Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

TITLE: Hopeless
AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover
PUBLISHER/YEAR: Atria/May 7, 2013 (originally published as an ebook December 2012)
SOURCE: For Review from Publishers via NetGalley
SERIES: A companion novel will be published July 2013

Goodreads / Author's Website

Colleen Hoover is a tricky author for me. Her books are loved by so many bloggers and I like them, to a point, but there's also a small part of me that has to keep putting the book down for a variety of reasons. At least, that was my experience with Slammed and it kind of jumped over to Hopeless as well. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Hopeless and will probably be reading Losing Hope when it comes out this summer. I just don't know if I'm reading to go shouting from the rooftops and proclaiming my love for this novel.

Sky meets Dean Holder in a grocery store one and they have some sort of immediate connection. He's crazy intense and has a reputation that well nobody but Sky can match.Sky holds him at a distance because he's unpredictable and no matter how good she feels when she's with him she never knows where his mood will turn next. However, when they finally do work out their differences secrets are revealed that hurt both of them more than anybody could have expected.

Hoover writes incredibly engrossing novels. From the beginning I was totally caught up in Sky's story. She's been home schooled her entire life by her adoptive mother, but for her senior year she wants to experience a public high school. Sky's actually a pretty great character who had a lot more going on for her than being that girl who likes that guy. She's close to her mother. I actually understood why she was friends with her best friend and although it wasn't the focus of the book it was nice. They cared about each other because they were both kind of outcasts and they were so supportive of each other, which was so nice to see in a book.

Sky also showed a lot of strength within her relationship. She had her limits and when those limits were crossed she let it be known. There weren't free passes. When Dean did something unacceptable, well she still cared for him but, he wasn't immediately forgiven. She knew that his behavior wasn't okay if he wanted to be with her. So often you see a girl who just kind of falls over for the first guy she meets, no matter what he does, no matter his past, but Sky actually thinks things through. So refreshing.

Of course, there are deeper issues in this novel. Hoover's novels like to take on the extremely difficult and Hopeless was no different. I won't say what it is because it will ruin the big reveal, but there are some very hurtful secrets as the back cover states. I think the issues are dealt with relatively sensitively, although perhaps not the most realistically? Although I really can't speak to that as it's not my area of expertise. I do think compared to a lot of novels Hoover shows restraint and sensitivity when dealing with these topics.

My main problem with the book is that I found some of the situations and dialogue to be overwrought. There are also certain situations that I just think are kind of sappy. Example, during the relationship with Sky and Holder are discussing where their relationships stands and they're not ready for love but they're beyond like, they decide on "I live you." I just. No. It's too much. I know some people would totally swoon over that kind of thing, but I'm just not one of them. It's at that part of the book I need to put it down for a minute in order to roll my eyes.

While I don't think Hopeless is the perfect book I did really enjoy it. I really was sucked into the story and didn't want to put it down to sleep. I was engaged the entire time and I do think it's worth a read if you're looking for a more mature YA novel. Basically, if you liked Slammed you'll like this book.

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