Reviews

Colour My Ugly by A. Giannoccaro

pause_theframe's review against another edition

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5.0

~ What I Thought ~

There is no way you can prepare yourself for the brilliance that is this book. It is rough. It is gritty. It'll make you feel emotions that you may never have before. Hell, you might not have even heard of the emotion.

Fo some of us, there are gritty, raw emotions; moments in life, that just hit home in this book. For those of us, there is no way to get away from the addiction to this book. You are drawn to it. I was one of those readers.

Fromt he first pages, there were parts of this book that I related to on so many levels. I found myself connecting with the characters, feeling their world. I know what it's like to feel what she did.


I couldn't help but fall in love with what was taking place. The 'death,' waking up to find yourself at the mercy of the one person you know, the one you trust, that man you always wanted.

Both of the characters are broken. They have no idea how to be a normal person and don't think that is ever an option for them. They hate people, they hate life and they hate themselves. Stuck in a world where they feel that they are better off dead. They soon start to see that it may just be possible that they are dead on the outside, battered, bruised and broken, but a flame can grown on the inside.


They find ways to conquer their pain, to cover it up. I know so many people who do this, in many different ways, and I am one of them. Reading as they went through their days, building a new type of life together, trying to overcome everything they think they are, I was on the edge of my seat. I couldn't get enough.

But you knew it had to happen. Broken things always stay broken. Something had to give.

The ending threw in that twist I was waiting for.

Since that final page, I haven't stopped thinking about this book. I can't stop. It was brilliant. It was deep. It was raw and I LOVED every second of it.

This is not your typical love story, but it is the best one I've ever felt.

I cannot wait until the next book. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants something different. Anyone who wants to see love from the other side, the gritty love we find in the worst times of life. This story is real, down to earth and makes you obsessed.

heidi_boyles's review against another edition

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4.0

I honestly didn't know what to think when I started this and I don't know what to think now that I've finished. The story intrigued me as did the characters. I found myself wrapped up in Lauri and her story gutted me. I kept telling myself if she died then I would only give this 3 stars, but who am I kidding?!? I love angst!!! Great book!!! Wish it had been longer!!

brewtifulfiction's review against another edition

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4.0

This book is a hard one to review because I almost didn't want to like it. I went in not knowing what Colour My Ugly was all about but what I got was something dark, gritty, almost disturbing at times but still utterly breathtaking.

Rowan is a murderer, his job is to kill people but he was sent to watch over Lauri until he didn't and then he's contracted to make her have "an accident".

A tale written with passion, filled with an abundance of emotion and unthinkable events but it is one that I just couldn't stop reading and by the end I was left sobbing (a sign of a good book).

alexa_ayana's review against another edition

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3.0

"Today's my birthday; I died a year ago today. Well, Ellia died and Lauri was reborn so to say."

Dari luar kehidupan Ellia tampak seperti trophy wife yang sempurna. Suami bilionernya yang bak prince charming, tampan, kaya, berkuasa dan memperlakukannya penuh perhatian. Tapi dibalik pintu rumah mereka, Renzo menjadikannya sansak hidup dengan kekejaman yang OMG.. kau tak akan bisa bayangkan. Dan puncak dari semua penganiayaan Renzo adalah dia menyewa seorang asassin untuk membantai istrinya sendiri.
Rowan, monster rupawan yang sudah mati rasa sejak umur 18 tahun. Dia ketagihan membunuh dan sensasi dominansi dalam seks kasar. Dia mengalami pertentangan batin pertama saat dia mendapatkan job harus membunuh anak mentornya sendiri.

Ini pertama kalinya aku membaca novel dengan karakter yang cukup matang, dan aku menyukainya. Rowan berumur sekitar 43 tahun, 11 tahun lebih tua daripada Ellia.
Dari sisi karakter, kisah ini akan memuaskan selera gelap pencinta romance melankolis. Novel ini bercerita dari sudut pandang multiple POV antara Ellia/Laurie dan Rowan yang didominasi narasi penuh kesedihan, angst dan kegalauan. Mereka akan bercerita dengan alur maju mundur yang lambat antara kejadian sekarang dan masa lalu. POV Callum hero buku 2 dan POV Renzo yang penuh intrik, aku super tertarik dengan apa yang menjadi motivasi tindakan kejam pria sosiopath yang satu ini.

Romantisme penculikan mungkin cerita yang mainstream, tapi serahkan topik kepada Ash untuk memberinya nuansa dan twist baru. Maka kau akan mendapatkan kisah intens, penuh dengan twist kejutan tajam yang bikin jantungan dan taburan emosional super mendalam. Yang aku suka dari buku debut ini adalah Ash berani memberikan nuansa gelap yang berbeda dari sebuah kisah penculikan. Bagaimana Ellia bertransformasi menjadi Laurie dan dalam proses dia menyembuhkan luka batinnya dia juga menyelamatkan Rowan.

Tapi ada beberapa hal yang agak mengusikku :
- Info/fakta diungkapkan berulang-ulang. Misalkan scene X, akan diceritakan dari flashback POV Laurie, POV Rowan, dan kemudian diceritakan lagi dalam sebuah percakapan dengan karakter lain. Dan hal itu terulang beberapa kali.
- POV Callum aku tidak merasa perlu dibahas sampai sedalam itu. Karena aku sudah baca buku Callum duluan aku tahu cerita itu akan diulang lagi di bukunya sendiri, beberapa kali. Kadang less information is better untuk menjaga calon hero buku selanjutnya tetap misterius dan bikin penasaran.
- Beberapa plot dalam storyline agak berlubang. Misalnya Rowan yang di gambarkan asassin handal dan pny banyak musuh tapi tidak membuat sistem keamanan selevel Pentagon. Ellie yang dalam tahap "bersembunyi" justru membuka restoran yang terekspos media.
- Bagian Laurie ingin jadi asassin itu agak out of character dan terlalu ekstrim bagiku. Aku lebih suka dia jadi bagian dunia yang berbeda dari Rowan dan menjadi jangkar penahan pria itu.
- Semua karakter dibuku ini punya hubungan darah "kekeluargaan" ala mafia yang agak rumit dan hobby melabeli diri. Aku lebih suka label itu ditunjukan dengan perbuatan dan bukan hanya diceritakan. Tapi Ash menjanjikan semua fakta akan dikupas tajam, setajam silet di buku ke-3.

Buku ini jelas foreplay bagi Ash, dia meninggalkan banyak misteri dalam kisah ini. Alternatif endingnya yang antimainstream membuatku patah hati berhari-hari. Setiap orang mempunyai warna dalam dirinya. Apakah mereka bisa menunjukan warna asli itu kepada dunia atau mereka hanya menunjukan pelangi dan menyimpan yang gelap didalam pribadi mereka? Tak sabar menunggu bulan Dec untuk mengetahui ending serial ini.

My Rating :
Star : 3.5/5
Bikini : 2/5
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