Review: Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) by Colleen Hoover (***** A MUST READ TITLE)

Title: Losing Hope
Author: Colleen Hoover
Series: Hopeless
Book #: 2
Pages: 256
Reading Level: New Adult
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.53
T.B.Published: Jul. 8th, 2013.

In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

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.

Taschima's POV:

Losing Hope is dreamy, passionate, painful, real, and golden. Every single bit as good as Hopeless was. Losing Hope is Hopeless, only told from Holder's story. So yeah, imagine our luck! Seeing everything from his POV makes us realize a lot of things about his strange behavoir at the beginning of Hopeless where I wasn't sure if he was even stable safe for Sky to be around. And now reading from Holder's POV I can't imagine why SKY can't understand him at first! He had really good reasons to do everything he did, but I guess the misunderstandings just adds fuel to the sexual tension.

"I knew the girl who cried at night. I knew the girl who smiled in the pictures. But I didn't know the girl that linked that smile with those tears. I have no idea why you flashed fake smiles, but cried real tears. When a guy loves a girl, specially his sister, he's supposed to know what makes her smile and what makes her cry.

But I didn't. And I don't. So I'm sorry, Les."

Holder's story is told in between chapter breaks and letters he writes to his dead sister Les. Losing Hope begins the day before Les "overdoses", about a year before Hopeless. We get to witness Holder finding his sister... no brother should have to find their dead sister. It is painful, and brutal, but it doesn't even compare to when he has to tell his mother she is dead. That is devastating, a word Holder thinks should only be reserved for the feeling when mother's lose their children. Thankfully we don't have to go through the time Holder spent living with his dad, so after the Les event we skip to the day Holder returns home to his mother, and the faitful day he meets Sky on the grocery store.

I would recommend for everyone to read Hopeless before this story, because it's so great to have all the information beforehand and just see how everything unfolds from the other side. Seeing Holder's side of things is a gift from Colleeen Hoover. Not many authors would do this, and I am so grateful that she did. I thought loved Holder before I read Losing Hope, but now he has really ruined me for other fictinal men.

We also get to meet Daniel, Holder's best friend He is the bomb, even though he likes to have relationships with crazy chicks and never calls you by your first name. We also get to see the relationship between Holder and Breckin. Breckin is such a sweet kid, he really is a very good friend and deserves someone who goes to his house for his gay boy parts.

Even though I already knew the ending, and all the secrets, it still hit me hard when I re-read it. It is a gift, to make you be able to read something again and again and experience it as if it was the very first time. The ending also has some surprising information that wasn't in Hopeless regarding Les, Holder's mother, and Sky. LOVED IT.

I am hoping to the gods Colleeen Hoover has more in store for us. Maybe she could write Daniel's story, Six's or even Breckin's. Hell, write all 3!! I would definitely buy them and read them. Colleen Hoover has a talent for writing painfully beautiful stories. I've read her other series, Slammed, and it's just as good. This author will forever be in my "must read" pile.

ARC provided by publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.