Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

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.

Hopeless is split roughly into two halves, and I can't talk about the second half without giving everything away! Therefore, this review may be a little sparse but I'll do my best! It tells of Sky, a teen with issues, one of which being abandonment as she's adopted. The other being that she can't feel anything when she makes out with guys. Even though Sky was pretty weird, I liked her right off. She might have issues but she was funny and had great relationships with her mum and best friend. But yeah, issues. I'm not going into them, because they'd ruin the whole book. 

Even before the terrible truth is found out, you can tell that Sky is troubled. She is emotionally distant and sarcastic; of course, she has every reason to be. Ah, no spoilers! All I'm going to say is that it is heart-wrenching, and if I didn't like and sympathise with Sky before, I definitely did now! About half way through the book, there's a moment between Sky and Holder getting, let's say intimate, and Sky freaks out. I had a horrible feeling then that I knew what the bad secret was, and I didn't want to be right!

On to the love interest. Holder was very odd when you first meet him. I could not get over his hot and cold attitude, the way he was so very sweet then flipped out over seemingly nothing. On some level, I could sort of understand that he was super-protective, but on the other I wanted Sky to slap him upside the head for acting so stupidly. But, he had his moments. As it turns out, Holder knew some of the truth of Sky's past and is a fantastic help when Sky needs him most. That made me really love him.

Yeah, I knew this review would be short! I'm aware I haven't said much but I couldn't ruin it for anyone. I will say that it is a very touching love story that deals with sensitive issues. Although the terrible truth made me feel sick, I loved the story, and how Sky deals with everything was incredibly brave. 

Published 19th December 2012.