“I’ll love you forever, even when I can’t”
🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️🖌️
Confess
By Colleen Hoover
Fiction
Atria Books, March 10, 2015
320 pages
Colleen Hoover is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. First, it was “Verity”, then “Layla” and “It Ends with Us”.
This time, it is “Confess”, Hoover’s 2015 novel centered around Auburn Reed and Owen, a gallery owner who have both suffered great losses in their pasts. As time passes, they eventually cross paths. (Again?)
I know- what a teaser!
Read the book.
Believe me.
As their relationship evolves, we slowly learn Owen is harboring a secret. Now, we ALL have secrets. But Owen’s secret? His includes Auburn.
Intrigued?
I know!
Read the book.
Owen’s gallery pieces are created from other people’s confessions. Anonymous people drop off anonymous confessions at the gallery and Owen translates them into paintings. The confessions then become the names of the pieces.
Seriously. So cool.
Absorbing these paintings (included in the book), I was transfixed to the images. Such confessions as, or “Sometimes I wonder if being dead would be easier than being his mother”, “I take a step back and I stare at the only piece I have left of her”, and “You don’t exist, God. And if you do, you should be ashamed” are included.
You can also buy the actual prints from the book Here
As I researched more into Colleen Hoover’s motivation for this book, I learned the confessions in the book are true and submitted anonymously by readers. She then takes these confessions and has her character Owen paint them.
These two have such complex, layered issues which are slowly unwrapped throughout the story. Auburn’s family, Owen’s father, and Auburn’s first love, Adam, play major roles in this beautifully written story. There are a few dark parts, such as Trey (we have ALL known a Trey) and the aforementioned secret of Owen’s.
In addition to her crazy cool talent of writing books I simply cannot put down (This is the 3rd Hoover book I’ve read in one sitting), Hoover also has a great way of mixing just enough drama with the primary story and adding in pinches of life’s major themes; loss, love, fear, anger. The ends are tied up nicely at the end (which doesn’t necessarily always mean a happy ending), and I comfortably recommend this author to all of my fellow reader friends.
A solid 5 paintbrush rating with a side of order of “I can’t wait to find the next Colleen Hoover novel to read”.
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