Maybe Someday, by Colleen Hoover

Please note: this is NOT a recommendation.

I chose to read Maybe Someday because I thought light romances were enjoyable. Now I'm seriously questioning my judgment.

Summary

We have two narrators: Sydney (the girl) and Ridge (the guy). They're neighbors, and Sydney has taken to going out on her balcony at night to listen to Ridge play guitar on his balcony. Yes, because she's one of those people who finds it touchingIt's not unbearable to have a neighbor playing music outside every day. Ridge is cute, but because she has a boyfriend, she tries to keep this realization in the back of her mind.

Then, one day, Ridge tells her that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend, who is also her roommate. So she goes to Ridge's, who just happens to have a spare room. Soon, she and cute Ridge, who also has a girlfriend but fails to mention it, start writing songs together, not on the balcony (because she doesn't want to see her ex), but in his room. And despite their best efforts, love develops.

Ah, et Ridge est sourd. Il sent la musique plutôt qu’il l’entend. Vous pouvez vous imaginer tous les rapprochements que ce fait peut excuser.

Impressions

I remember being marked by an appallingly quaint passage at the end of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. But I hadn't seen anything. There's nothing else in Maybe Someday, and the passages last not just a few paragraphs, but dozens of pages.

It's debilitating. There are sex scenes that I imagine were meant to be erotic, but made me roll my eyes so hard I went temporarily blind. The "comic" characters weren't. And the poor main characters, who resisted so hard their mutual attraction, didn't inspire any sympathy in me. They acted like teenagers (and they were 22, so it's pretty normal), sending each other love messages in their song lyrics and lying on top of each other to feel the vibrations of the music.

This book disturbed me with its mediocrity, and I think that's why I finished it. They say you have to read bad books from time to time to consolidate your tastes and appreciate the good ones afterwards. It's clear that my tastes have consolidated, and I can confirm that the book I'm reading at the moment sounds excellent. Nevertheless, there's no way I can recommend this book to you. There are limits.