Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

*minor spoilers ahead*

Regretting You is about Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, who are complete opposites. Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did as she got pregnant and married way too young, resulting in her putting her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps and struggles to feel close to her. 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 and Clara’s father.

But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. 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.

The book is told from dual perspectives alternating in each chapter, which is a style I really enjoy, as you get to know the characters quickly and deeply. The main event that takes place in the book really is a tragic accident, and I immediately felt for the characters. Whilst the plot twist for me is far-fetched, it’s what the whole book is based on, and so I tried to run with the idea. I did struggle with the main characters a little as their personalities become unlikeable. Clara is an annoying, but typical teenager, and Morgan’s behaviour didn’t always make sense to me. For example, I really wish Morgan read the letters between Jenny and Chris, as I felt like that would have helped her heal and close off that chapter of her life. Having her questions answered would have been more realistic to me.

Whilst this is an easy read, I did find it predictable after the main plot event happened. I did enjoy Miller’s backstory and development and loved the happy ending. I liked that the focus was more on Clara and Miller towards the end, as it stopped the book from feeling too repetitive.

I did find some of the writing cringe, but I do find that’s a common theme with Hoover’s style of writing. For me, it wasn’t a hard-hitting or emotional book as I found the plot too unrealistic, but once I got past that, I did enjoy it. I like that I can rely on Hoover’s books as nice and easy reads in between my heavier ones.

3/5 stars