterson is really talented and has a beautiful voice. I am now a fan and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any new releases by him. I can't even thank Colleen Hoover enough for introducing me to his music. I honestly believe that the book wouldn't have been the same without the music. It's clear to see why she was so keen to get songs to go along with this book. They actually add so much more to the story than I originally thought was possible. When I heard this had a soundtrack I was intrigued, but I honestly didn't really know what to expect. It blew me away just how much the soundtrack and book worked together to make one amazing experience.

I honestly believe that Colleen Hoover is a tricksy ninja when it comes to writing New Adult. If you've seen most of my reviews of romance books or NA books, than you'll know that we aren't the best of friends. Most things other people find really romantic actually make me want to vomit up into my own mouth. (Seriously! I get it from my family. We never buy each other the overly sweet cards, we always find the funny yet insulting ones.) I don't really like sickly sweet kind of romance but Colleen Hoover does it in such a way that I actually crave more of it. How she does it, I do not know but she is far too good at it. I was rooting for these two the whole time.

I got really sucked into this story and I actually wasn't sure how this one would end. It kept me guessing which most NA doesn't because it usually seems pretty obvious to me where everything will end up. The secondary characters were really great, mainly Sydney and Ridge's other room mates. I think some romances can revolve too much around the main characters and it doesn't leave time for you to get to know and love anybody else. It was nice to see that there was so much more to this book than just Ridge and Sydney. Warren and Bridgette were the perfect secondary characters and gave me some much needed laughs. Bridgette was so hilarious at times that I snorted on public transport, that's not a good thing - people looked at me like I was crazy!

My one complaint is that Sydney is far too emotional for my liking. It felt like she cried almost non-stop throughout this book. I just wanted to give her a bit of a slap at times and tell her to get over it. At times she was completely justified in her weeping, but others... not so much. And this complaint about crying is coming from someone who can tear up at adverts, sob at Disney and become a weeping mess when a book kills off one of my favourite fictional characters.

 5/5 Butterflies

The music element of the book really added to my experience and it was honestly one of the greatest reading experiences I have had. I read this really quickly and couldn't concentrate at work because I wanted to go home and be able to finish it. I recommend doing what I did and not skipping ahead on the songs, I only listened to them when they came up in the book. Ahhhh thinking back on how much fun this was to read makes me wish I could do it all over again. I seriously want every book I read to come with it's own soundtrack! I know when I was reading this that I had a few complaints, but now weeks later I can't even think of them any more.

READ. LISTEN. ENJOY.

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.

Giveaway

I gave away two pre-orders of the book just after finishing it because I wanted to share the experience. Now I want to give two more people the chance to win this incredible book. The giveaway is international, as long as Book Depository ships to you. I shall let the winner's choose which cover they want: UK or US.

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