Book Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

“The sky is always beautiful.Even when it's dark or rainy or cloudy,it's still beautiful to look at....it'll be there no matter what...and I know it'll always be beautiful.”

― Colleen Hoover, Hopeless 

The foundation of Sky and Dean's passionate love story—where well-kept secrets threaten to reopen scars from a terrible past—is presented by the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling books It Starts with Us, It Ends with Us, and All Your Perfects.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

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.

My reaction to this novel...

I read this book because I am one of the people that believes in Colleen Hoover. I grew captivated with her works after reading Heartbones. Despite the fact that I did not enjoy her debut novel, Slammed, I continued to admire Hoover, especially when I read positive reviews of her subsequent works. I started reading this book since I was seeking for a romantic story to read. I was not expecting this to be part of a series, which was opposite to what I was searching for at the time because I just wanted to read a standalone novel. Anyway, I had already started before I knew it, so I decided to keep going. I believe I completed this book in just two days.

This novel, in my opinion, was really intense. Not just the narrative, but also the characters. Even though I kind of knew how the narrative would end, I still had a personal reaction that I won't go into detail about. Perhaps I was affected by the story's sensitivity. Despite not having gone through what the female lead went through, I could still sense from my perspective as a woman how traumatic and heartbreaking what happened to her was. There are also a lot of sequences that are full of emotional love scenes and banter, which I found a little boring. I've been waiting for the twist to materialize, but because the dialogue is so drawn out, I can already anticipate what it is.

Additionally, I observed that this book had a satisfying conclusion despite being a part of a series. There isn't a cliffhanger, so you don't have to wait till the next book to find out how the narrative ends. It has a conclusion. It was filled with emotional heaviness and long-winded inner monologue. Additionally, there were other dramatic scenes that followed one other. All of the scenes were supposed to evoke strong emotions. It also felt like everything moved slowly at points because there was so much that occurred in a little period of time that there was no time to take a break. 

Colleen Hoover also crafts intense characters; I believe each of her books contains at least one damaged character. She presents those characters to her audience in a way that plays on their emotions, and I respect her for that. Nevertheless, I think in this book she addressed a psychological issue that was quite important and may have stirred up ambivalent concerns in other individuals as it did in me. It is a serious issue that shouldn't be handled lightly, therefore maybe she might go into greater detail in this part. I believe that no amount of sexual pleasure can fully undo the harm that has been done to a rape victim, especially if she is not receiving any counseling. I was thus pretty dissatisfied about that. In the scenario, she should go deeper and exhibit more emotion. It is incredibly distracting and frustrating that Holder's emotions are so much stronger than Sky's.

Since this novel already had a conclusion for me, I'm not sure whether I will continue and read the next novels in this series. Maybe my desire to look at and learn more about it and its issues relies on how I feel. I believe it would be better if I read and paid more attention to her standalone works. I believe this book is for you if you enjoy reading about domestic abuse and deeper romance, but I do not think it is for everyone, especially if you are young and have suffered abuse, since it might bring up unpleasant memories.

My Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐(3/5)

“Not everyone gets a happily every after. Life is real and sometimes it's ugly and you just have to learn how to cope.”

This is totally right. Life is not like the movies, where the resolution goes well beyond what is found in fairy tales. We will struggle and be bitter because that is how life is. However, what matters is how we handle, comprehend, and take away lessons from each circumstance we have encountered since it will enable us to fully grasp what life is all about.