Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Hopeless

DO NOT READ OF YOU HAVEN'T READ HOPELESS! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

OMG!!! This book was so good, and did not disappoint. Although I will admit the first half of the book felt a little slow then it the middle it started to pick up and we found out what happened to Sky.

Hopeless - Hope and Les (Lesslie)
Wow, I knew the title probably meant something but I loved that those two names were used.
And the fact that Holder had that word tattooed on his arm.

I guessed half the plot twist because I saw some spoilers on Tik Tok but I was shocked at how much I didn't guess. I knew that Sky's dad raped her when she was little but I couldn't believe that he also raped his sister (Karen), and Lesslie. And he gave the excuse that he couldn't control himself when he was drunk, which is a very dumb excuse.

The other part was that Karen "kidnapped" Sky because she knew what her dad was doing to her. BECAUSE the same thing happened to her, and he was the one who did it because he is her brother :(
I was mad at Karen at first when Sky found out what she did. But I was so relieved and happy and sad when I found out why she did what she did. She saved Sky, even though she hurt Lesslie and Dean, she saved Sky from the abuse she was enduring. And I could not be mad at all for what she did, because that was really brave.

I loved Dean so much, he was so selfless when it came to Sky because he just loved her so much. And it made me so sad that he blamed himself for Sky being kidnapped, even though he was only 6 years old. Oh, and his love language is physical touch :) Can't wait to read his book and find out what he was thinking the whole time. Also I think I'll find out a lot more about Lesslie in his book.

Also I wonder what Six will think of all of this, because Sky didn't tell her anything. Maybe I'll find out in her novella.

And I don't even know how All Your Perfects could connect to his book. If I had to guess it would have something to do with Karen. Like she's friends with Quinn or something.

Content Warnings

katelynmill2's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Look up trigger warnings.

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

lacowie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

tishara's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

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