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.
Author: Colleen Hoover
Series: Hopeless #1
Published: December 19, 2012
Source: Goodreads
Thoughts: I am trying to think of words that could help describe this book and how it made me feel. It was slow but intense and real.
I think what I love about this new genre of NA fiction is how real everything is, and by real I mean relatable to the average 20-something. This genre is not afraid to get into sticky topics such as sex and drug abuse or anything remotely dark.
The characters age range is older end of young adult or the blossoming 20-something more so than actual YA books. While their struggles may not be relatable to all that read their stories, their pain, their suffering and their joy is ours.
Whether their specific pain is different from that which we have experienced first-hand the reality of it isn’t any less real.
While reading Hopeless we know what it feels like at this age to be afraid and alone — without hope.
I enjoyed the slow pace at the beginning of this book because I could tell it was gearing me up for something-bigger, and before the something-bigger happened I had time to regroup in the form of a “chapter break” (i.e. a Part 2). When the something-bigger came it came hard and it came fast — not fast in the sense that I had the impression the author wanted to get it over with–fast in the sense that there was so much to take in, so much revelation. It was mind-blowing. Your eyes couldn’t read fast enough, your fingers couldn’t turn the page fast enough, and your mind couldn’t grasp all there was quick enough to satisfy you.
Hopeless is about bravery, forgiveness, love, justice, and acceptance. It is a story filled with laughter, sorrow and intense pain. I tip my hat to you Colleen Hoover for an incredibly well written story.
5 STARS
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