Review: CONFESS by Colleen Hoover
Synopsis:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a new novel about risking everything for love—and finding your heart somewhere between the truth and lies.
At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a new novel about risking everything for love—and finding your heart somewhere between the truth and lies.
At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.
The only reason I’m giving Confess 4 1/2 stars is because Losing Hope remains my favorite CoHo book and that was a 5 star review.
Confess is powerful from the very beginning, and when I say very beginning I mean that I wasn’t in 10 pages and I was already bawling. The circumstances surrounding Auburn and the magnitude of her loss is really more than any 15 year old should bear.
Confess is powerful from the very beginning, and when I say very beginning I mean that I wasn’t in 10 pages and I was already bawling. The circumstances surrounding Auburn and the magnitude of her loss is really more than any 15 year old should bear.
Let
me start by saying that I did Confess on Audible because Elizabeth
Louise and Sebastian York narrate it and they are my absolute
favorites! If you have already read Confess and ever feel like
re-reading I would highly recommend doing it in audio version.
I
have to say that I was intrigued by Confess from the moment I read the
synopsis and within the first few pages I just knew I wouldn’t be able
to put this book down. The whole idea of people having submitted
anonymous confessions to Colleen was very interesting to me.
Just the confessions alone gave this book depth others don't have, some of these came from what you could tell were tortured consciences, but they were powerful truths that would not otherwise be spoken out loud.
"Sometimes I wonder if being dead would be easier than being his mother."
Confess was
so much more than I was expecting it to be, I was able to
connect with Auburn in a level that blindsided me and I’m sure many, like
me, will find this to be the case. I can’t elaborate on exactly what
were the circumstances that made me identify with her because it truly was an unexpected turn of events, and I would like to keep this review spoiler free :D
Auburn
just moved to Texas to start a new life and is struggling to make
ends meet. One night coming back from work she stumbles upon this
building and this boy, and little did she know it would be more trouble
than she needed to find yet at the same time he would be exactly what
she needed.
Owen is an artist, but what he paints is unusual, his inspiration comes from other people’s deepest secrets, left as anonymous confessions in a small mailbox outside his door. The night Auburn shows up at his door, Owen desperately needs help with a gallery showing and he convinces Auburn to stay and work the register for him. What Owen doesn't tell her is that he already knows who she is.
Owen is an artist, but what he paints is unusual, his inspiration comes from other people’s deepest secrets, left as anonymous confessions in a small mailbox outside his door. The night Auburn shows up at his door, Owen desperately needs help with a gallery showing and he convinces Auburn to stay and work the register for him. What Owen doesn't tell her is that he already knows who she is.
“She
would be shocked if she knew how much of her past has affected my
present, which is why I won’t be sharing the truth with her. Some
secrets should never turn into confessions.”
Auburn is immediately drawn to Owen, because let’s face it, who wouldn’t be attracted to a young, hot talented artist? They both walk into this knowing the attraction is strong and that they would fall for each other yet they are both hiding big secrets and as secrets often do, they will surface later, and bring everything crumbling down.
“I’m
losing track of the lies I’m telling her, and lying to someone like her
isn’t normally something I would do. But I don’t know how to tell her
the truth…
Colleen
never seizes to surprise me, Confess is unique in the story, in the
depth of the characters yet always true to her style they are also very
relatable, you feel for both Auburn and Owen. There were times I was
swooning, others where the anxiety level was through the roof and a few others
where I was just plain pissed, because the circumstances were just so
unfair, but I guess life isn’t fair sometimes, and Colleen didn’t have
any problems reminding us of that.
As I mentioned earlier, there is one more element in the story that’s a major game changer and I hope it catches you as off guard as it caught me.
As I mentioned earlier, there is one more element in the story that’s a major game changer and I hope it catches you as off guard as it caught me.
" I’ve
never felt stronger than I feel when I’m with her. I’ve never felt like
I had a purpose like I feel when I’m with her. I think about the first
words I said to her when she showed up at my door. “Are you here to save
me?”
Confess is not just a love story, there is love for sure more than one kind of love actually. Confess is about the sacrifices one makes for those you love unconditionally, and the way life makes you grow in a hurry when you face it alone. Confess is about survival. Confess is about choices. Confess is about truth. Confess is about loving someone forever even when you can't.
Collen most definitely hit this one out of the ballpark. A book I will always recommend as meaningful reading with a lesson to be learned. By the time I finished reading Confess my book looked like a rainbow of colored tags because you could find a quote to want to remember pretty much in every other page.
Prints by Danny O'Connor inspired by Confess available for purchase here
I'm proud owner of three of these and they are absolutely beautiful, and once you read Confess you will definitely want to own them as well.
This story was definitely not one that I was expecting, with the issues that came up and with the problems that the characters were each faced with, but I’m really glad I came across this novel. Just encourages me to continue reading her books because of the style of her writing, you always get something different so it always keeps you on your toes.
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