Title: Maybe Someday
Author: Colleen Hoover
Series: Maybe Someday series (Book #1)
Release Date: March 18, 2014
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5)
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…
Colleen Hoover draws you in to this passionate tale of music, love and betrayal…
Was this my favorite Colleen Hoover novel? No. But, that doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a good book. For a lot of people, this is their favorite Colleen Hoover novel. Many are introduced to Hoover’s work through this novel, leaving it to hold a very special place in their hearts. And there are so many reasons why.
In Maybe Someday, we follow Sydney’s journey towards finding a life without her long-time boyfriend, Hunter. Breakups are difficult, but every devastating situation seems to be so much more heart-breaking in a Colleen Hoover novel. After months of communicating across her apartment complex with Ridge, she becomes closely acquainted with him and lends her songwriting abilities to his band, Songs of Cedar. But, you know a Hoover novel, it just gets messier from there. With girlfriends and roommates involved, this page-turner is filled with shocking surprises.
There were many things I enjoyed about this book, but the Colleen Hoover never fails to write a fantastic cast of characters. Our female lead, Sydney, was a music education university student just trying to make it through the tough early 20’s. With non-approving parents and a recent breakup, she felt lost in the world around her. What do you do when you have no one to guide you, nor to accompany you? This lead us to Ridge, our hottie, guitar-playing male lead. Without Ridge in this novel, I think I would’ve given it a 2 star review. His character and the difficulties he faces as a deaf man add a special touch to this novel.
I also wanted to add that I don’t believe I have read a book featuring a deaf character. I love how Colleen included this detail into Ridge’s character, as it adds to the growing collection of novels featuring a character with a disability. But, truly, Ridge doesn’t feel like he has a disability. He has learned how to maneuver the world without his voice, opting to use sign language and texting where applicable. And with great friends surrounding him who know sign language, he never feels alone.
Another important detail in this novel is the song lyrics throughout. Every song written by Sidney and Ridge (or by one of them) has been accompanied by a taped version by Griffin Peterson. It was amazing to experience this novel with musical accompaniment, as it added so much to the lyrics written. The lyrics evidently displayed the two character’s feelings, but adding tone and dimension with a song allows you to truly feel these emotions.
Now the big question becomes, “Why only 3.5 stars?” And to be honest, I don’t think it was anything about the storyline itself. There was so much dimension and character development in this novel. We saw characters come out of their shell and open up; saw characters explore new journeys. There are key messages in almost every chapter in this novel that bridge together to form a beautiful novel. However, I felt that there were many periods in the middle of this novel which I thought were slightly unnecessary. Moments that bridged the story along, but made me annoyed with characters. Often this novel felt like a sinusoidal wave: continuously up and down until the end. But in the end, I am still over the moon that I gave this novel a shot.
There is so much content explored in this novel, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it. If you have read this novel, let me know how you felt about it in the comments!
Buy Maybe Someday at the following retailers:
Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Book Depository
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