Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication Date: 12-19-2012
Pages: 327
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary
Rating: 2.5 stars
Summary: 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.
*** Strong trigger warning: depression, suicide, rape ***
You never know what might set a person off, so before I begin my review I wanted to express that this book contains many triggers and my review will go into some of it.
I really wanted to love Hopeless. Or even be in live with it. No, that's not a typo. You'll see if you read it. However, I found the plot - how do I say this- too convenient? I'm not sure if that's the right word. Different elements of the story just blended a little too well. I guess that would be convenient... hm... Regardless, I wasn't a fan of how everything played out. Not only was it convenient but heart-breakingly so.
This story wasn't short on heart ache. I could feel my heart being ripped to shreds as Skye and Holder got to know each other and themselves. Maybe that's the reason I didn't like the plot. It caused too much pain! Skye was a character I really enjoyed, even if she made hair-brained decisions and too many assumptions. Despite it all, she was a strong, willful person who I wanted to root for. And even when Skye wasn't strong, when she fell apart it felt real.
Now Holder. Holder was a different story. I didn't like Holder. I was a good 200 pages in before I started to like him. He was an ass, presumptuous, and needed to learn the difference between affection and stalking. It did not matter if his dimples were so nice they were lick-able. No matter how cute the dimples, stalking is stalking and there is no excuse for it! Skye was so close to having a natural, smart reaction to Holder's stalking tendencies. She was creeped out, defensive, and thought he either had multiple personalities or was on drugs. This, my fellow readers and writers, is a phenomenon called rational thinking! Something rarely found in YA heroines and sorely needed! She did, however, fall for the hot looks and lick-able dimples and let herself be swept up in this dysfunctional "romance."
But the more I read, the more I wanted to look over these faults. I was tempted, so tempted! Colleen's writing sucked me in, her story was engaging and never let up. But the faults mentioned above and a couple other things wouldn't stop gnawing at me. For instance, there are a few people in the world who go by their last name. Holder, as in Dean Holder, is one of these people. It irritated me to no end when Skye would call Holder by his last name. I don't think she ever once just called him Dean. When you're intimate with someone and feel this great bond or whatever with someone, then maybe you should call them by their given name! I'm sorry, but it's a pet peeve for me. Now that's a small thing to get upset over and I get that.
Something else that bothered me was the sex in this novel. I expressed a trigger warning above, and I'm going to discuss some aspects of it now. I'll try as much as I can to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
A lot of situations regarding rape and other equally bad things came up in this novel. These hard topics are called hard for a reason. In all honesty, there isn't a right or wrong way to cope when they happen to you or someone you love. While intimacy can help, it is not the answer to every situation like you'll find in here. Oh, Skye finds out about what? Well then, time for some good ole barneymugging. That should help. Oh, wait, what happens with Holder? Let's bump uglies and then everything is a-okay. No. Just no. Sex is a beautiful, wonderful thing, but it is not a cure-all. Especially in regards of rape. That's probably the number one issue that I have with this book. Holder's stalking is on the back burner compared to this. As I said before, there is no right or wrong when coping, but there are more ways than one to handle the issues many children, teens and adults face on a daily basis and I really wish the author had implemented them in her story.
Other than that, I really did enjoy Hopeless. The writing and characters really won me over, while the plot and subject matter twisted me up inside. In good ways and bad. There is a companion novel to this called Losing Hope, which is basically the same story but told in Holder's POV. I haven't made the decision to read it or not. Honestly, I don't think I can handle anymore heartache, so probably not for a little bit.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through. Let me know your thoughts!
But the more I read, the more I wanted to look over these faults. I was tempted, so tempted! Colleen's writing sucked me in, her story was engaging and never let up. But the faults mentioned above and a couple other things wouldn't stop gnawing at me. For instance, there are a few people in the world who go by their last name. Holder, as in Dean Holder, is one of these people. It irritated me to no end when Skye would call Holder by his last name. I don't think she ever once just called him Dean. When you're intimate with someone and feel this great bond or whatever with someone, then maybe you should call them by their given name! I'm sorry, but it's a pet peeve for me. Now that's a small thing to get upset over and I get that.
Something else that bothered me was the sex in this novel. I expressed a trigger warning above, and I'm going to discuss some aspects of it now. I'll try as much as I can to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
A lot of situations regarding rape and other equally bad things came up in this novel. These hard topics are called hard for a reason. In all honesty, there isn't a right or wrong way to cope when they happen to you or someone you love. While intimacy can help, it is not the answer to every situation like you'll find in here. Oh, Skye finds out about what? Well then, time for some good ole barneymugging. That should help. Oh, wait, what happens with Holder? Let's bump uglies and then everything is a-okay. No. Just no. Sex is a beautiful, wonderful thing, but it is not a cure-all. Especially in regards of rape. That's probably the number one issue that I have with this book. Holder's stalking is on the back burner compared to this. As I said before, there is no right or wrong when coping, but there are more ways than one to handle the issues many children, teens and adults face on a daily basis and I really wish the author had implemented them in her story.
Other than that, I really did enjoy Hopeless. The writing and characters really won me over, while the plot and subject matter twisted me up inside. In good ways and bad. There is a companion novel to this called Losing Hope, which is basically the same story but told in Holder's POV. I haven't made the decision to read it or not. Honestly, I don't think I can handle anymore heartache, so probably not for a little bit.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through. Let me know your thoughts!
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