Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

Narrated by Brittany Pressley and Ryan West

Standalone Romance/ Women’s Fiction.

Colleen Hoover has been a favorite author of mine for 10 years now, so I am not a new fan who is taken by the hype and that doesn’t mean it’s an automatic 5-star read. Colleen writes all genres amazingly well and she reinvents herself with every book but I love some more than others. Reminders of Him is a new favorite. I went into it completely blind as I do all of Colleen’s books, and I am glad I did, so I will make sure I don’t spoil anything for you here.

Kenna spent 5 years in prison for her part in an accident that ended in tragedy. She was pregnant at the time and was forced to give up her baby without ever seeing her face. Now all she wants to do is see her daughter but everyone is standing in her way, including her own guilt.

“Grudges are heavy, but for the people hurting the most, I suppose forgiveness is even heavier.”

Though told in dual POV, this is very much Kenna’s story, and I would say it’s as much women’s fiction as it is romance. I’m finding it difficult to review this with our giving much away, so I am going to go with my feelings.

I never listen to an audiobook in one day. But I started Reminders of Him while getting ready in the morning. When I was at the doctor’s office waiting, I didn’t have headphones but needed to keep reading so I had to buy the book as well. Then I canceled my plans and listened and read for the rest of the day. I couldn’t put it down.

My immediate thought upon finishing was MASTERPIECE. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover sucked me in, made me smile, broke my heart, made me laugh, and made me cry. That’s the way I want to feel when I finish a book; like I want to shout about it from the rooftops. As I sat down to write my review though, I started nitpicking. There were a number of little things that I didn’t love, but despite these things, the overall feel of this book left me breathless.

“It was a stark realization that no matter how much you love someone, you can still do despicable things to them.”

Ledger is the hero of the story (or one of them), and he is caught in the worst situation possible, having to choose between love and family. I hated him at times, but I loved him as well. He was so great with Diem, and that’s totally my kryptonite.

Reminders of Him is about redemption, it’s about forgiving others and forgiving yourself. It’s about the consequences of one mistake. It’s about motherhood and family, both by blood and found. It’s about second chances. I loved every second of it.

Likes:

I loved how I was able to see both sides and my heart broke for everyone.
Diem was the perfect dose of sweetness and light so the book doesn’t break you. I love a well-written child.
Lady Diana was one of my favorite side characters ever.
The letters were a brilliant way to do the flashbacks.
The actual story itself wasn’t huge, but the emotions behind it were everything.
I loved that there was no town or location mentioned, this could be anyplace USA.
It was 100% unputdownable.

Dislikes:

It all wrapped up a little too quickly.
I was waiting for a huge plot twist that never materialized.
There were a few little plot holes that weren’t filled, things that weren’t discussed that seemed odd, but Colleen isn’t a big detail writer.

The Narration:

I’ll be honest, with emotional books I tend to like to read over listen. But in this case, I went right back to the audio as soon as I could. Brittany Pressley was amazing as Kenna, wringing out every bit of emotion without ever going overboard. I think Reminders of Him was made even better by the narration.

The Down & Dirty:

My overall response after finishing Reminders of Him was to start telling everyone to buy this book right away. I jumped on Facebook and said it was a 5-star masterpiece. I texted my friends and I finished it the day it came out, I NEVER do that. Then when I sat down to write my review I began to notice a few little things that I didn’t like about the book. I never give 5 stars to a book that has anything in the dislikes column, but in this case, I think I should go with that initial gut reaction, and despite not loving every single thing, Reminders of Him is still another CoHo masterpiece that left me in awe.