The #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller that People Magazine calls “a poignant, addictive read.”From #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us comes a novel about family, first love, grief, and betrayal that will touch the hearts of both mothers and daughters.Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.Morgan is determined to … nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
more
REVIEW: 4 BRILLIANT STARS
“I’m happy to finally have you, but I also feel guilty because of the way I got you.”
Leave it to Hoover to give me a reality check – no billionaires. No rich man’s world. No over the top proclamations or actions. Nothing. Just reality and normal, everyday people….with a devastating journey to watch unfold. This whole story was a story of perspectives. A story of life unfolding without bias or fairness, taking no shame in the lives it’s destroying in the process. This book stopped me in my tracks and glued me to my seat.
I had every intention of devouring this one in one sitting. I was going to read it from start to finish. I was going to sink in, soak up, and settle into this book. Then I found myself pacing. There’s nothing like looking at a story with one eye open, knowing something’s going to happen. I’m sure I had some idea of what it might be, but I didn’t want to really know what it was. Well, cue the anxiousness! It was more by the way of wondering; how in the world was this going to actually happen because of the perspectives I was reading, they showed me SO much. Oh! And contemplation. This entire book was about contemplation and perspectives, but mainly contemplation.
How does one navigate a world of pain and joy consecutively? Guilt and excitement simultaneously? Hoover explores a blossoming love amidst a new world with a tragic background and gives a heartfelt look at two very different takes on the same world. She brilliantly outlined the tired effects of miscommunication between a mother and her daughter – securing the fact that assumptions are the worst! It’s a mother-daughter story with true-to-life tragedy, but watching them learn to deal with it within parallel universes – seriously, so neat to see these connected worlds spinning in different directions, hoping for the same outcome. I could truly appreciate that we got two completely different points of view because the variances between them were so easily understood.
Love, unrequited or not, it’s always hard to give up on – and honestly, I love that pull and aggravation in a story. Years away, days away, immediately – it’s hard. But, while reading this catastrophic chain of events that were compounded by life in general, it was a hard pill to swallow. There was no option of a new course to navigate. There wasn’t a “close the book” option to skip forward. It was misadventures aplenty, daily woes magnified, and the daunting task at hand was growing up after having the band-aid of life ripped off. It was SO amazing. A perfectly paced, front seat look at Morgan and Clara’s world and how it came together, and then fell apart. I cannot recommend this enough. The heartache was on point. The miscommunication was etched into the pages with truth and so much reality. The love was anything but normal, and that was my favorite part.
The only reason it’s not a full five star is because, while I whole heartedly LOVED it, I didn’t get a book hangover. I’m still thinking about it, but I closed the book with a smile and was able to pick up the next book.
I feel like Colleen has her own voice. It’s distinct, it’s poised and it’s raw and it’s real. There’s always a deeper meaning or perception behind her stories. I love seeing life…..differently. I love the way she tells me a story and I’ll always stand in line for the next one. This was simply amazing.
“I’m confident that I’ll never spend a single second of my life regretting you.”
~BEE
“Sometimes you have to walk away from the fight in order to win it.”
I’ve read over 2000 books and I can honestly say this is the first book I’ve read like this. The alternating POV is mother/daughter. Other than the backstory that brings us to the present, once the daughter is 16 yrs old both POV’s run parallel. The author put me inside their heads, and I knew things they didn’t share with each other. I thought my head was gonna explode!
I devoured this story. It pulled me in immediately and when I learned what I learned, I didn’t know how to handle the information. I did kinda see it coming, like a train wreck, looking down the tracks and knowing it was gonna crash, but unable to look away. I was shaking my head, talking to myself, saying no, No, NO!
I felt their confusion and pain. I telepathically provided advice and virtual hugs. I didn’t really do a damn thing, but at the same time, I felt so proud of these strong women who got knocked down more than once and kept getting back up. Putting myself in their shoes left me mentally rocking in a corner.
“I wonder if I can somehow separate the anger from the love.” I felt this statement down to my soul. The author gave me a peek into a window that had me outraged one minute, broken the next, and finally, overflowing with too much love to contain. I guarantee that I won’t be forgetting or regretting my time with these amazing characters. Well done, Colleen Hoover.
I loved this book!! I’ve FINALLY read a book by Colleen Hoover and I can see why readers love her. Regretting You pulled me right in and I became emotionally bonded with the characters through the rich narrative that so fully captured their personas. As I progressed through each chapter I was surprised by secrets, lies, misunderstandings and misinterpretations that kept me eager to press on. And then there was the sweet expressions of blossoming young love that had me all flushed and giggly and happy—reminiscing about what it feels like to be in love when you’re young and relatively carefree from the adult pressures of life.
Overall, Regretting You was a great story that I enjoyed with excellently developed characters and a delightfully satisfying ending that I highly recommend. Loved it!!
Colleen Hoover for the win again! This book had me in knots the whole way through. I am to the point that I don’t think anyone needs to review Colleen’s books, because they are always SO GOOD! For real if her name is on them, just read the book. How she continuously puts out these amazing books is beyond me. All I can say is keep them coming! INCREDIBLE!
4.5 STARS!
“I’m confident that I’ll never spend a single second of my life regretting you.”
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover was a heartbreaking yet profound story.
Lots of regrets. Missed opportunities. Second chances. But above all: Forgiveness.
Told through the POV of mother and daughter, both are facing a rather tragic moment in their lives; the death of a husband and father. The ramifications of Chris’s passing is what will ultimately leave you shocked.
Hidden secrets come to light. New romances bloom with the chance at finding love again. Personal growth and a lot of maturing as Morgan and Clara go on a journey of healing and acceptance.
Colleen Hoover is one of those authors who writes about deep, real, and emotional stories (my favorite: Hopeless) that will touch your heart and soul and you won’t soon forget it. Regretting You is that and more. This is definitely a story I full-hearted recommend!
I am an avid reader and I have never read a book like this one. It gripped me from page one! The book opens with four teenagers, bound together by friendship and by blood who are inseparable. Morgan and her younger sister, Jenny are dating best friends, Chris and Jonah. Everything falls apart when Morgan discovers, at seventeen, she is pregnant. Fast forward sixteen years. Morgan and Chris’s daughter, Clara is a bright teenager with a sarcastic sense of humor much like her mother. Life is good, except that Jenny now has a son, and Jonah has returned as Jenny has named him as Elijah’s father. Things are strained between Morgan and Jonah because she was so hurt when he disappeared sixteen years ago without another word after she told him she was pregnant with Chris’s child. The events that unfold next are devastating. The family is ripped apart, not only by death but by a betrayal of the worst sort you can imagine. Morgan and Clara spiral downward, their relationship barely civil, while Jonah deals with his own grief and anger. Clara finds a much-needed friend in a fellow classmate, Miller, and defies all the rules. That’s as far as I’m going with the book description. I’ll tell you what I loved about it. I loved that each chapter is written from a different character’s point of view. Ms. Hoover allowed the reader to see inside each one’s head and feel their wild and uncontrolled emotions without what could be referred to as head-hopping. The relationship dynamics are deep and believable. The way each character handles what has happened is unique and while I grew frustrated with Morgan at times, as she allowed the tension between her and Jonah and her and Clara to go unfixed, I still loved her and empathized with her. This is an easy read and it gets an easy five stars from me!
“….And I know before we made love for the first time, I told you I’d regret it, but I’ve never been more wrong. I didn’t regret it that night, and I don’t regret it now. I’m confident that I’ll never spend a single second of my life regretting you.”
WOW! When you’re looking for a perfect contemporary romance, Colleen Hoover is you author.
She has a gift of captivating you with her stories how just a few authors are able to do.
This book is so beautiful peaceful at the beginning, then transform in a world of doubts and insecurities and next change to a full force of tragedy and grief with so much dramatic events and surprises it’s sometimes difficult to endure.
Yes, you need a box of kleenex for this one
What do you do when the life that you have lived for seventeen years is suddenly not at all what you thought it was?
What would you do if the people you loved the most your whole life, cheated and lied to you in the worst way possible?
At the beginning I thought how cute and swoony this book is.
I just forgot for a moment how much Colleen likes to play with our feelings and emotions
But then the events overturned so quickly and so dramatically that I had to stop because I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
I went through so many emotions in this book
It was a nerve-wracking emotional rollercoaster, but so beautiful peaceful at the end.
I’ll always recommend CoHo’s books. She writes phenomenal stories and surprises her readers with every book.
Wow, I did not realize this was a young adult novel until after I read it. I did not get that vibe while reading and I love that fact. Now knowing that it is a YA novel, I love one of the underlying messages so much more. Don’t assume you know what is going on in someone else’s thoughts or lives. Ask before judging. A lesson I think young adults and older adults need to remember. So many conflicts and hurts could be avoided if we just talked to one another. And I mean talk not text or message. Good face to face talking.
The alternating chapters between mom and daughter were interesting and keep the pace of the story moving quickly. I did not find any confusion moving between the alternating viewpoints as the author kept the plot at the same point. For example, if Mom was worried about daughter missing school the next chapter was daughter explaining her viewpoint of why she missed school.
This is not what I considered a clean read. There is pre-marital sex, drug use, and cursing.
This was my first Colleen Hoover book and it will not be my last. I am intrigued by the author’s writing.
I did love this book. I love Colleen Hoover’s practical approach to issues most of us face in real life. Bad stuff happens to us all and she never lets us forget that it is not easy, but it can be handled. Her sense of humor is off the chain as well. Her characters are always engaging and interesting. Her stories full of the pain and beauty life brings. This one is no different.
I will say that I identified with this on a very personal level. The process of navigating grief and all the associated emotions is hellish. It is ugly and difficult to find a way to a peaceful place when someone dies. These characters are so real and raw in their journey to put their lives back together when tragedy strikes.
This story resonated for me on so many levels. As someone who has lost loved ones, as a parent, as a person who believes in love, I highly recommend Regretting You.
4.5 stars
I’m a fan of this author, and while It Ends With Us is still my favorite of her work, I enjoyed this one a lot, too. Probably helped that I am a mother of two teens, as much of this story has to do with a mother-daughter relationship that is wobbly at best. Without giving spoilers, I had a lot of empathy for Morgan (the mom) not only when it came to dealing with her rebellious daughter, but also because of the betrayal she suffered. I also had a lot of empathy for Clara and her particular struggles. I always love books that make us think hard about those everyday big and small choices we make, and how those take us toward or away from the best person we can be. This story hits on those concepts.
And it never hurts to throw in two very likable male “heroes.” Jonah and Miller were keepers. My favorite line may have actually been when, in response to Morgan telling Jonah she wished Miller had handled something differently (with restraint and maturity beyond his years), Jonah basically says he didn’t think there was such thing as that kind of teen boy in real life. Yes, only in books can we create these perfect men. Sigh… 🙂
ENJOYED!
I loved it.
I loved the boys more than the girls – the girls were at times very naive and well … idiots.
But Jonah and Miller were top bookboyfriend material!
Great young adult and mature romance. Very heartbreaking and adorable and sweet and sad.
I wouldn’t have minded more of an epilogue about both couples. College, Work, Marriage, Carreer, Babies, Oscars et cetera.
But I really enjoyed reading it! Wouldn’t mind to see this on Netflix one day!
Colleen Hoover’s books are an automatic pick up for me, so I didn’t think twice about reading this one. A couple of chapters in, though, I realized how very different this book was.
The characters are real and flawed and relatable. The story has a twist, but it’s one I saw coming–not that it was obvious, but simply that hints are dropped here and there . . . still, it’s not something you see in a typical romance.
The two romances in this story are both compelling and heart-melting, and the resolution feels right and good.
REGRETTING YOU by Colleen Hoover is a mash up of a story containing women’s fiction/mother-daughter drama and contemporary romance elements all written seamlessly into a book that I could not put down.
This book starts by giving you a glimpse of two young couples that consist of two sisters and two best friends.
Flash ahead seventeen years, and the four are back together until a tragic accident that shatters all of the people left behind. The mother/daughter relationship is one focus of this story and also the new relationship of the daughter and her new boyfriend, but there are also long-lasting consequences for everyone around them.
I recommend you just get this book and start reading because any type of summary will give preconceived notions which will not even come close to the expectations and emotional upheaval you will experience yourself while reading this book. Even with all the heartbreak and anger, the author takes you on a journey of differing types of forgiveness and love.
This is definitely a book that will stay with you even after you finish the last word.
Dearest Colleeen Hoover,
I have been dying to get my hands on your newest release, I swear I feel like it was a million years before it was released..lol But I do have to sayyy it was sooo worth the wait!!!
I freaking love your stories!!! I think Regretting You is now my absolute fav!! I have actually already read it twice..lol, I finished and went ahead and re-read again and it was just as perfect as the first time I read it!! : )
They always give me soooo many feels!!! I will be reading along and boom, you catch me off guard and I have to sit the book down for a second and let my mind catch up with what I just read. I am always sooo blown away and of course this is in the best way possible.
5 Kagillion Stars from me!!! (that’s a word right???) lol
Ladies please go in blind, don’t even read the synopsis…it makes your reading experience that much fan-damn-tastic!!!
Thank you again for writing Colleen!!! xoxo
WOW.
Rate: 5 gutwrenching stars.
I still can’t believe I was blessed with an ARC of this book. Like any Coho book, this only took me a few hours to devour and only a few pages to shatter my heart.
It’s a fact that all Coho books will break your heart in someway and all in their own levels but somehow Regretting You really hit me deep. It was like I read this book with a fist around my heart, squeezing it at every page.
I’ve never read a mother/daughter book before and I thought that this change between their povs would put me off a little but nope, the opposite happened – I was so invested in both story lines and to follow along their relationships and I was also desperate to follow along their own mother/daughter relationship…it was heartaching the whole way through but it was all worth it. Just like any Coho book, she always manages to put your heart back together and Regretting You ended on a funny, high and so damn sweet note. I adored how this book ended and it really felt like a balm for my heart.
Want some advice? Go in blind, do not freaking read the end at any point in the story until you actually reach it lol. Just let your heart suffer along these characters and live their adventures, heartbreaks and relationships with them until you get to see them heal some of that heartbreak and simultaneously heal your own. Regretting You is a beautiful story about a mother/daughter relationship, about second chances and dealing with some of the most cruel heartbreak life can throw your way.
I rarely read a Coho blurb and there’s two reasons for that.
1. I want to go into the story with no preconceived notions, no spoilers, nothing to tell me how I think I should feel.
2. I don’t need a blurb to make me read her books. Her writing has evolved to the point that by the 2nd page I’m pulled in till I finish.
Because I think everyone should go in as blind as possible my review will mostly consist of how I felt. I related to this book and the characters on soooo many levels. I read it as a mother, a daughter, a sister, a teenager, a friend. I swooned, I cringed, I smiled, I broke, I held my breath, and I fell in love while reading. I loved that the POV wasn’t alternating between a male and female lead but a mother and daughter lead. I think people/readers will take away different things from this one based on their life experiences and I think that’s what I love most about this book…it’s for everyone. It has such a human quality to it, as in there are lots of human moments…mistakes made, things said out of hurt or anger, betrayal, but there is also hope, honesty, humor, and second chances. I have seen a few reviews who have compared this to Slammed and while I see the similarities (mostly in that one of the characters is still in high school) I think this book is more. So much more. Really enjoyed it! Top ten read of the year!
I absolutely love everything that Colleen Hoover writes. Regretting You is story about a mother and daughter who go through some rough times but they learn to navigate through them together. This book is told in alternating POVs from a mother and her 17 year old daughter.
Morgan had her daughter at a very young age and she is determined to make sure Clara doesn’t make the same mistakes she did. Her overbearing ways make Clara rebel towards her and causes Clara to have a closer relationship with her dad and aunt Jenny. When tragedy strikes the family Clara doesn’t know how to deal with things and becomes even more distant from her mother. Morgan doesn’t handle it well and is struggling to find a new normal but knows she needs to pull it together for Clara. Will these two be able to rebuild their relationship and learn to lean on each other or will their life tragedy continue to push them apart?
I was so intrigued with the secondary stories that took place in the book and loved the outcome. The secondary characters added lots of depth to the storyline. I loved the twisty, turny emotional rollercoaster this book took me on. I was also a young mother so I understood Morgan’s feelings and actions in some of the situations in the book. Colleen’s books are all so amazing and I can’t wait to see what she is working on next!!
My habit with Colleen’s books is to go into them with as blind as I can. I hadn’t even read the full synopsis before I started so it took me a few chapters to get a feel for where the book was going.
Morgan and Clara are mother and daughter facing devastating grief and life changes they never expected. Even before tragedy struck, they were each questioning in their own way. Morgan was feeling stagnant. Spending her life as a wife and mother, she was feeling like she didn’t know who she was anymore outside of her duties at home. Clara feels stifled by her parents’ rules and her desire for more independence. She isn’t going to make the same mistakes her parents did, so she doesn’t understand why they won’t let her make her own decisions.
Spanning seventeen years, narrated by mother and daughter, this was a very different “romance.” There are elements of romance in each woman’s storyline, and they are great, but what makes Regretting You stand out is the relationship between Morgan and Clara. Raising teenagers is difficult enough without major life events throwing massive amounts of grief, guilt, and confusion into the mix. These two have a lot going on at once, and how they handle it only serves to stress that hiding secrets only leads to more misunderstanding.
The male leads in both generations are dealing with their own upheaval as well. I loved the way each generation faced challenges that fit not only their age/stage of life, but drive the story along and keep the pages turning. I loved both of these guys for different reasons, and while there were times the teenagers made me roll my eyes (as only one who has lived through the teenage years and lived to reflect on them can), but even as the angst was high it was still perfect for the story.
From the very first page, this story pulled me in and kept me thinking. I am always amazed at Colleen’s ability to write contemporary with something fresh every single time. This one had me reflecting on a lot of things in life including my relationship with my mother during my teenage years, and my relationship with my own teenager. Regretting You is filled with so many layers and so much authentic feeling!
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
An up, close & personal look at the train wreck of relationships after a horrific accident leaves 6 lives mangled in a burnt & charred heap. The more the characters try to untangle it, the more tighter the knots get till you cant make out which thread pulls which life. No matter how they cut it, ALL of them get jabbed and pierced and bleed just the same.
“It’s like we’re living in a nightmare—one where we don’t want to eat or drink or speak. A nightmare where all we want to do is scream, but nothing comes out of our hollow throats.”
It’s a very complex scenario that Colleen sets in the first chapter itself. A teenage dilemma, a life changing situation and 2 couples’ lives get divergent. Colleen being a seasoned writer doesn’t waste time and space going into unnecessary details about the how’s, the why’s and the how long’s, which forms the crux of the raging war which just sweeps into Chris, Morgan, Jenny & Jonah’s lives.
This being the background, the primary theme of the story is the battle being fought between Morgan and Clara, her daughter. As always the innocent bystanders(Clara) catches the shrapnel of the exploded bomb in the aftermath.
Too young to comprehend her role in it, struggling to find her footing and burdened with a misplaced guilt, I can safely say, Colleen has created the most realistic and perfect character with Clara. I could picture her as a hurricane survivor, trying to pick up any leftovers of her home standing in the debris, trying to salvage whatever she could, which isn’t much at all.
“Not only am I questioning them, and now Miller, but I’m questioning the whole stupid idea of monogamy and the validity of love and thinking how losing my virginity really isn’t all that special. Because if love isn’t real, then sex is just sex, no matter if it’s your first time or your fiftieth time or your last time.”
She captures the teen heartache, drama and turbulence right down to tiny details with such perfection, it’s hard to remember Colleen is a mother of teens and not a young girl herself.
There’s two simultaneous love stories which cross paths at times and that’s where the verbal accidents happen. War of words, tantrums & screaming matches stretch the already thin Mother/Daughter relationship to a breaking point. Add to that the rekindling of dormant feelings between Morgan and her teenage crush and you have a melting pot of emotions threatening to explode and burn everyone with its lava.
Frustrated Tears and heartbreaking angst saturate the story. Secrets and Betrayals leave you bereft. After the horrific accident, the clueless survivors don’t get closure. They have to wander in the mausoleum of treachery and betrayal, looking at dead memories everyday trying to find answers. Their anger tears away at the scabs keeping the wound fresh. Trashing souvenirs, slamming doors, tearing letters and abandoning babies, It’s all part of the grieving process which needs to bottom out soon…
“Okay. Okay. This is rock bottom. This is definitely rock bottom.”
I need new words cause my older ones are inadequate to describe why I felt that this book was speaking to me. This is the exact same unfortunate turn of events that took place in my immediate family. Luckily no one died but that complicated the problems to a whole new level, so in that sense Colleen has been merciful to the readers and cleverly dodged the stake too.
That shows her experience as a writer and sensitivity towards her readers.
Colleen is a master of prose proven a million times million, so for me to praise that would be like showing candle to the sun. What stands out is her acute knowledge of human emotions and behavior. To make a YA/NA story relatable to every age bracket is a Hallmark achievement and her reason for being the indisputable Queen of YA Romance
The intricate web she weaves and then shows the way to unravel it, is ingenious and applause worthy
I’d suggest every woman should read this story, It’s all about endurance and human perseverance in the face of calamities that hit you without warning.
6 stars & Thank God for Miller Smith, owner of AIR