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.
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
lovely review hon, I get emotional just thinking about it again! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks dear! I read your review yesterday and it was amazing, as usual. <3
ReplyDeleteSigh. Beautiful review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cayce! This book was truly amazing!
ReplyDeleteSo 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!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you skimmed. I don't want Hopeless ruined for you. :-) You must read them both!
ReplyDelete