HOPELESS by COLLEEN HOOVER

Jenny:   Gitte,  is it possible to fall in love with a book and its characters from the first few pages because if it is then that is exactly what happened to me in Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. I fell in love with this book instantly and my feelings didn’t waver until I read “the end” and even then I’ve spent the past few weeks thinking about this book and how it affected me.

To say I have loved everything this author has written is an understatement. Every word she writes is flawless and every word demands to be read. This story took me completely by surprise.  I didn’t know what to expect and what I got was so much more than I could have ever hoped for.  This story touched me, moved me, humoured me and devastated me and I loved every minute of it.  Hopeless is a darker read than Slammed and Point of Retreat and I was absolutely enthralled with the places this author took me throughout this book.

Gitte:  I am speechless Jenny, after I had finished this book I felt faint; every word this Author wrote squeezed my heart tight; made me dizzy and light-headed….my eyes hurt as did my head; I just could not put it down! I am in complete awe and utter admiration….Reading Sky and Holder’s story left me breathless, made me cry. This Author captures a reader in a tight hold carries you with words that each takes their rightful place in your heart and doesn’t let you go until the story has been told. Long after, every single word still stays with you. This story just flowed so naturally. The relationship between the characters was inspiring their relationship and story intense.

“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.”

Jenny:   I know how immersed you were in this story, you wouldn’t even answer your phone until you finished it.
Sky is heading off to High School (and school in general) for the first time after being home schooled by her Mum for her school life. Unfortunately, she is forced to do this on her own as her best friend Six is moving away for six months and leaving Sky to face her first year of school alone.
Her  introduction to school isn’t a pleasant one with the other students already having a preconceived opinion of who Sky is – they couldn’t be more off the mark where Sky is concerned, but Sky takes it all in her stride and she is lucky enough to make a friend in Breckin.  This friendship is just so warm and funny!  I just loved these two. They were kindred spirits and I absolutely cracked up at the banter between these two.
I have to say GG that I just ADORED Sky.  She was strong, independent, yet vulnerable in some ways, funny and when her story starts to develop my heart just ached for her and the sorrow and sadness I felt for her was all encompassing.

“Sky, I’m not kissing you tonight but believe me when I tell you, I’ve never wanted to kiss a girl more. So stop thinking I’m not attracted to you because you have no idea just how much I am. You can hold my hand, you can run your fingers through my hair, you can straddle me while I feed you spaghetti, but you are not getting kissed tonight. And probably not tomorrow, either. I need this. I need to know for sure that you’re feeling every single thing that I’m feeling the moment my lips touch yours. Because I want your first kiss to be the best first kiss in the history of first kisses.”

Gitte: LOVED Sky; she was an amazing character. She is upfront and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She is honest, genuine, funny, adorable, naïve yet knows more than a person should know. The somewhat sheltered life she has had, for reasons which become clear, has left her with this endearing quality a tangible innocence. Yet at the same time, she had a spot-on sense of humour and a sarcasm which yeah made me fall in love with her even more!

Jenny:   Sky has never “felt” before.  She has kissed a few boys, but she has not felt anything with them…nothing.  That all changes when she meets Holder.
Dean Holder has a troubled past and a reputation and temper that precedes him.
Dean Holder……Wow! Be still my beating heart!  I LOVED this guy! He stole my heart from the outset. There is an instant attraction between these two but it’s not just an attraction – it’s something deeper, something instant, a connection.  They both feel it and the chemistry between these two was palpable.  You absolutely felt their connection and you immediately neeed to know why Holder especially is so drawn to Sky.
Sky is wary of her feelings for Holder but she confides in him.  In Holder she sees something, she begins to open up to him and express her feelings of “nothing” -.
Holder assures her that with him she will “feel” –   “the moment my lips touch yours, it will be your first kiss. Because if you’ve never felt anything when someone’s kissed you, then no one’s ever really kissed you.  Not the way I plan on kissing you” – and how true this was! Not only did Sky feel that first kiss but I swear I did too GG!

Gitte:  If anyone could make Sky feel again it had to be Holder. Seriously Jenny, what can I say about Holder. He was pretty damn perfect! I LOVE this guy. He was perfectly imperfect!! And yeah Jenny I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand up because I felt it too!

Jenny:  I felt exactly the same GG!  To watch the relationship between Sky and Holder develop and flourish was something I devoured! These characters entered my heart….they nestled deep down in it and have found a place there forever.

The intimacy these two shared could be felt, with every word, with every touch and with every breath you feel it.  This author really does have a way of bringing her characters to life and in this story, they are brought to life so realistically that at times I actually found myself clutching my heart.  You really do care what happens to these characters.

‘She had me at, “completely and comfortably numb.”

Gitte:  This is where I have to bring the intensity up again. This Author just has this amazing talent that completely draws a reader in. Her words have a hard impact yet they soothe too; making each established word count in a way that it gets absorbed and doesn’t leave, instead burrowing itself into the heart of the reader thereby creating a scene, an atmosphere, a picture, a feeling, a memory a smell even a perception or judgement.

The characters in this story…I loved them. Both of them. Their story… was beyond heartbreaking, amazing, touching, beautiful and emotional even funny at times. Hopeless is without doubt one of the best books I have read this year. What an amazingly talented Author Colleen Hoover is, Sky and Holder will always have a piece of my heart!

Jenny:   Couldn’t agree more GG.  This is definitely going to be up there as one of my best reads for this year that’s for sure! As each piece of the story was peeled away and their pasts revisited, my heart broke one piece at a time.  It initially broke for Sky but in the end it shattered for both of them.

There were twists and turns all through this book and the reveal crushed me.  The way it was handled amazed me.  The ending satisfied me.  It all felt so real, and I felt I was there with them at the moment for every moment.  My interest, concern and love for these characters never wavered and I felt every emotion they felt.

There is the perfect blend of light and dark in this book so you don’t feel weighed under with sadness but you do feel sad, you do feel the hopelessness and the hopefulness of Sky and Holder.  Just as it becomes too much and you think you won’t recover, the author injects humour and warmth and brings you back from the brink.  It was perfectly crafted, wonderfully told and Hopeless forever has a special place in my heart.

J&G:  This book is a departure from Slammed and Point of Retreat and we’re so glad this author took the plunge and wrote this story.  As readers, we love and admire any author who can break the mould and produce a story that surprises us and gives us something different and that’s exactly what happened with Hopeless.  Don’t’ got into this thinking it’s a carbon copy of her previous books.  It isn’t, and it is for this reason that this book so excited us.
Colleen Hoover is one storyteller who we feel could write just about anything and it would be captivating.

“When I touch you, I’m touching you because I want to make you happy. When I kiss you, I’m kissing you because you have the most incredible mouth I’ve ever seen and you know I can’t not kiss it. And when I make love to you—I’m doing exactly that. I’m making love to you because I’m in love with you.”