Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2)

by Colleen Hoover

#1 Sunday Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us held readers spellbound with her novel Hopeless, the story of what happened when a troubled girl named Sky encountered a long-lost childhood friend, Dean. Now, in Losing Hope, we finally learn the truth about Dean Holder.

Haunted by the little girl he couldn’t save from imminent danger, Holder’s life has been overshadowed by feelings of guilt and remorse. He has never stopped searching for her, believing that finding her would bring him the peace he needs to move on. However, Holder could not have anticipated that he would be faced with even greater pain the moment they reconnected.

In Losing Hope, Holder reveals the way in which the events of Sky’s youth affected him and his family, leading him to seek his own redemption in the act of saving her. But it is only in loving Sky that he can finally begin to heal himself.

• ISBN10: 1471131181
• ISBN13: 9781471131189
• Publish Date: 9 July 2013 (first published 8 July 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[boghunden]

Oh. My. God.

Yet another fantastic book from CoHo. I don't understand how she manages to pull this off?!
I mean. It's essentially just the same story from another POV. Except it's not! It's so much more than that.

It's about Holder, how he came to, in fact, be Holder. It's about Daniel, his best friend (and may I just add WHAT AN AMAZING CHARACTER HE IS!). Les, his sister. *sigh*

Okay, so the pacing is a bit slow, mainly because we already know what's going to happen for the most part. The writing is still good though, and I kept on reading, reading, reading, because I needed to find out what was in that letter!

I don't understand how it could break my heart all over again, when I already knew the story, yet it did. HOW?! I guess that's just what CoHo does to you.

One thing I will say though, is that I missed one particular scene; Breckin and Holder planning Sky's birthday.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars
This companion novel to Hopeless is told through Holder's eyes. It starts with Les' death. So now, we get all the details of what happened before Holder disappeared for a year. The best parts of this book, for me, are the times when he is not with Sky. We get to fill in those gaps in the story and find out what Holder was doing. We also get to meet his friend, Daniel, and his mom, and see how he interacts with him. Most importantly, we get inside his head. He is quite a complicated character, therefore, getting to see things from his perspective helps us understand his actions and him so much more. He was so tortured and riddled with guilt, it was quite painful at times, but as the story progresses, he works through these issues. One of his coping mechanisms was to write letters to his sister. He revealed things to her that he could not share with anyone else and these things were provided a lot of insight into his life. I also liked that this book went a little further than Hopeless. We get a little peek into the future of Sky and Holder, and I am a sucker for that sort of thing. You did it to me again, Colleen Hoover, you made me cry. Kudos!

[nitzan_schwarz]

I feel like I have to give this book a four, cause it is a good book, but it doesn't really generate any emotional response from me. I dunno, maybe I just don't have a heart.

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I didn’t end up hating Losing Hope as much as I anticipated after finding out it was just Hopeless from Holder’s POV, so that’s good. I guess. I’m not really sure what the point of it was though, since Sky and Holder spent pretty much 99% of their time together, so this was really a slightly reworded and condensed version of the first book. I skimmed a lot because of this. The only parts I actually read were the first few chapters which were a kind of prequel, all of Holder’s letters to Les, and the closing chapters since they’re a kind of epilogue. Everything else was a waste of time.

I did feel like a lot of Losing Hope was trying to rationalize and excuse Holder’s behavior from Hopeless. I definitely understand that he’s been through stuff. He lost his BFF as a child, and blames himself. He lost his twin as a teen, and blames himself. His girlfriend has had some horrible stuff done to her, and he probably blames himself for that too. It still doesn’t excuse him from taking out his anger on Sky or stalking her. His love for her was even more obsessive that I thought, which made it all worse.

I really don’t have much else to say about Losing Hope. It would have worked so much better if it had just been a prequel novella or a collection of letters. This full-length, straight retelling was quite pointless.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Hopeless was the first book that I read by Colleen Hoover and I adored the characters and was swept up in the tale, so I was really excited and nervous to read Losing Hope. Told from Holder’s point of view Hoover gave us a fresh look at the events and insight into Holder himself. Three word review: captivating, heartbreaking, beautiful.

Say good-bye to your heart as Hoover whisks it away in the very first pages of this tale as she takes us into the mind of Holder, his sister’s suicide and his interactions with Sky. In Hopeless we learned everything from Sky’s perspective and in Losing Hope the tale that unfolds shares those events as well as things we didn’t see and the impact it all had on this swoon-worthy, broken, sensitive young man. The tale held my heart hostage.

I connected with and enjoyed both Holder and Sky in the previous novel, but getting inside Holder’s head as he deals with losing his sister, returning home and discovering Sky took my emotions on one heck of a ride. Hoover slowly peeled back Holder’s layers showing his emotions and the guilt he carries regarding his sister and the little girl who disappeared. We see his sensitive side; how he struggles, his concern for Sky, his parents and doing the right thing. It is powerful and raw and felt very genuine. In the midst of YA and NA bad boys Dean Holder is refreshing. He is basically an all around good guy dealing with some pretty traumatic crap. Yet, he has just enough of an edge to appeal to those who adore their bad boys. Sky is innocent, complicated and naive; I loved seeing her through Holder’s eye. Holder’s best friend Daniel is back and he is a strong secondary character who is loyal, hilarious and supportive. Now Breckin is Sky’s best friend and I adored him and his sense of humor in the first book and we get more glimpses of him and his interactions with Holder making me one happy reader. While Les, holder’s sister gets less page time, her presence is powerful and her story captivating.

This is the second author to amaze me when telling the same tale from a different POV. The first was Jamie McGuire with Travis’s story in Walking Disaster and as much as I adored that book Hoover took it to another level. This wasn’t just a play by play of the same scenes from Holder’s POV, she gives us new scenes, information is revealed, answers are given. Tremendous insight into Holder and his struggles apart from Sky make this unbelievably fresh, and had me whipping the pages and devouring the words. OMG, I think I’ve gone all fan-girl and no I haven’t had any Monster Java today! While this plays off the first book, it can stand on its own. Both books toyed with my emotions, had me connecting to the characters and caught up in the tale as it unfolded. A part of me loves Losing Hope even more than Hopeless, but I am honestly not sure if it’s because I read the first book and together they made me fall completely and madly in love with a smexy, sweet, troubled young man named Dean Holder.

originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Young Adult book reviews

Losing Hope and I didn't quite start off on the best foot, but it quickly corrected itself and rocked hard from there!

I didn't like Holder at the beginning of Losting Hope. The first thing he does is threaten a guy because he's cheating on Holder's sister. Rightly so, Holder is outraged. Then like 15 pages later he's having sex with a girl who he KNOWS has a boyfriend. So he's helping her cheat on him. What the hell??? I don't care what your reason or excuse is, cheating is not okay. And the fact that Holder was so hypocritical about it pissed me off!

But other than that, Holder was everything I remembered from Hopeless. Sweet, thoughtful, funny, and intense. I'm actually kind of pissed that his awesomeness was tarnished by that cheating scene at the beginning of the book. It didn't feel necessary to me at all; it just made me get off on the wrong foot with Holder.

Overall, I really liked Losing Hope, but I didn't love it quite as much as Hopeless. I think the problems with these kinds of books is that you already know exactly what happens so some of the surprise is taken out, and when that happens it isn't quite as exciting. For me, one of the best parts about Hopeless was the whirlwind that was the ending. Twist after twist after twist, like BAM BAM BAM. And obviously that still happened in Losing Hope but it didn't feel as intense or as shocking since I already knew all the answers.

But I LOVE the emphasis on Les in Losing Hope. We learn so much about how Holder struggled with Les's suicide. Sometimes, that extra element made Losing Hope feel like a completely different book from Hopeless (in a good way). It felt like its own story rather than the same story from a different point of view. Holder writes letters to Les in a journal after her death, and just the way he dealt with it was so interesting to read, but also saddening. So many of those letters (and Holder's thoughts in general) broke my heart in half! Colleen completely jerked my tears around.

Just like Hopeless, Losing Hope was so quick and easy to get through. It was heavy and intense, but really captivating and that enabled me to breeze right through it! I loved being inside Holder's head. It was kind of hilarious the way he analyzed some things, and he was so in love with Sky that he acted like such a love-struck teenager. It was kind of cute!

"So how are you liking Sky?" my mom asks. [..]
"She's great," I say. "I like her a lot."
My mom puts down the paper and cocks her head. "She?" she says with an arched eyebrow. I don't understand her confusion. I just stare at her until she shakes her head and laughs. "Oh, Jesus," she says. "You've got it bad."
Still confused. "What do you mean? You asked how I liked Sky and I answered you."
She's laughing even harder now. "I said school, Holder. I asked how you were liking school."
Oh.

Or when he's remembering a conversation Les had with her friend. Les's friend says that if you just want to kiss a guy, you wear jeans. If you want something more to happen, you wear a skirt or a dress with easy access. Then when Sky wears a dress, Holder completely over-analyzes it.

What if Sky doesn't know the rules to "make-out" clothes? What if she's wearing this dress just for the hell of it? What if she's just wearing this dress because her washing machine broke and all her jeans were dirty? What if she's wearing this dress because she didn't have time to change into jeans before I showed up at her house? What if she's wearing this dress because she went to some sort of random church today that has service on Saturdays?

Ultimately, I loved this book and I definitely recommend it if you liked Hopeless! The only reason I didn't enjoy it quite as much was because the epic twists no longer felt like twists, which made it a little less exciting and thrilling. But otherwise, it had the same emotional whirlwind feel and was equally romantic!

[Kelly]

Ramblings of a Diva Booknerd
Colleen Hoover is simply brilliant. She guides her readers down the path where she lures us onto an emotional roller coaster, then watches us all fall apart. But you know as the ride is slowing down, almost over, she'll take your hand, stroke your hair and whisper the happy ending you so desperately cling to until she lures you onto the next ride.

All in a day's work at Hoover World. But hell, I can't wait to visit again.

[chemicalscream]

I went into this book thinking it was going to be the same story as Sky's but from a different POV.  IT'S NOT.  It's much more than that. It was almost like reading a new book, only not. Because we do get some rehashing of scenes that we experienced in Hopeless, but with Holder's inner dialogue it made it a new experience.
This book invoked so many emotions I would probably forget a few trying to list them off. It was one of the most intense emotional roller coasters I've been on.

Holder's story starts a year before Hope aka Sky comes back into his life.  Right before the turning point that made Holder question his ability to protect the ones he loves. We get to experience the loss of Les, Holder's sister, and everything that happens afterwards.  When preparing for Les's funeral, Holder comes across a blank leather-bound journal in her closet. Thus begins the Letters to Les.

Les,

You left your jeans in the middle of your bedroom floor. It looks like you just stepped out of them. It's weird. Why would you leave your jeans on the floor if you knew what you were about to do?

 

Through Holder's letters to his sister, we discover that Holder is angry at his sister, because he doesn't understand why she would kill herself and he feels that he failed as a brother. He also tells his sister about things that are going on with his life, now that she isn't there to be apart of it.

Les,

Well, congratulations. you're pretty popular. Not only did you fill the parking lot of the funeral home with cars, but you also filled the lot next door and both churches down the street. That's a lot of cars.

 

Les,

Happy two-week deathiversary. Harsh? Maybe so, but I'm not apologizing.

I absolutely loved the letters that Holder wrote to his sister. It was an interesting way for Holder to deal with  his grief as well as talk to his sister still. Those letters also came in handy when Sky came into his life and he didn't know what to do with the discovery of her not being who she thought she was and being everything he's always been looking for.

My heart stops.

Time stops.

The whole world stops.

I recognize those eyes.

Those are Hope's eyes.

It's her nose, her mouth, her lips, her hair. Everything about this girl is Hope.

As most of you guys know, Hopeless has ONE OF THE BEST (not really a) first kiss scenes ever. Rereading that scene through Holder's eyes made it even BETTER.

 

I have to stop for a moment because if I don't, I'll for sure break my one and only rule tonight-which is absolutely no mouth contact. I know if I kiss her right now it'll be great. But Id on't want her to have great. I want her to have incredible. Looking at her lips right now, I know for a fact it'll be incredible for me.

"They're so perfect," I say. "Like hearts. I could literally stare at your lips for days and never get bored."

She opens her eyes and smiles. "No. Don't do that. If all you do is stare, then I'll be the bored one."

Reading the scene when Sky discovers that she's Hope and the events that happen afterwards are just as heartbreaking as the first time I read them. But Sky and Holder were there for each other when facing her father and discovering things that Holder didn't expect  and that Sky had blocked from her subconscious.

"I love you, Holder. So much," she says firmly. "And just so you know... so did Hope."

 

The supporting characters in this book were amazing. We have Holder's best friend, Daniel, who I don't think we met in Hopeless. Then of course there is Breckin, Sky's most awesome Mormon best friend ever!

Between Holder and Sky's best friends, we got a little bit of humor and it was a nice thing to have in such an intense story.

We got to see Breckin stand up to Holden after the bracelet scene and tell it like it is. Being a Mormon and all, he wasn't afraid to stand up to someone who, according to rumor, beat up another Mormon the year before.

 

This book was amazing and like I said before like reading a whole new book, not just another point of view.  Because in the end we have a better understanding of everything that happened. At the end of it all, Holden is able to forgive himself and realize he is not the one responsible for Hope disappearing and for Les's death.

 

If you haven't read Hopeless yet,  no worries, this book could be read as a standalone or even before Hopeless.  Although I do suggest you read Hopeless because it's just as amazing as Losing Hope.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of Losing Hope from Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*


This and other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

*I received a free ARC of Losing Hope from Atria Books via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Holder has been losing hope ever since that fatal day when he watched his little neighbor walk towards a car and leave with a stranger. After a news cast dubbed him 'the boy who lost Hope' his family stopped watching the news all together.