Review: Too Late

Title:  Too Late 
Series:  None
Author:  C. Hoover
Genre:  New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher:  Hoover Ink
Publication Date:  November 13, 2016
Source:  Bought

Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves.
And she does, every single day.
After finding herself stuck in a relationship with the dangerous and morally corrupt Asa Jackson, Sloan will do whatever it takes to get by until she's able to find a way out.
Nothing will get in her way.
Nothing except Carter.
Sloan is the best thing to ever happen to Asa. And if you ask Asa, he'd say he's the best thing to ever happen to Sloan. Despite Sloan's disapproval of Asa's sinister lifestyle, he does exactly what he needs to do in order to stay a step ahead in his business. He also does exactly what he needs to do in order to stay a step ahead of Sloan.
Nothing will get in his way.
Nothing except Carter.
From New York Times bestselling author, Colleen Hoover, writing as C. Hoover. 

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I've had both good and bad experiences with Colleen Hoover books in the past.  This one sounded a little more intense (it definitely deals with some very dark and painful topics) and I was interested to see how that would turn out.  With Too Late, I'm feeling pretty . . . meh about it.  When I first finished, I enjoyed it a lot but after the fact, I'm not as excited about the story.  

I think my main problem with liking this story stems from the love interest, Carter.  I just . . . wasn't interested in him at all?  Like, he was an okay character but I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of depth to him.  He was the "good guy" to Asa's "bad guy" and that was about it.  In all honestly, I was a lot more interested in Asa.  I mean, don't get me wrong, he was terrible and abusive and I hate him, but learning about his backstory was engaging and gave depth to his character that just wasn't there with Carter.  Plus, there was a severe case of instalove between Carter and Sloan.  Seriously, they spend one class period together and suddenly can't get each other out of their heads.  

Also . . . Sloan talked so much about how strong and brave she was and I mean, she definitely was in some aspects.  But I was frustrated with her for how dependent she was on Asa.  Obviously she couldn't control her whole situation but there was definitely things she could have done to help it.  Get a job is what immediately comes to mind for me.  But she doesn't do it.  I don't know, though, maybe Asa was keeping her from getting one but I don't remember that ever being discussed in the book.  

What made this book worth it for me was the story.  It was definitely dark and disturbing at times but I was invested in finding out what would happen with the characters.  I wanted to see the story unfold and resolve.  The end felt extremely, extremely long (seriously, there was like, 10 epilogues) but it was still really interesting and I was satisfied with how everything turned out.  

While not one of my favorite Colleen Hoover books, I'm glad I read it.  There's things that I didn't like but the story ultimately kept me hooked.  Even with some characters that drove me up the wall, it was a decent read.  I'm looking forward to seeing if Colleen Hoover writes any other books like this one.

“I guess that's the difference in being loved the right way and the wrong way. You either feel tethered to an anchor...or you feel like you're flying.”

Three Teapots