Well, it's definitely a romance which is more than I can say about any of her other books so far. This was actually a romance. Colour me surprised.

Don't get me wrong, I can see why other people would assume the other books are romances. They focus on a character liking another character. But it's usually a toxic relationship, abuse, one-sided, or incestuous in her other books. At least here the relationship is a little bit more ... ... a relationship. Not Ugly Love relationship but a bit on par with normal. Almost.

It's still very focused on exploiting trauma and exploiting different things and then romanticizing them, but I can definitely say this book was a romance. Maybe a little bit of a star-crossed messed up I would never want this romance, romance, but it is a romance.

I will give it one thing, at least Colleen Hoover has started to add diversity, it's just too bad that the diversity was a little bit ehhhh. Like you finally give us a black character and have him actually exist in the story, but then you kind of make him just a yes man to the main character and praise the main character so it feels a little bit like, thanks? Finally representation but it's not the best. I regret mentioning forever ago she needed to be more diverse.

I definitely wanted there to be a better outcome than just a "meh" Colleen Hoover book, but I think "meh" is all she can do.

I seriously find Colleen Hoover books comparable to eating something that has no calories. Like eating a bunch of cabbage, eating plain white rice, or drinking some food flavoring, or even mixing in some of that zero calorie water sweetener. It doesn't give you any nutritional value, you walk away feeling full for a moment but it'll quickly Dawn on you that you haven't ate anything worth your daily intake.

A friend of mine said they're "trauma porn" but they're not good at that either. Like dedicate yourself to the full horror please. Get that good terror or step out.

Colleen Hoover could truly write something on par with Misery or Number One Fan and wreck people with it, but she keeps doing romance.

Branch out! Get those toes in a new pool of water.

2 stars

It's still not good. But it's manageable. ( )

Accident causes mother to lose custody of daughter ( )

Pg. 66: This book will cause emotional damage. I can already tell. I think that he's about to find out who she really is. And being her surrogate father and all, he'll want to protect Deim or whatever, then he'll fall in love with Kenna and they'll raise her daughter and live happily ever after. With some twists in the middle.
Pg. 229: I feel like this was such an amazing story. It was a bit different from other Colleen Hoover books. It was mostly about a mother finding a way to be in her daughters life both only in a way that was in the best interest of her. And the emotions of this book are entirely overwhelming. No one is wrong but it's like there isn't a right answer either. But ultimately, what I love most about this story is that it's so raw and realistic.
Finished: As a mother, this book tore into me. The pain that I felt for Kenna was real. I could not imagine that situation. In all honesty, it made me check myself on not taking having my kids with me for granted. The forgiveness of Kenna from Scotty's parents was a bit sudden and seemed like it was out of nowhere. But overall, good book. If it wasn't for that, I would have given it a 5 star. It's still a really good book and I cried for the last 60 pages and over other parts of the story too. ( )

Reminders of Him starts off with 26-year-old Kenna Rowan returning to the town where she made a huge mistake about 5 years prior that landed her in prison. Now that’s she’s been released, she aims to get her life back together which includes meeting her 4-year-old daughter Diem for the first time since giving birth while serving her jail sentence. Diem is being raised by her paternal grandparents. When Kenna gets back to town she also meets a handsome bar owner and ex-NFL player named Ledger Ward.

The story is told in alternating first person POV by Kenna and Ledger. I like this style of writing because it presents a more detailed view about what’s going on with these characters. Kenna lets us know how she came to meet her daughter’s father and she reveals more about her past. Ledger is torn between wanting to help Kenna or to keep her out of his life. There’s alot of tension between the two of them due to the circumstances.

Colleen Hoover loves to weave a deliciously tangled web of drama, heartache and romance into her books. The theme of redemption is a main part of the story as Kenna tries to get her life back together. She reveals her story bit by bit and this was an emotional read. I rooted for her. ( )

Such a good book. I love the story so much and I could not put this book down. As soon as I finished I was ready to read again. So many plot twists and definitely shocked me. This one made me cry for sure. Loved it. ( )