Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Hopeless

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I think this one of the better Colleen Hoover books I’ve read but it didn’t sweep me off my feet the way some of her other books have. It was sad at times, but I didn’t cry (even though I sure wanted to and at times I had a couple tears working their way up). I think the main reason it’s not a 5 star read for me is because it was just kinda.. predictable? I kind of knew a lot of the big “reveals” because of the foreshadowing. For example,

Spoiler

Sky doesn’t really ever want sex and disassociates when men kiss and touch her. Was definitely a red flag and confirmed my later suspicions. In the first flashback chapter, it says how as a child she was afraid of the doorknob turning at night. I put two and two together.

The first third of the book is spent building up Sky’s life and watching her make friends with Breckin and Holder. But once things speed up, Breckin and Six aren’t mentioned again until the last like 40 pages (this is a 406 page book, btw).

There were some problematic things in this book, like how Holder (and Sky) didn’t like crying because it was weak. I know this is realistic and toxic masculinity and all that but I just felt like it was such a useless theme to hold onto throughout the book (especially when both of the main characters went through a lot and really needed to feel their emotions.) It felt like it was used to connect the characters, too. Like Sky would try not to cry and then Holder would be like “it’s ok to be weak in front of me.”

Not to mention how Holder practically demanded she get on birth control and Sky had nothing more to say than “ok, I’ll get on it but you could ask nicely?”

Some people think this book felt far fetched but I didn’t. Things like this happen all the time in real life, as sad as it is to say.

However, I did really love the themes in this book. The idea that three people can experience the same thing and react in completely different ways (and I appreciated how none of the ways were judged.) I also loved how it indirectly talked about having an inner child, and how your experiences don’t define you, the way you react does. I liked how it talked about still finding the courage to smile even after everything you’ve been through and how important it is.

I think it’s hard to read about but I think it a real look on trauma and the many ways someone can handle trauma. It alludes to PTSD and disassociating, even though those two things are never specifically named.

Overall, I really did like this book and I actually do love the main characters, regardless of the fact that it doesn’t seem like I do.

Content Warnings

readsbyhope's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

hiraeth_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

i don't even know where to start with this book. one thing is sure and that is that i need a break from colleen hoover books, i can't do it anymore.

i honestly don't even want to go into it because it's mostly the usual stuff wrong with her books - problematic display of relationships and mental illnesses, toxic masculinity, token non-straight characters, her trying to be funny but failing, the mc being not like other girls etc. i know it's one of her earlier works but it's honestly scary how she hasn't changed/learned from some things. and can you imagine this being marketed as a young adult novel?? with very triggering sexual content, abuse, suicide etc.?? reading this was a roller coaster of being weirded out, cringing, rolling my eyes and just getting angry. especially the last quarter is just pure trauma porn and i almost dnf'ed it. wtf colleen.

do not recommend. 🙃

Content Warnings

a_alves00's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

xlaraxk's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

I wanted to read one of Colleen Hoover's book to see what the hype is all about. Unfortunately, I really cannot understand why people would want to read this. This book has just so many issues and was just not sexy or romantic at any point.

The writing: The writing in this book was so bland. Nothing about it was clever or original or showed linguistic talent. Any AO3 or Wattpad writer could do better than this. CoHo really tries to hammer the youthfulness of the characters home by constantly using the phrase "xy sucks ass", "this sucks ass", "he sucks ass" etc. To introduce direct speech she constantly uses "he/she says" so it gets repetitive easily. The comparisons she makes are also strange and could even be considered offensive (e.g." He looked at me like I just said I have a penis"). All in all, the writing was not the worst thing I ever read but just straight up boring - something you will have read a hundred times by now.

The characters: Again, just bland. I could not tell you anything about the main character Sky or Holder in regards to their personality. They all have one character trait only - Holder is "misunderstood", Sky likes to read and that's about it. I do not even understand why they liked each other in the first place

Spoiler

apart from knowing each other from childhood

. Her mum's only distinctive traits is that she's a vegan and that she does not like technology, nothing more.

The problematic aspects: Oh, there are so many.

This book depicts queer, especially gay people, so stereotypically. Colleen Hoover wants to tell us how much of an ally both Holder and Sky are yet to fail to see Sky's friend as anything more than his personality. We've all seen some rendition of "the extroverted quirky gay best friend" in a book or a film - again, nothing original about it. I'm really sick of seeing this stereotype being brought up over and over again.
Sky has so much internalised misogyny. Her only issue seems to constantly tell the read that she, in fact, is not a slut. The "slut" topic plays a big part in the beginning of the book and then weirdly is never brought up again later. But in any case, she tries to "not be like other girls" by calling other girls either a slut, stupid or manipulative.
Holder does not know about consent. There are some scenes where Sky is clearly uncomfortable with their physical intimacy (at one point she even tells him no "forcefully") but he keeps on pressuring her. He's emotionally manipulative and that's not romantic or cute in any way.
Just the plot in general. There is some serious trauma going on but it is "fixed" by a romantic relationship. That's just not what you should convey to a young audience. If you really want to read this book, please make sure to take a look at the trigger warnings.

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