Eclair Books

Colleen Hoover is just amazing and is hands down one of my favorite authors. Every time I pick up one of her books, I'm reminded why she's so popular, why she's consistently seen as one of the best writers in the mature ya/new adult genre, and why her books sit prominently on my favorites shelf. That said, Finding Cinderella is a little difficult for me to grade/review. It's written beautifully. I love both of the main characters. I loved them both together. I rooted for them and cheered for them. However, I think the story suffered from its short length.

I generally do not have much luck with romance novellas/short stories, and Finding Cinderella reminds me why. It has everything I love in a romance, and yet when I finished the book, I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied. I expect this when I finish a Colleen Hoover book, since I never want them to end. However, here, I felt like important things were rushed. I wanted to see more of Six and Daniel in the closet. And later, when a devastating secret emerges, I wanted to spend more time with them as they worked it out. I don't want to give anything away, but something REALLY BIG happens. I wasn't troubled by how quickly Daniel and Six came together after this REALLY BIG THING, but I wanted to see them grieve together as they supported each other more. This would have been possible if the book wasn't a novella, or if this particular thing had perhaps been introduced a little earlier in the story.

Anyways, I feel really silly nitpicking something Colleen Hoover wrote since she is, as I said before, so incredibly amazing and one of my writing heroes, but I can't help but look back over this story and just wish there was a little more. The strength of Hoover's writing (especially dialogue), and how beautifully she drew her characters, make this book a must-read. The plot, however, feels a little squished. I'm torn between 3.5 and 4 stars on this one. I'm going to settle on 3.5 for now with the understanding that I may change my opinion later :P