Does our past reflect our present? Should we define ourselves according to our past? Is love beautiful or ugly?
The book Ugly Love has answers to all these questions – a story filled with love, pleasure, and pain.
Colleen Hoover is a writer who naturally connects her stories with reality. Her stories are popular because of the connection people feel with the characters. The New York Times best-selling author is famous for writing contemporary romances.
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover focuses on the impact of the past on our present and future life. Published in 2014, beloved readers categorize this book under the neighbor-to-lovers trope.
The incidents of the past can greatly affect our present decisions and behaviors. This is the main idea of this book. This article gives a detailed summary of the book, its character analysis, and some unforgettable quotes. Check out this Ugly Love book review before reading for a better understanding.
| Title | Ugly Love |
|---|---|
| Author | Colleen Hoover |
| Publication Year | 2014 |
| Genre | Contemporary Romance |
| Setting | Present-day San Francisco, California |
| Protagonist | Tate Collins |
| Antagonist | Miles Archer |
| Themes | Love, loss, forgiveness, emotional baggage, vulnerability, healing, second chances, self-discovery |
| Plot Summary | Ugly Love tells the story of Tate Collins, a young woman who moves in with her brother for the summer and meets his neighbor, the attractive and mysterious pilot, Miles Archer. Despite their mutual attraction, Miles insists on keeping their relationship strictly physical and devoid of any emotional attachment. As their relationship progresses, Tate becomes increasingly determined to uncover the reasons behind Miles' aversion to love. The story is told through alternating perspectives, switching between the present-day narrative and flashbacks to six years prior, where the reasons for Miles' emotional detachment are gradually revealed. |
| Major Characters | Tate Collins, Miles Archer, Cap, Ian |
| Literary Significance | Ugly Love explores the complexities of love and the emotional scars that can hinder relationships. Colleen Hoover's novel delves into deep emotional themes while incorporating elements of suspense and mystery through the use of flashbacks. The book gained popularity for its emotionally charged narrative and compelling characters, solidifying Colleen Hoover's reputation as a prominent author in the contemporary romance genre. |
The story Ugly Love revolves around two characters – Tate and Miles. Colleen Hoover is an expert in developing strong chemistry between strangers. Tate moves to San Francisco to live with her brother Corbin, a pilot. She relocates to pursue a master’s degree in nursing, where she meets Corbin’s best friend, Miles, a pilot.
1. The Plot And The Crux
Their first encounter was unpleasant because Miles was drunk and was reminiscing his past by constantly muttering a name, Rachel. After sobering up in the morning, Miles gets furious and asks Tate if they both hooked up last night. Corbin comes back home and introduces Tate to Miles. Tate clears the misunderstanding with Miles.
Miles and Tate try to keep their distance from each other. However, they feel a strong sexual tension between them. Miles accompanies Corbin to his home for Thanksgiving, where he kisses Tate for the first time.
After giving it a thought, they both agree to a physical relationship. But Miles keeps a condition in which he asks Tate never to ask questions about his past and never to expect any future with him.
Tate, who is focused on her studies and is not looking for serious commitment anytime soon, agrees to this condition. Their intimacy grew, and they started acting like a teenage couple sneaking around. Corbin didn’t have any idea about their relationship.
However, Miles always leaves or shrugs off after the sex and never texts or calls Tate when he is away for work which sometimes bothers her.
Despite the condition of Miles, Tate does fall for him. She also feels that Miles has feelings for her, but he never shows it upfront.
Miles always acts cold-hearted, but he buries much pain inside his heart. The second point of view is of teenage Miles, where he narrates his past life. He meets a girl named Rachel, with whom he falls in love at first sight.
Later Rachel also accepts her feelings for Miles. She gets pregnant with Miles’s baby, so after their graduation, they move to an apartment together.
Back to the present, Tate confesses her feelings to Miles. But Miles does want to fall in love with anyone, let alone Tate. This upsets Tate, and she later moves to her own apartment.
2. The End
Miles is struggling with his emotions. He cannot let go of his past, and because of this, he cannot commit to anyone in the present. After dwelling a lot, he decides to visit Rachel and confront her.
He was surprised to see Rachel married to another man and having a baby girl. Although he was happy for Rachel, he asked her how she could move on from the devastating incident. Rachel helped him to understand that your past does not have to consume your present. Everyone deserves to love and to be loved.
The rest of the story reveals their past and how it affected him badly in the present, along with his complicated love story with Tate.
Review Of Ugly Love
Two strangers with an awkward first meeting, drawn to each other but trying hard not to fall in love. Colleen Hoover portrays both the main characters beautifully with her strong writing. The past of Miles is terrifying and can make anyone bawl their eyes out while reading.
Through this story, the author wants to convey that our past shouldn’t negatively affect our present and future. Love and happiness are beautiful things and should be accepted by everyone. Punishing ourselves based on our past incidents is worthless.
Characters in the novel Ugly Love
The characters of this story are very well written and shown as strong and independent individuals who went through pain but learned to recover eventually. Some of the characters are:
1. Tate Collins
Tate is a 23-year-old woman pursuing a master’s degree in nursing. She is kind, compassionate, and friendly by nature. Tate loves people deeply and intensely. Despite Miles’s cold behavior, she loves and tries to understand him. She is shown as a strong character who knows her boundaries and respects others’ choices.
2. Miles
Miles is the male protagonist of this story – a man in his mid-twenties who is a pilot by profession. Miles suffers from trauma due to his past and likes to keep to himself. He shows that he is not capable of loving anyone; however, in the later half of the story, he falls for the female protagonist, Tate.
3. Corbin
He is the elder brother of Tate. He is a protective brother who loves his little sister. He has high standards for her sister’s husband. He was unhappy with the relationship between Miles and Tate, but later he respected it for her sister’s happiness.
4. Rachel
Rachel is the first love of the male protagonist, Miles. She is kind and lovable. She had a beautiful love experience with him until one incident changed everything.
Quotes
Colleen Hoover is known for her quotes filled with deep meanings. Some memorable quotes in this book will stay with you for a long time.
“God gives us the ugliness so we don’t take the beautiful things in life for granted.”
“Sometimes not speaking says more than all the words in the world.”
“Ugly love becomes you. Consumes you. Makes you hate it all. Makes you realize that all the beautiful parts aren’t even worth it. Without the beautiful, you’ll never risk feeling the ugly. So you give it all up. You give it all up. You never want love again, no matter what kind it is, because no type of love will ever be worth living through the ugly love again.”
“The pain will always be there. So will the fear. But the pain and fear are no longer my life. They’re only moments.”
“I know the thought of confronting your past terrifies you.It terrifies every man. But sometimes we don’t do it ourselves. We do it for the people we love more than ourselves.”
“I suppose if a man lived through the ugliest side of love, he might never want to experience it again.”
Conclusion
Colleen Hoover, a.k.a CoHo’s books, can take us through a roller coaster of emotions. Ugly Love is one of her books that can make the readers cry, laugh, smile, and love. If you want to read a romance with an incredible storyline, this book is for you.
Give CoHo’s book a try. It will be hard to stop!
