Book Review – Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

“And once again in my new world full of heartache and lies, this hopeless boy somehow finds a way to make me smile.”

• Buy HOPELESS (Kindle)
• Buy HOPELESS (Paperback)

EVERYONE DROP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

5++ stars!! One of best books of 2012!

Hopeless utterly blew me away. It was the kind of book that makes me want to stand on a rooftop and shout how amazing it is to the whole world! Beautiful, heart-wrenching and uplifting.

Colleen Hoover’s writing is absorbing, captivating, and flows so smoothly you barely feel the pages slipping by.

After just reading the prologue, I. Was. Hooked.  and I just knew that I had to put my life on hold until I finished it. It gives you a taste of where the story is headed and just grabs at your heart in a way that makes you just NEED to know more

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

When Sky meets Holder, her life changes. He is the first guy to make her heart skip a beat. The first guy to really make her FEEL.

“I’ve never been swept off my feet. I don’t get butterflies. In fact the whole idea of being swooned by anyone is foreign to me… Somehow, in the course of sixty seconds, this guy has managed to swoon me, then terrify the hell out of me.”

Dean Holder was absolutely amazing. With just a touch of bad boy, lickable dimples, a crooked smile and a tattoo, this moody, mysterious and endearing hot guy with a temper just utterly stole my heart.

“I saw a guy at the store after school, and holy shit, Six. He was beautiful. Scary, but beautiful….as soon as I looked at him, it was like my entire body melted to the floor. He was… Wow.”

Deeply protective and totally swoony but with a bad rep, he was so contradictory – warm, cold. Sweet, sharp. Just like Sky, I just NEEDED to know more about him. And the more I learned, the more the mystery deepened.

I loved watching them get closer and closer. Their chemistry was undeniable and their dialogue and banter was rapid fire and brilliant and just set my heart a flutter.

What they had was intense, passionate, and oh-so REAL. Every single thing they went though and did was believable and just made you wish you knew them in person.

I loved that the story was serious but little parts made me laugh out, breaking up the more emotionally charged scenes. I swooned, squeed, proclaimed my undying love for the book, and had to take breathers to wipe the tears that sprung up on me more than once.

I felt so in sync with Sky’s emotions and journey. I felt like I went through all her emotions without ever once feeling disconnected. Through her eyes, I fell in love with Holder, I felt her pain and confusion, and I felt her healing. She was a wonderfully strong, brave heroine – the kind you want to look up to and make you feel proud of.

This book has the. most. beautiful. intense. breathtaking. first kiss. EVER. (without actually kissing). Curious? You’ll have to read it and see. But I am not kidding, it was one of the best written kisses I’ve ever read!

I loved that the story was emotionally charged but with absolutely no stupidity. All the characters’ reactions were understandable and just made me more and more sympathetic to them. This isn’t to say that there wasn’t angst and heart-clutching turmoil, because there was. The subject matter and themes are serious, gut wrenching and very mature. This book is definitely 17+ (New Adult).

“Sometimes you have to choose between a bunch of wrong choices and no right ones. You just have to choose which wrong choice feels the least wrong.”

I have to say that I didn’t see the big reveal coming. I had my suspicions about one part of the story, but the other part totally took me by surprise.

All the pieces of the story just build and build, layer upon layer of things you don’t even realize are important until the secrets come out and the cascade of emotions from them just crash into you and take your breath away.

“Life is real and sometimes it’s ugly and you just have to learn how to cope.”

This is a quite simply a beautiful story about love and survival. About hope and healing. About life and death. About coping with tragedy and finding forgiveness and peace. About being strong. About being a victim, but also a survivor.

I honestly do not have one single complaint about this book. I have entire pages of my copy highlighted. Its THAT good. Every word, every sentence, every scene puts the imagery of the story into your head so vividly that you feel as though you are right there, watching the events unfold.

This book NEEDS to be made into a movie!!

I can’t wait to buy this book in paperback. Its going to be going right up on my top favs shelf <3

This is one of those stories that will stay with you forever.

And yes, there is a HEA 🙂

“Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matters to me with you are the forevers.”

• Buy HOPELESS (Kindle)
• Buy HOPELESS (Paperback)

Rating: 5++ stars!! 

PS. Thank you Colleen Hoover for providing me with an ARC to review.

CASTING

• Holder –> Click here (this is the guy Colleen said she thought looked like Holder)
• Sky –> I know you can’t see her too clearly, but I actually really love the girl on the cover  for her

 

** SERIES READING ORDER **

BOOK #1: HOPELESS — standalone novel
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | My Review

BOOK #2: LOSING HOPE  —  Holder’s POV novel
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | My Review

Novella: FINDING CINDERELLA — companion novella
Kindle | My Review