Book Review: Maybe Someday

By Rachel
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover Book Cover

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, published March 2014 by Simon & Schuster.

Read: May 2014
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary/Romance
Source: Purchased
#Pages: 367

Add to Goodreads buttonSynopsis: Sydney is living in an idyllic bubble – she’s a dedicated student with a steady job on the side. She lives with her best friend, has a great boyfriend, and the music coming from the balcony opposite hers is fast becoming the soundtrack to her life. But when Sydney finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her, the bubble bursts. The mysterious and attractive man behind the music, Ridge, gives Sydney hope that she can move on and they begin to write songs together. But moving on is harder than she expects, Sydney can only hope…maybe someday.

The Review

I’ve seen a lot of buzz on book blogs about Colleen Hoover, both good and bad, and posts discussing the New Adult genre in general. Opinion seems to be divided on New Adult, and I think that of the NA books I’ve seen so far, Colleen Hoover does them well, very well. I didn’t know where to start with her published work, but when I learned that Maybe Someday was a mixed media reading experience, it won hands down. It amazes me that this aspect of the book isn’t talked about more – for anyone who doesn’t know, Maybe Someday has its own bespoke singer/songwriter soundtrack, which completely enhances this read!

I’m not a massive fan of the UK cover, I think we get the raw end of the deal when it comes to CoHo covers. However, I LOVED this story – especially the massive twist I definitely didn’t see coming close to the start of the novel (and which I’m not about to spoil here). I liked the frequent use of text messages because that is more true-to-life of a modern relationship than one conducted solely face-to-face (and obviously also has an even more important role to the story…not giving it away!). I’m also probably in the minority when I say that the cheating element of this book did not phase me at all. I’ve seen so many reviews slamming this, and some people even refusing to read this book because of it – I’d love to know what world those people live in if cheating (and I’m assuming other nasties like illness, and perhaps death?) don’t exist. I enjoy fiction that reflects, and deals with, real-life scenarios, and I think Colleen Hoover actually handled the trickier aspects of this novel very well. I found the content and context to be relate-able, and the narrative evoked a great emotional response.

The first 100 pages or so of this novel had me completely and totally sucked in with a massive cat-that-got-the-cream grin, the kind you only get when you find a great book that you can’t wait to lose yourself in for a few days and welcome these new characters into your life. Unfortunately, this feeling didn’t quite last until the end – at some point the story began to slow down a little, and that initial momentum just wasn’t there. I still really enjoyed this book, and want to read more by Colleen Hoover, but this book was a 5/5 rating for me from the start, and somewhere along the way it lost that status.

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that I love “issues” stories – like Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain novels, and there is an “issues” element or two in Maybe Someday that I really wasn’t expecting, which for me made this book so much more than just another New Adult romance. The “issues” are critical to the story and without giving away any spoilers, I did question the accuracy of them at times. I could overlook my questioning and still really enjoy the novel, but I do wonder if some elements of the book would be possible, considering the issues presented.

I definitely fell in love with the characters in this story; Hoover presents a dynamic mix of individuals, and there was enough humour peppered throughout to keep me thoroughly entertained. I have a particular soft spot for Warren who can be a bit of a perve, but hilarious at the same time, and he is a damn good friend. Obviously, I’m also loving Ridge, I don’t think you can read this story and not become a Ridge-supporter, he’s such a dynamic character, who tries to do what is “right” when the lines between right and wrong, and good and bad, start to blur. Obviously, the songs by Griffin Peterson aren’t supposed to be Ridge singing, if it was representative of someone in the book it’s probably supposed to be his brother, but listening to the songs that were “written” by Ridge still kind of gave the character a voice and added a deeper level of emotion to the story. You can listen to the song as it’s being written by the characters in the book, and see how it the song has been inspired by what is happening to the characters in the story. This is the first mixed media book I’ve read and I’m in love with this concept!

Now, to properly discuss the obvious bit that really needs to be talked about, gushed over and I think Hoover should just generally be applauded for her amazing-ness. The soundtrack. Ridge writes songs, Sydney helps Ridge to write these songs, they are full of longing, hope, angst, love – they’re actually pretty good (Maybe Someday is my favourite). Griffin Peterson, former American Idol contender, wrote and sang the songs for this novel – which you get access to upon purchase.

Quotables

“I’ve learned that the heart can’t be told when and who and how it should love. The heart does whatever the hell it wants to do. The only thing we can control is whether we give our lives and our minds the chance to catch up to our hearts.”

“I failed miserably at trying not to fall in love with you.”… “I failed first.”

The Rating

4.5/5

Included above is a fan-made video for Maybe Someday (the book) complete with the Maybe Someday song, this is fantastic! Overall I really enjoyed this book, I finished it a few days ago and I still think about it often, surely the sign of a pretty powerful read. I’m glad this was the first Hoover book I read, and I definitely plan to read more by her (suggestions welcome!). If I ever had the time to reread – this would definitely get a second look – maybe someday.

About Rachel

Avid reader & #bookblogger. Lover of all things business. A fan of drinks & dancing. Ever optimistic. Feminist.

27 Responses

    1. Rachel

      I really loved this! I’m STILL thinking about it and humming the songs to myself! I’m afraid to read anything else by Hoover now, because her other books don’t have soundtracks, so what if they aren’t as good because of that? Also, I received an email about a blog tour the other day and it’s a novel and soundtrack written by a singer/songwriter (female this time). If this becomes ridiculously saturated it’ll ruin the whole thing I think. Thanks for your comment 🙂

      Like

    1. Rachel

      So JEALOUS!! Again, the perils of living in a small place mean I’ll likely never see Mrs Hoover unless she decides to retire to the Emerald Isle! Enjoy 🙂 … and take pictures!

      Like

  5. Reviews from a Bookworm

    Brilliant review, happy to see you loved this as much as me. I initially gave it 4/5 and then upped it to 5 for some reason, think listening to the album on repeat made me love it more for some reason. But I agree that it lost momentum and I wasn’t loving it as much nearer the end, the start was 5/5 for me and then it just got too slow for me. The cheating aspect wasn’t a real big issue for me either, I thought it felt realistic.

    Like

    1. Rachel

      Thanks, Charnell. You’ve been busy tonight! Catching up on comments? Those songs definitely become addictive but Maybe Someday is still my favourite song… I’m going to put it on now actually! For the first third of the book I honestly couldn’t believe how swept up I was in the whole thing – I was making audible noises while reading, I was ecstatic to have found such a great read, but it did lose momentum along the way. Not enough to drop the rating by much though. I can see why some types of cheating would put a reader off, but Hoover handled it so well. And I guess you’re like me in your love of issues books – cheating happens in life, and often not in the “nice” way it happened here, and I like to read about things that do happen, however ugly. Thanks for commenting 🙂 You should check out Heart Shaped Rock, there’s a soundtrack to go with it too but from a female perspective. Initially, I didn’t want to read more mixed media thinking it might not appeal but I’ve become intrigued… R x

      Like

  12. Review: Ugly Love |

    […] only read one other Hoover book (Maybe Someday), which I really enjoyed and raved about in my review. I was a little afraid that her other novels would pale in comparison due to the very clever and […]

    Like

  15. Top Ten Tuesday – My All Time Favourite Reads! |

    […] Popular Pick – Can-I-Just-Have-Anything-By-Colleen-Hoover? No? OK. I’ll go with… Maybe Someday – This was my introduction to CoHo. It’s mixed media. It’s all about the feels. It’s an amazing contemporary with amazing characters. I just wanna meet Colleen and give her a big bear hug. //My Review// […]

    Like

  20. Top Ten Tuesday – Books That Celebrate Diversity |

    […] 3. Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover – Diverse Element – Disability. I don’t want to go into too much detail on this novel, as I don’t want to ruin the book for those who have yet to read it (what are you doing if you haven’t read it yet?!). This is a New Adult novel, with its own soundtrack, which also features a disability. Winning. My review of Maybe Someday. […]

    Like

Leave a comment, and start a conversation!