Review : Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Hopless
Author : Colleen Hoover
Publisher : Self-Published
Publication Date : December 19th 2012
Goodreads - Amazon

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.


Personal Thoughts

Colleen Hoover is one of my favorite indie authors out there. She has a way with words that completely enraptures me even though it's very simple. Having thoroughly enjoyed Slammed, I started Hopeless with every intention of loving the book. While I tried my hardest to fall head over heels for this book, something went wrong and I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Sky lives with her adoptive mother in a home with no electronics. Having been home-schooled throughout all her life, Sky doesn't know what life in public school is like. Her senior year, she manages to convince her mother to let her attend public school. Soon before she starts school, she meets Dean Holder. Dean brings out emotions and feelings in her she's never experienced before. What she doesn't expect when she jumps into a relationship with Dean is to discover secrets about her past that could completely shatter her.

Sky wasn't a character I immediately identified with. In the beginning, I didn't like her tone because it was monotonous and depressing. Over the course of the story, the reader gets snippets of what might have occurred to her to make such a sad and sorrowful character. That changed my opinion of her completely. I will admit that I found it very hard to like her character at first, but when I learned of what had happened to her in her childhood, my heart was broken. I still didn't connect with her, but I sympathized with her a lot. She had gone through hell and it was would make me a cold-hearted person if I did not feel for her. Slowly, throughout the book, Sky grew as a character, learning her secrets and gradually, accepting her past and beginning to mature into a sensible and smart woman, not letting her fears affect her future. Dean, the love interest, was also a character that I didn't warm up to instantly. It took some time to unveil his character and fully appreciate him. He was a complicated character to figure out with his hot and cold attitudes. I wasn't sure if he was a good guy or not because one instant he would act all sweet and gentle and the next instant he would be all broody and strange. It wasn't until the 50% mark that his actions became clearer and his behavior was understandable.

The romance in Hopeless was very reminiscent of Will and Layken's relationship. The banter between Sky and Dean was the highlight of the book for me. I really enjoyed the comfort that they had between them. Although the two characters felt a deep attraction towards each other from their very first meeting, they were friends before they became involved together. The romance was sweet and realistic, just the way I like my romance. It was easy to see that the bond that existed between Sky and Dean was a lot deeper than it appeared on the surface. Hopeless had themes that were darker than the themes in Slammed and Point of Retreat. It was definitely very emotional and poignant. I will not lie, the themes in this book made me very uncomfortable. Part of me felt like it was way too dramatic and at times unrealistic, which is why I didn't enjoy the book as much as I wanted to. The thing is, I'm starting to feel like all New Adult books have the same themes : damaged hero and heroine who find each other and each time the circumstances leading to them becoming damaged is becoming increasingly tragic and unbelievable. I feel like the issues that the characters face has to be toned down a little now. Regardless of my slight problem with the content of Hopeless, I did enjoy the book, more specifically, the writing. Colleen Hoover has a way with words that simply baited me and helped me get immersed in its beauty although I wasn't comfortable with the themes or plot.

Hopeless is a book that will appeal to fans of Flawed by Kate Avelynn, in my opinion. A heart-breaking story, Hopeless will not leave you being emotionally wrecked, but will leave you feeling hopeful, not hopeless.

“I live you, Sky," he says against my lips. "I live you so much.” 

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**