Monday, 19 May 2014

Hopeless - Colleen Hoover

Hopeless (Hopeless, #1)Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'Would you rather know a truth that makes you feel hopeless, or keep believing the lies? Colleen Hoover returns with the spellbinding story of two young people with devastating pasts who embark on a passionate, intriguing journey to discover the lessons of life, love, trust - and above all, the healing power that only truth can bring.

 Sky, a senior in high school, meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. From their very first encounter, he terrifies and captivates her. Something about him sparks memories of her deeply troubled past, a time she's tried so hard to bury. Though Sky is determined to stay far away from him, his unwavering pursuit and enigmatic smile break down her defences and the intensity of their relationship grows. But the mysterious Holder has been keeping secrets of his own, and once they are revealed, Sky is changed forever and her ability to trust may be a casualty of the truth. 

Only by courageously facing the stark revelations can Sky and Holder hope to heal their emotional scars and find a way to live and love without boundaries. Hopeless is a novel that will leave you breathless, entranced, and remembering your own first love.'



I first discovered Colleen Hoover when I read Finding Cinderella. I enjoyed her writing style so much that I really wanted to read more from her.

When I received Hopeless from the publisher in exchange for a honest review, I jumped up and down and did a little dance! I could not wait to read it!

Hopeless is in the YA genre, if you do not read YA, don't let this put you off, it is a brilliant read and love story. It also has darker elements to the story, which are very real, but give the story some twists.

The story is about Sky, she has been home schooled for as long as she can remember, she doesn't have a T.V, use the internet or have a phone. Her mum is a bit against technology so will not allow her any mod cons. The doesn't both her too much as her best friend Six lives across the road and as she is home schooled has little contact with anyone else her age.

Sky goes to high school for the remaining few years of school as she has pestered her mum so much she has agreed. She is super excited about it as Six attends and knows she will love it. Six however drops a bomb shell, she is moving abroad for part of her studies, so Sky is going to attending alone. Sky is beginning to have a change of heart about going to high school but she is very stubborn and doesn't want her mum to know she made the wrong choice. So she stands by her decision.

Sky has not had a great time on the relationship front, she is the type of girl that when she makes out with a guy, doesn't feel anything. She lets them get on with things for an easy life, she never cries as she can't and has never felt lust, that begins to change when she meet Holder.

One day at the grocery store a guy (Holder) runs after Sky as she leaves, claiming that he knows her, Sky is a bit thrown by this as she knows he most certainly doesn't. Upon producing her ID he accepts it and leaves her be. That is until he sees her again while she is out running and begins to have a conversation with her.

Sky and Holder's relationship takes a little while to develop in the beginning, but soon things get quite intense between them. Although I have not read too many YA stories before the type of relationship they have is very different to any other I have read so far. Their relationship is very real and is full of emotion.

I loved both Sky and Holder as characters, Sky goes on a journey to find herself and really find out who she is, not that this was intentionally intended. You follow Sky on her journey and are taken hold by the emotion of it. I felt that I could connect very well to Sky, some of the situations she had been in were similar to my own, so bought out for me raw emotion.

I loved how Holder did not feel like your typical teenage boy, he was kind and really caring towards Sky, he also had to deal with his own emotion along the way and you could see through the way that it was written, he was going through his own tough time and that he needed to deal with his own emotion, while still trying to be strong for Sky.

I felt that it took a while to get going but once it did I could not put the book down, there were twists that you didn't expect. From reading memories of Sky's from nearer the beginning I had worked out what had happened and I thought that would have been bad enough, but wow the ending really did give me a shock!

I am so glad that I got sent this to review, although I had already reading Finding Cinderella which is the novella right at the end of the series, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of this book at all as it was told from a different characters perspective.

I just cannot praise this book enough and I would urge everyone who loves a love story to read it, for me it was a love story but they do not get it easy, I thought there was a lot of tragedy in this book which actually made it feel more real. As in the real world little people have a smooth sailing life/ relationship. Teenagers I feel today are strong and can cope with a lot, this book is a reminder of that and I feel gives them the strength to realise this them selves.

Once again I would like to thank the publisher for sending me this wonderfully written novel and I cannot wait to read the second in the series - Losing Hope.


2 comments:

  1. Great review! Colleen Hoover is by far my favorite author. I've read and loved every single one of her books. I'm glad you discovered her - and I recommend reading all of her books! :)

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    1. Thank You! I currently have Losing Hope sitting on my shelf to be read, hopefully I will get to it soon. Then I may make a start on her others.

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