BookNook — Young Adult book reviews
Holy shit sticks. That's honestly all I know what to say at this point because I just finished reading this book and my mind is in a million pieces. I don't know how to convey my thoughts, emotions, or opinions about this book, because I'm still in complete shock. But at the same time, I don't want to wait 24 hours to fully absorb all the awesomeness, because I don't want to wait until I'm more coherent. I want to sit here and write like a blubbering idiot who can't string two words together.. because that makes reviews so much more fun!
Hopeless starts off as a knee-weakening, drool-inducing romance. SERIOUSLY. Holder is all kinds of sexy beastie boy. I want to corner him and kiss him and hug him and seduce him and hold pinkies with him. He's hot, kind of dangerous, kind of bad boy-esque, and incredibly thoughtful and attentive.
"Believe me. I have no idea how to handle you, Holder. I just take you one scene at a time."
—Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
But one of the things I like most about Holder is that he doesn't act like Sky needs him. He empowers her in an amazing way. He lets her do things on her own, he lets her figure her own shit out, and he knows that she doesn't need him, but sometimes it's just nice to have someone to hold onto.
"Thank you, holder. So much. I couldn't do this without you."
He kisses me softly on the mouth again and smiles back at me. "Yes, babe. You could."
—Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
Once I settled into the book—at a little over the 50% mark—I decided that Hopeless was a deliciously swoony romance. But then, suddenly, the crazy twist kicked in and I went HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!!!! And Hopeless warped into this absolutely insane emotional rocket ship with an acceleration upwards of 10 g! I was ripping through the pages, often tempted to jump ahead because I was so mad that I couldn't read faster! But I'd always pull myself back, take a breath, and try to slow down a little... just to be right back where I started 5 minutes later.. heart racing, fingers spazzing out to turn pages on my Kindle, mouth watering (oh my god, Holder, take me now!)..
There's no question that the best part of Hopeless was the dialogue. The crazy emotional experience was awesome and amazing and dripping with happiness and heartbreak all in one, but the dialogue is what really made me fall in love with this book. There are so many lines that just had me screaming and giggling with laughter, and had my mom giving me funny looks. Sky and Holder had such amazing chemistry and great back and forth banter! I LOVED IT!
Holder reaches the seat next to me and starts to lay his backpack on it at the same time Breckin reaches it and begins to set the coffee cups down. They look up at each other, then they both look back at me.
Awkward.
I do the only thing I know how to do in awkward situations—infuse with sarcasm.
"Looks like we have quite the predicament here, boys." I smile at both of them, then eye the coffee in Breckin's hands. "I see the Mormon brought the queen her offering of coffee. Very impressive." I look at Holder and cock my eyebrow. "Do you wish to reveal your offering, hopeless boy, so that I may decide who shall accompany me at the classroom throne today?"
—Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
I do wish that Six—Sky's best friend—had a larger role in the book, because I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HER!! She was such a fun character, kind of a slut—but an awesome one, and, I mean, her name is Six. That's awesome. She's that super sweet, dirty, sarcastic best friend that I wish was my best friend in real life. But, unfortunately, Six goes away for a few months so after the beginning, she's barely in the book at all. Now that I think of it, I'd totally love to read a Hopeless spinoff about Six having a hot, romantic, international fling with some European hottie!
I feel like Colleen Hoover has really grown and developed as an author. I enjoyed Slammed, then I wasn't crazy about Point of Retreat.. but Hopeless blew my mind. It was everything I hoped it would be, and completely deserves the thousands of five star reviews that it has on Goodreads. It was heartbreaking, emotional, HOT, sexy, swoony, sad, happy, hopeless, hopeful, inspiring, and more. I loved all the relationships, all the dialogue, and all the weird little quirks that makes this book Hopeless (holding pinkies, licking dimples—all of it).