Sunday, July 7, 2013

REVIEW: LOSING HOPE BY COLLEEN HOOVER

In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.




Kindle Edition336 pages
Expected publication: July 8th 2013 by Atria Books
eARC received via NetGalley

Where to Find Losing Hope: 

Where to Find Colleen Hoover:

Our Review: 

I was nervously anticipating this book. Nervous because I wasn't sure if I could withstand the emotional roller coaster; anticipating because I only recently read Hopeless and I really enjoyed the writing and I knew I would love the writing in this one. I wasn't wrong. 

I was too. I loved Hopeless, but I knew there was a lot of emotional stuff going on with Holder that we couldn't see when we were always in Sky's head....that being said, I had forgotten how amazing their banter and dialogue was....so that helped tremendously from the emotional tapdance that Losing Hope was doing on my heart.

Reading the first two-ish chapter of Losing Hope was a smidge heartbreaking. The story Holder reveals about what happens prior to his sister's suicide goes a long way in explaining him and his character in Hopeless. I hated what happened and how guilt-ridden he felt and I could fully understand why he would feel the way he did.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I for sure was not expecting this book to start there...Wow...no wonder he feels so bad and guilty and well hopeless. He feels like every single person he loves gets put through the ringer just for being around him...so that is heavy for a young man to deal with...that and losing his twin that way and feeling abandoned by her...and dealing with all of the assholes that are teenagers in high school, and well he snaps like most people probably would in this situation. I loved seeing more of his relationship with Daniel and that D always has his back. Daniel's nicknames for everyone just simply because he doesn't like being like everyone else and calling people by their actual name was great too. Non-conformity at its finest! 

It was interesting to read his perspectives on his first sighting of Sky, his struggle to deny his instincts when he wasn't sure if she was Hope, their first date nights, and why, exactly, he walked away from her after the bracelet incident. As it moves forward into the intensity of Sky finding out her identity and all the events that follow, I found that knowing his thoughts was more revealing than redundant. I liked the depth of his insights, his letters to Les, and his rationale for why he does what he does. 

His letters to Les. Wow...just wow. His honesty to the one place that he felt like he could actually be honest, and putting it on paper and how mad at her he was, and how much he wished she were there and would've talked to him...that was heavy on me, and being the emotional sap I am, I cried a lot during those. I agree that his thoughts were important. Sure, we have a scenario where most everything is the same as the other book, but we find out so much more like you said. He is battling with himself every single day of what is the right thing to do for Sky and for himself, and mostly comes up empty. He decides to deny what he wants the most to not destroy her world as she knows it, but can't hardly explain himself, which makes it so hard. 

I know some people may think that since they've already read Hopeless that reading this novel would just be uninteresting because you already know what has happened. I'd tell those people that that is a false assumption. This novel gives you the story in full and adds a sweet little ending to their story. I loved it!

I agree that there is a lot more added to the story than we got the first time around. A tortured boy with his past holding him back is always a story that we devour like crazy. And you know, this is what we did with this story. It went by so quickly....it felt literally effortless to read...and I cannot ask for more in a great book! 

Shelley: 4 Stars
Courtney: 5 Stars



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