Monday, July 22, 2013

ARC Review: Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

Losing Hope
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: July 8, 2013

~Synopsis~
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.



~Prelude~
So, I absolutely loved Hopeless. It was my first Colleen Hoover book and I went out and bought Slammed and read those books immediately after finishing this one. When I heard she was writing Holder’s story, I couldn’t wait. I personally love reading a companion novel that has the story written from the alternate point of view because I am always wondering what is going through their head or what are they doing during each scene. Losing Hope did not disappoint and was twice as emotional as Hopeless, which I didn’t know was possible. If you haven’t read Hopeless, do it now. Also this review may contain small spoilers for Hopeless.

~Review~
From the moment I started reading Losing Hope, I knew it was going to be an emotionally intense read; even more so than Hopeless. I mean 3% into the book and I'm already tearing up. So much has happened to Holder and you can't help but want to wrap him in your arms and take away his pain.

“How hopeless she left me. Literally hopeless. And completely alone. And so, so incredibly sorry.”

Losing Hope starts out a year before Holder meets Sky and delves into the drama of his life and all of the things that caused him to leave and go live with his father for a year. It was certainly hard not to breakdown as Holder loses one of the most important people in his life and feels the guilt and sorrow eating away at him inside. When he comes back and meets Sky for the first time, he is struck speechless by her resemblance to someone he once knew and he has been looking for since he was 6.

“My attention is constantly honed in on her like I’m a compass and she is my north.”

It was really amazing getting to see the first meeting between Sky and Holder in his point of view. He has so many mixed feelings about meeting Sky. When he first meets her, he wants her to be Hope so desperately but the more he gets to know her, the more he hopes she isn’t because he knows how much it would destroy her if she was. He is so sweet and tender and caring with Sky because he really feels this powerful connection to her. When he discovers that she is Hope, he is torn apart and he tries to stay away from her, thinking this is what is best because he can’t be with her now without possibly tearing her world apart. However, he realizes that there is no way he cannot be with her after looking for her for so long and I think he realized he needs her just as much, if not more than she needs him.

“Every kiss, every movement, every moan, every touch of her hand against my skin. She’s my saving grace. My Hope. And I’m never walking away from her again.”

When Sky finds out who she really is and what happened to her and she begs Holder to take her pain away with sex, I was torn apart. It is extremely emotional in Hopeless but to hear it from Holder’s point of view is truly heart-breaking. He is so in love with Sky and he wants to do anything for her, to help her get through this. He does everything right and I was lost in his love and tenderness with her. His entire world is turned upside down with the revelations about her past and the things her father did. Even when his life is being ripped to pieces at that moment, I was so amazed at the way he put Sky first and took care of her.

“She’s scared. Broken. She’s shaking and crying and I’m wondering for the first time if any of the decisions I’ve made over the last twenty-four hours have been smart ones.”

By the end of this book, I was emotionally unstable and I was torn between despair for Holder and all of the things he had endured and happiness for the love and joy he was able to find with Sky. I absolutely loved the ending and it was a fabulous conclusion to their love story. There were so many times when Holder could have just given up and lived his life in utter despair but in the end he found Hope.

“Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matters to me with you are the forever.”

Colleen really outdid herself with this book. Sometimes a companion novel like this can be harder to get into because you already know the story but this was not the case here. I was just as involved and enveloped in Losing Hope as I was in Hopeless and there was so much more to Holder’s story than we were ever able to see in Hopeless. I cannot wait for the next Colleen Hoover book to be released.




~IPOD Picks~
“Only Hope” by Switchfoot
“If I Die Young” by The Band Perry
“Ships in the Night” by Matt Kearney


*An e-ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.*

Thank you Colleen Hoover, Atria Books and NetGalley

6 comments:

  1. lovely review hon, I get emotional just thinking about it again! <3

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  2. Thanks dear! I read your review yesterday and it was amazing, as usual. <3

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  3. Thanks Cayce! This book was truly amazing!

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  4. So I kind of skimmed the review because I haven't read Hopeless yet. But the quotes make it seem like I'm really gonna have to brace myself! I will read Hopeless and then losing hope!!

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  5. I'm glad you skimmed. I don't want Hopeless ruined for you. :-) You must read them both!

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