November 9 by Colleen Hoover is a contemporary romance novel set in Los Angeles and New York City. The novel's protagonist is Fallon O'Neill, an eighteen-year-old girl who sustained fourth-degree burns on the left side of her body two years ago on November 9. The burns left permanent scars on Fallon's body. Due to these permanent scars, Fallon loses her confidence, negatively affecting her promising acting career. The main points of focus in the novel include determination and the power of love and forgiveness.
The first major theme in the novel is determination. Despite Fallon having scars on her skin that she sustained during the fire incident, she is determined to become a Hollywood star. During Fallon's second anniversary of the fire incident, she meets with her father, O'Neil, to tell him about her plans to travel to New York to pursue her acting career. When Fallon tells her father about her plans, he dismisses her and tells her to find something else to do. Despite her father's disapproval, Fallon looks forward to achieving her career.
The novel's second major point of focus is the power of love. Benton loves Fallon unconditionally and is willing to do anything to protect her. When O'Neill confronts Fallon, Benton defends her and claims he is her boyfriend. After that, Fallon and Benton start seeing each other more often. However, since she is still young, they promise to see each once on November 9 for the next five years.
The last main point in the novel is forgiveness. When Fallon learns the harsh reality that Benton started the fire that resulted in her permanent scars, she becomes agitated. Benton takes his time to give a detailed account of what forced him to set Fallon's house on fire. Benton's action was unintentional because he targeted to burn O'Neil's car after realizing that he caused the death of his mother. Unfortunately, the fire quickly spread, and the main house caught fire leading to Fallon's burns. Nevertheless, Fallon forgives Benton for his deeds, and they promise to love each other unconditionally.
