Review: Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) – Colleen Hoover

Holder has been through a lot of  heartache, and he doesn't always deal with it very well. When his twin-sister Les takes her own life, Holder feels as if the best part of him died, too. Dealing with his grief, and listening to the rumor-mill at high-school makes him lose it, and after beating up a guy in school Holder is sent to his dad in Austin for a year before he comes back home

One of his first days home, he sees this girl in the supermarket, she looks so much like Hope he runs after her to find out who she is. Racked with guilt for thirteen years, Holder needs someone who understands him, and who can help him heal.

*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.

Colleen Hoover has another masterpiece with Losing Hope. All the while showing the readers Holder’s inner thoughts and sharing some of the same moments that we know from Hopeless, there are things happening both before and after the narrative of Hopeless, and there are things Holder did that Sky never knew about, so there was a lot of new material as well. We also learn a lot more about Holder’s feelings about Les’ suicide, and there was a lot of heartbreak involved in that. Holder feels responsible both for Hope’s disappearance and Les’ final act, and the guilt he carries around must be so heavy it is strange that  he can move at all. It is important to realize that Losing Hope is not simply a re-telling from a different point of view. But the scenes that I did read about in Hopeless that are from Holder’s point of view in this story are so well done, and the voice of Holder’s character is very different from the voice of Sky’s character.

Losing Hope is not all bleak and sad, though, there is a beautiful love story, some excellent humor, and Holder trying to redeem himself in his own eyes. Seeing what Holder was thinking, while knowing how Sky had lived through it made me understand him so much better – and if I loved him before, now I adore him! He has a beautiful mind, and I really loved what he was writing in his notebook. The way he laid his heart bare and shared everything because he knew nobody else would read it was awesome. And it also made me cry. More than once. But it really was a great way for him to work through his grief, and to come to terms with Les’ choice to end her life.

The writing is, as always, excellent. Colleen Hoover has a certain way with words, and the way she spins her story makes me keep on reading forever. I love the character building, even cocky Daniel was excellent, and his antics made for some much needed comic relief. I also loved to see how Breckin and Holder got to know each other better, and that since they both wanted what was best for Sky, they became friends even if they might have never met if it wasn’t for her. I also really loved Holder’s interactions with his mother, especially towards the end, when he understood the whole scope of why Les had felt that there was really nothing in her life worth living for. I think it gave both Holder and his mom the much needed forgiveness they needed – from themselves.

I highly recommend Losing Hope to all readers! Even with the sad and heavy that is a part of the narrative, the beauty and the love shines through as well. It is the kind of book that might very well become a classic because all of the layers of the story are close to perfection.

I have no idea why you flashed fake smiles, but cried real tears.

Maybe that was my problem. Maybe I spent so much time trying to protect you from Grayson that I never thought who I really needed to be protecting you from was yourself.

Willingly taking a dive headfirst into the unknown takes some serious courage.

The amount of drama I’ve witnessed today is comical, really. Everyone I pass, even people I’ve been friends with for years, all seem to think if they don’t quietly watch my every move, they might miss the moment that I completely break down and lose it.

I don’t like the fact that I don’t want her to believe the rumors about me. I don’t give a shit when anyone else believes them. Why do I give a shit if she believes them?

I can’t even explain to you how perfect this girl is. And when I say perfect, I mean imperfect, because there’s just so much wrong with her. But everything wrong with her is everything that draws me in and makes her perfect.

Every time she speaks, the sucker-punch in my chest reminds me that there’s still something there.

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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