Review: Losing Hope

* * * Not Enough Stars In The World Can Do This Book Justice * * *

 

Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

Also known as...

*5 Incredible, I-Live-You, Stars*

Book 1 in this series is Hopeless (my review for this can be found here - http://addicted2b00ks.blogspot.co.uk/...)

“I can't explain to you how perfect this girl is. And when I say perfect, I mean imperfect, because there's just too much wrong with her. But everything wrong with her is everything that draws me in and makes her perfect.”

Losing Hope is Hopeless from Dean Holder's point of view and that made me very very nervous.

BUT

I should have known to trust Colleen Hoover because she did not dissappoint! This felt like an entirely new story with references to Hopeless rather than a re-hash of a story. I absolutely LIVE this book!

Blurb:

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him…

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs

I'm going to, where possible, keep this review about Losing Hope and limit my references to Hopeless but this may be impossible!

Dean Holder blames himself for his Sister Lesslie's suicide. He also hates her for putting him through the aftermath of suicide, none of which we really find out about in Hopeless.

Dean Holder blames himself for Hope being taken from under his nose when she was a young girl. He watched her cry on the pavement, he watched her hurt and he watched her get into a car with a stranger, never to be seen again.

Dean Holder blames himself for not protecting Lesslie and Hope, for allowing them to hurt and doing nothing to take it away.

Dean Holder thinks he is completely Hopeless.

“But I’ve learned over the past year what it really means to be able to
miss someone. In order to miss someone, that means you were privileged enough to have
them in your life to begin with.”

I don't know if I felt more emotionally involved in this story as I always find it difficult to listen to/watch a man hurt emotionally or if it really was just more emotional. Whatever it was - I hurt, I ached, I cried and I broke my heart over and over again.

This is the first book in a long time that has touched me so much that I've been reduced to tears. I'm talking BIG, FAT, UGLY tears and body wracking sobs. I'm sure my mum thinks there is something mentally wrong with me after witnessing me reading the last 10% of this book.

BLUB FEST

There are several hilarious moments in this novel - laugh out loud funnies:

“I call her Val because it's short for Valium and I always tell her she needs to take that shit by the bucketful. I wasn't lying when I said she was fucking crazy"

There is no question about recommending this - it is a MUST READ. Prepare to be emotionally spent - Over and Over.

You will never be the same again but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it!

XxX

BONUS Scene - Hopeless #1.5

Hopeless #1.5

Who Loves Hopeless by Colleen Hoover??



Is that a collective "ME" I can hear being shouted through the computer?! Thought So!!

Well Colleen is publishing Losing Hope on the 9th July 2013...



Which is not that far away (but still AGES AWAY for us Holder Fanatics!haha) So to keep us all going, she has written Hopeless #1.5 which is That First Kiss in Holder's point of view.

This has been published for a good few months (Since December 2012) but I few people I've spoken to have still not read it (or are aware of its existence). So just to cheer you all up on this Almost-But-Not-Quite-The-Weekend Thursday - here is the link.

http://colleenhoover.com/2012/12/26/the-best-first-kiss-from-holders-point-of-view-merry-christmas/

So find somewhere quiet, shut off from the world for ten minutes and ENJOY some Holder.

**Note - This features Hopeless spoilers so if you have not read Hopeless yet - give this one a miss! Or just read Hopeless...It's great!!)**

*Hopeless Review*

Losing Hope Teaser

Colleen Hoover is AWESOME.
 
I mean she is absolutely Incredible. She writes beautiful stories, breaks your heart, heals it and turns it to mush in between.
 
First she gave us the Slammed Series

 
Which is so addictive and so stunningly written, it's up there with my favourite books ever.
 
Then she graced us with the presence of Hopeless
 

 
I'm not going to go into how much I love this book - you can read my review here because if I start gushing...I won't stop.
 
So now we are waiting on Losing Hope
 

 
Which is not due out until the 9th July.
1 Month & 4 Days.
33 Days.
A lifetime to us avid readers.
 
So imagine my excitement today when this little beauty popped up in Goodreads/Twitter/Facebook...
 
http://colleenhoover.com/2013/06/04/how-about-a-little-teaser/

I went a little like this...which in a office full of professional H&S people, seemed rather odd to most.

 








So Click, Read and Enjoy people!!

XxX

Hopeless

**5 Heartbreaking Stars**
 

Hopeless

 

Blurb: 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.

“I'm not a sucker for happily ever afters, but if these two characters don't get theirs I might climb inside this e-reader and lock them both inside that damn garage forever.” 

A quote from Sky (Lead Female) - She said it & I was thinking it!

Hopeless is a beautiful book, it has twists, turns, flips and jumps - it is incredible.

Dean Holder has secrets - it started with an incident that, to some, may seem insignificant but to him changed the course of his entire life.

“My eyes trail from his hand to the tattoo written in small script across his forearm. Hopeless” 

Sky is just a normal teenage girl, she has a best friend, a mother with whom she has a great relationship, she is academically clever and seems to have no worries. Until she meets Dean Holder...

This book made me cry - I mean big, fat, wet, ugly tears:

 

“Your heart is so beautiful and someday someone is going to love that heart like it deserves to be loved.” 

 

This book made me laugh out loud - gut clutching laughter:

Liked!view quote

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Likes the quote "And while I could sit here and feel sorry for myself, wondering why all of this happened to me..I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to wish for a perfect life. The things that knock you down in life are tests, forcing you to make a choice between giving in and remaining on the ground or wiping the dirt off and standing up even taller than you did before you were knocked down. I'm choosing to stand taller. I'll probably get kicked down a few more times before this life is through with me, but I can guarantee you I'll never stay on the ground."

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“Holder: "I thought Mormon's weren't allowed to have caffeine?"
Breckin: "I decided to break that rule the morning I woke up gay.”

 

I went through every emotion in the book, emotions I thought only real life could evoke - Read this, it is simply stunning.

 

XxX

Slammed

*****5 Outstanding Stars*****

Slammed

Blurb: Layken's father died suddenly, leaving her to gather every ounce of strength to be a pillar for her family, in order to prevent their world from falling apart. Now her life is taking another unexpected turn…

Layken's mother gets a job which leads to an unwanted move across country. However, a new home means new neighbours… and Layken's new neighbour is the very attractive Will Cooper.
Will has an intriguing passion for slam poetry, and a matching passion for life. The two feel an irresistible attraction but are rocked to the core when a shocking revelation brings their romance to a screeching halt.

Layken and Will must find a way to fight the forces that threaten to tear them apart… or learn to live without each other.

Oh my Suck and Sweet that was intense!   “I got schooled this yearby a boy. A boy that I'm seriously, deeply, madly, incredibly, and undeniably in love with. And he taught me the most important thing of all... To put the emphasis On life.”  Slammed is one of those books that, from the opening page, grabs you by the heart, twists and turns until all your hope is gone, and just when you think there is no way anything can get worse - it does. It kills you inside, making you weep tears of utter hopelessness and hurt. Then, only when you are in the depths of depression, something incredible happens. Nope, that wasn't an unfinished sentance - something incredible does happen, I'm just waiting on you reading the book to find out what it is!! Layken is just a young girl who has lost her father, moved halfway across the country and is trying to get her life on track when BOOM! Enter Will. Sweet, handsome, sexy, loving, broken Will. "I've never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted. "Is there a difference?" I ask. "Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on a past that you can't change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future. I questioned a lot about my relationship with your father. People make spontaneous decisions based off of their hearts all the time. There's so much more to relationships than just love." Coleen Hoover is an incredible writer - I'm not going to say "you should read this book". I'm TELLING you that you HAVE to read it.   XxX

This Girl

**************5 Incredible Stars**************

This Girl

Those are the hardest pieces of all to accept.
The pieces of our puzzle
That just don't belong

This final instalment of the Slammed series was told from Will's point of view and flashes back from their current lives to how they came to be together. It tells the story of slammed and point of retreats main moments, giving different pieces of info from what we were given in the first two books which makes it utterly captivating.

I laughed.
I cried.
I smiled.
I hurt.
I ached.
But more than anything...

I Felt.

For those who have read Slammed and Point of Retreat, this book is an awesome final installment.

“You're in love with her, aren't you?" I pause. Am I? I sign and clasp my hands behind my head, not sure what to say. "I'm trying so hard not to be," I say quietly, admitting it to myself for the first time.”

These three books will stay with me for a long time, and in the best possible way.

XxX

Those are the hardest pieces of all to accept.
The pieces of our puzzle
That just don't belong

This final instalment of the Slammed series was told from Will's point of view and flashes back from their current lives to how they came to be together. It tells the story of slammed and point of retreats main moments, giving different pieces of info from what we were given in the first two books which makes it utterly captivating.

I laughed.
I cried.
I smiled.
I hurt.
I ached.
But more than anything...

I Felt.

For those who have read Slammed and Point of Retreat, this book is an awesome final installment.

XxX