Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Pages: 391
Rating: 5 out of 5
From Goodreads:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…

That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.

Recommended for readers 17+ due to sexual content, harsh language and heavy subject matter.
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Let me start off by saying this is NOT a YA novel. It's a +17 novel[As stated above in the blurb]. Colleen Hoover has said this herself, and I just want to be sure that I stress that this novel may not be appropriate for all our readers. Also, this review may contain a few bad words.

“The things that knock you down in life are tests, forcing you to make a choice between giving in and remaining on the ground or wiping the dirt off and standing up even taller than you did before you were knocked down.”

When you've read a book and it becomes one of your favorites you will probably expect a lot from that author in the future. That's how I feel about Colleen Hoover. I absolutely loved Slammed and Point of Retreat, so I had very high expectations for Hopeless. I was not let down. Hopeless was just as amazing as her previous books. What starts off as somewhat of a typical story, a new girl in a new school where most everyone is cruel to her meets a sexy boy with a lot going on inside, turned into a beautiful winding journey that is definitely not what it seems to be. I got so lost in the pages that I couldn't pull myself away.

It's very hard to write a review for this book without giving anything away, but I promise no spoilers.

I'm very hard to surprise. I usually see the twists before they're coming, or I have a pretty good sense of what will happen when I'm reading. I did not see the twists coming in this book. When one particular secret was revealed I yelled, “What the fuck!” in the break room at work. I was sitting there with a half ignored sandwich, mouth hanging open, in utter and complete shock. I'm sure most readers can agree that it's hard to pull off a great twist. Colleen has done it with Hopeless.

The characters were great. Sky is witty as hell, and I love that. Her ignorance to all things technology was hilarious, especially in an age where most every teen has a cell phone glued to their hands every waking minute. The thing I liked most about Sky was her strength and resilience. Much like the quote above[which is from Sky], she always gets back up when she's knocked down.

Breckin, who's name I am in love with, had me at “If it isn't the whore of Babylon.” He is the comic relief of the book. And a lot of times it is needed. I wanted him to be my very bestest gay Mormon friend.

Dean Holder... I feel like I need a million ellipses after his name, just so I can continue to dwell on my love for him. There is not enough time to list all the things that made him so damn special. But I am going to try. He's intense in the best fucking way. Like burn a hole through you with a look intense. He's a gentleman. Seriously, he is. He's funny. He's sexy. He has dimples[who doesn't love those?]. He's not afraid to say what he's feeling, and that's the sexiest thing of all.

“You can't get mad at a real ending. Some of them are ugly. It's the fake happily ever afters that should piss you off.”

Colleen made me laugh, cry, scream, go into shock, cry more, and live with her story. And I can honestly say that this is the best book I've read all year. Don't wait another moment to read it.

-Kait[Vixen1]