Out of Love: Hazel Hayes

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Livy Knight is from San Francisco, and has an overprotective dad who thinks nobody is good enough for his little girl. Since she was fifteen he's managed to scare off any guy she's been interested in. College is her chance to finally be free to make her own decisions. She's an impulsive free spirit that thrives on the unknown, and always seems to be drawn to men her father wouldn't approve of. Just to sum up my feelings shortly. The first half til around 60% was pretty meh for me. It was like a 2 star read, because I couldn't connect to neither to Livy (h) nor Slade (H). Where was the flavour in the romance ehh? Everything was so bland and I was not digging how fast the main characters confessed their love for each other... this books is really not that long and when Livy and Slade profess their love under the 50% mark then I'm going to question it. I'm no chemist, maybe that's why i didn't see the chemistry between them 🤷🏽‍♀️ At the same time Livy's behaviour at the beginning was really stalker-ish.. Following Slade around and making him talk to her even though he clearly didn't want to that i was like girrrl please calm down and let the guy breathe 🤚 Wylder the sexy, serious, mysterious and wonderful man. A lot more like her daddy than Livy would want to admit to. LOL

Then she crosses paths with a mysterious, intense guy named Slade Wylder. He's a jerk in need of a personality transplant, but he has her attention. It had been a while since someone had caught her interest, but he becomes her favorite distraction. She enjoys messing with him and getting under his skin, and wants to figure him out. He was like a turbulent storm cloud, full of attitude, but sexy as hell. One look from him completely slayed her, and made her inappropriate thoughts run wild. He was an enigma and she craved more, but would her suspicious, curious mind get her into trouble? When truths are revealed will he be her savior or her worst nightmare? She had a feeling if she let him get too close, he might not just break her heart, but shatter it beyond repair. Their relationship evolved from annoying neighbors, to some kind of mutual love for his dog, to an undeniable attraction, that they couldn't stop feeling. My suggestion is to go in blind, so as not to accidentally read any spoilers and ruin your enjoyment. Hayes' writing is stunning at parts, and she has such a way with words that sometimes I just had to stop and really take in a sentence or section of the book. What's more, she is really very funny and some of the scenes and comments made me really laugh. Some of it is rather dry humour, but I love that. But Gabby”, I hear you say, “isn’t Out of Love a romance, and like you said before also slightly festive? Surely oh surely scroogey, this counts as the mush you just slandered?”.A] bittersweet love story without heroes or villains. Hayes strips away the layers to reveal the heart of a relationship between two flawed but appealing characters with their whole futures ahead of them. Recommended for fans of One Day (2010) by David Nicholls and Normal People (2019) by Sally Rooney.” — Booklist For anyone who has loved and lost, and lived to tell the tale, this gorgeously written debut is a love story told in reverse, a modern novel with the heart of a classic: truthful, tragic, and ultimately full of hope. the writing in this was BEAUTIFUL. i adore the prose. it describes so many little intricacies of a relationship (even the bad parts) in such a beautiful and relatable way. i think it reminds me a bit of sally rooney. who i adore. it was also very interesting that we actually never get to know the MC’s name too. Out of Love is one I love to reread, especially around December because there is a single scene of a work Christmas party which makes me feel festive without having to read utter mush. No offence but I just cannot get behind branded festive books. I’m sorry, you can call me Scrooge if you want.

Out of Love is a poignant story of loss and love that is as full of optimism as it is of heartbreak. Hayes crafts an unapologetic portrayal of modern relationships formed by people simply wanting to be understood, but who are yet to understand what that means. Slade Wylder was hot, mysterious, quiet, grumpy and he practically didn't say nothing to Livy other than bark a few threats, but I could understand her drawn to him as a moth to a flame! Slade who??! then the blurb was revealed....really intriguing and it's by Jewel, so even without Luke, I'm good.The woman can write, there's no doubt, but this just wasn't anything special and I'm sure I amn't the only of her followers who found it impossible to separate the characters from her and the people in her online life. The book appears to document her real breakup with her ex boyfriend, Ollie, and is so in line with her real life from all she has shared from vlogs that I don't know why she didn't simply write a memoir. The novel is rife with symbolism, demonstrating the skill of an author adept at writing for the screen and utilising visual clues. A stand-out example of this comes at the end of the second chapter, as the narrator scrambles to save her pot plants much to the chagrin of Theo. It is these subtleties that make the fact that this is Hayes’ debut novel all the more impressive. Two Stupid, crazy, impulsive hearts, hell bent on destroying each other and burn downthe world together. A smart, touching, time-bending romance. Funny and affecting.” (David Nicholls, best-selling author of One Day and Sweet Sorrow)