Book Review – Too Late by C. Hoover

Too Late
HOLY MOLY that was stressful!!! The entire book… from start to finish had me on the edge of my seat, my stomach churning with nerves, and adrenaline coursing through my body, as I lived the slowly building nightmare with Sloan. A panic attack inducer for sure. Yet another one from Colleen Hoover that had me pacing and trying to catch my breath at 2am.

Pia: Asa, the hero, is just so bad – I mean really really bad in a bad way. I cannot say it often enough – read it read it read it 

Tasha: I read Too Late also and loved it, I need to catch myself up on her new chapters! I actually like Asa even though he is really bad. Lol

Maryse: I’m still reading and LOVING Colleen Hoover’s latest “Too Late“. It has me on EDGE!!!! I’m so scared, and it IS dark-ish (but so far, not too over-the-top). Definitely different for this author, but it does still totally has her writing style and character “feel” and story flow. But the way it’s different for her is that it “goes there” (language, sex, and very difficult scenes and a very dark lifestyle). This is full on danger, and I’m SO into it. Psych-thriller for sure (but intense romance or love story brewing). I just don’t know if it will end well. Which I love!! 

Tasha: Hooray! Maryse is reading Too Late!! *claps hands* I loved this one

Maryse: Tasha, yes Too Late is hooking me good!!!

Definitely a psych-thriller/love story, which, when done right, always manages to hook me hard! My two favorite genres in one, in fact. It makes the thrill ride even that more intense when your emotions are involved. When a character’s mind is warring with her heart over what’s happening, what should be done, and the dangerous predicament she finds herself in. The author eases us into a general malaise as our heroine struggles with her love for her boyfriend, and her disgust with his illegal lifestyle, all the while, building us into a crescendo of chaos and turmoil and dread.

And tops it off with a twist or two that had my jaw dropping, and me face palming thinking OH NO!! NOOOOO HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN??!! *gasp*  <— Oh yes. I gasped.

The feel? It’s that… “college aged bad-guys” feel, and all the crude lifestyle, and bad attitude that goes along with it (you know the kind… the feel – not the actual story – was reminiscent of Corrupt, and other bully-type books like that). To me, this was definitely a bully book. No doubt about it!!!

So what’s it about?

Sloan’s entire world revolves around the guy she had been crushing on in her college history class, first by choice (when he told her he had been crushing on her, too) but eventually, by force, when she realizes that his love for her is bordering on obsession.  And he’s become her own personal prison warden.

Having been forced to raise her twin brothers (with disabilities) from a young age, Sloan never had boyfriends, dates, not even a first kiss. So her whole world is turned upside down (her naivety in full force here) when the college bad boy, Asa, that EVERYONE seems to respect, (even the teachers) sets his sights on her. He’s confident, cocky and so intense. He simply rules his world and everyone in it.

He wants to take care of her. And Sloan is ripped from her secure and innocent life into his dangerous whirlwind.

As many promises as he’s made me that he’s scaling down the business in preparation to get out, I know he won’t. I’ve tried to talk some sense into him, but when you’ve got the power in your hands and the money in your pocket, it’s hard to walk away. He’ll never walk away.

At first she’s delighted, and flattered, and head-over-heels in love with him. Despite his chilling intensity, his vulnerability calls to her.

…he has his faults. In fact, his looks may be the only thing about him I don’t find fault in. He’s cocky, quick-tempered, hard to handle sometimes. But he loves me. He loves the hell out of me. be lying if I said I didn’t love him in return. There are so many things I would change about him if I could, but right now he’s all I have, so I deal with it. He brought me in when I had nowhere else to go. No one else to turn to.

She knows he’s hurting, emotionally. His fierce love for her and neediness, blinds her to his “bad side” and she just wants to love him with her whole heart.

I attempt to pull my hands out from beneath his, but he squeezes them tighter, reminding me that I’m nothing more than a prisoner in my own bed, and he’s the warden of the bedroom. Asa has always had a way of making me feel like my body was at his disposal. He’s never mean or forceful about it; he’s just needy— and I find it really inconvenient.

But her naivety is clearing out, her innocence is lost and her eyes are wide open now.

“Sloan?”

“Yeah?” she whispers.

“I won’t let him hurt you.”

And THIS is how it starts. 😉

Now it wasn’t my “perfect” Colleen Hoover read, but mostly just for the more… “freestyle” feel of the writing and the scenes. A few times I thought “What?!! How could that happen?? Come on!!” but then… some of the loose ends were tied enough for me to just go with it. 😉 That said, there was a TON of reality in this, in some of the darkest scenes. So detailed and raw. The way in which her writing imparts such a gritty honesty, completely made this story.

Sure, it’s not as “tight” as her past stories are, however it is JUST as fun, and maybe even more so because she lets loose in this. While it was a completely different kind of storyline for her, where she “goes there” by way of sex scenes, crude language, and outright horrible situations (both emotional and physical).

I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that she wrote this, piece by piece releasing it on Wattpad over the course of weeks, completing it… a “few” times. LOL!!! You’ll see what I mean, as there are a few “endings” and then… “not-so-endings” and then epilogues, and prologues and it’s all just fine (even in its unusual progression), and surprising outcomes… because it now feels complete.

And THAT ending was the one that made this story just plain exciting, and traumatizing and awesome.

4.5 stars!!!! <— just for the thrill ride she took us on, alone!!