Review: Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

AMAZON | KINDLE

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover
Contemporary / New Adult
Atria Books (March 18, 2014)

Rating: C
Heat: Warm

Heroine: Sydney Blake – College Student, Discovering Herself
Hero: Ridge Lawson – Musician, Loyal to a fault 

 

 

Synopsis:

At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one…

Review:

I felt like I couldn’t review this story without revealing some SPOILERS. It’s not my intent to spoil a story, but I do like to express my thoughts and feelings the best way possible. And I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on how I feel about this book so it’s up to you if you decide to read on. I would also like to mention that even though this book did not work for me, I’ve had wonderful experiences with Colleen Hoover’s books in the past. This book just wasn’t for me.

Sydney Blake is in college, working a good job, loves her boyfriend, and rooming with her best friend. She thought she had it all, living the good life, until she discovered her boyfriend has been sleeping with her best friend. Angry and broken hearted, she packs her things and leaves her apartment, not knowing what to do next. But then Ridge Lawson, Sydney’s mysterious, guitar playing neighbor, who captivated Sydney with his music when playing on his balcony in the evening, gives her a place to stay until she can get back on her feet again.

Ridge has hit a brick wall when it comes to creating music, until he meets Sydney, his muse. They create music together and form a close connection, which turns into more between them. However, Ridge, well… he has a girlfriend named Maggie, who he’s in love with. And because Ridge and Sydney are open and honest with each other about their feelings, they agree to remain friends no matter how strongly they feel for one another. Ridge is so loyal he would do anything to keep from compromising his relationship with Maggie. And Sydney doesn’t want to be like her cheating ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend. The problem is that Ridge’s heart has now been split in two. He loves Maggie but feels closely connected with Sydney through their music and friendship.

Maybe Someday had a strong start and I was really enjoying it. I even gushed about how much I was enjoying this book to other readers in the first 20-25%, especially when the first plot twist about Ridge was revealed. It was so very interesting and original. But then I started having many issues with this story. This is one of those books that I had such high hopes for and wanted to love so bad but ended up feeling disappointed by it. And that just sucks considering how much I loved Slammed and Hopeless.

The build up to the story was interesting. I had butterfly feelings in my stomach when Ridge and Sydney first started writing and playing music together. By now, I knew this was going to be a love triangle and I was okay with that. You see, I do like love triangles if they’re done right. I like the intensity, the passion, the gut-wrenching heartache that comes with them. If I’m going to read a story with a love triangle, I want one that is going to impact me emotionally. And that is one of my main problems with this story. I just didn’t feel the emotional turmoil the author was trying to portray in this story. Oh, I will admit that Sydney and Ridge had great chemistry together. But for me it just kind of flat-lined when Ridge made it known that he will always choose Maggie over Sydney. And honestly, I liked Maggie more than Sydney.

I couldn’t help but question why Sydney would even want to be with Ridge when he made it very clear who his choice would always be. I did like Sydney in the beginning. She starts out strong, but then I just grew more and more aggravated with her as the story continued. At times, she came across as a pushover, immature, and a bit selfish. She is nothing like the strong and independent heroines Colleen Hoover has written in the past.

I did like Ridge. He’s a sexy and talented musician. I think the ladies will really like him, too. He really did try to do the right by Maggie and Sydney. But I was baffled by some of the bad choices he made that involved Sydney, especially when he would tell Sydney personal things that he never told his girlfriend of five years! I just threw up my hands by that point I was so over Ridge and his ‘amazing’ loyalty.

I feel like no matter what I say I’m going to sound like a hypocrite since I’ve given some of the most screwed up stories with love triangles high rating in the past. But those stories made me FEEL so much! I guess if I felt emotionally attached to the characters a little more I would have felt more impacted by this love triangle. Instead, I actually just ended up feeling bad for Maggie the entire time because I just didn’t ‘get’ what Sydney and Ridge saw in one another besides the fact they created music together. The fact that Maggie was the one who had to put things in perspective for Ridge by the end was just pitiful. I think I liked Maggie the most in this love triangle. She seemed to be the only smart and rational one.

The story is a bit long winded, especially the conversations between Sydney and Ridge. There is a whole lot of information dump during these conversations that did nothing for me. And sadly, by the time things come together at the end, I felt like there was nothing redeemable left in this relationship. No explanation or gestures of love could convince me otherwise. What it truly boils down to is that I just couldn’t connect with this story emotionally or romantically, unfortunately.