Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - 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

_kayreads_'s review against another edition

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sad fast-paced

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

0.25

I didnt like this book. It was depressing and sad.

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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. 🙃

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a_alves00's review

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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

shaykay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It's been a little while since I picked up a Colleen Hoover book, and I ended up picking this one up this month as my final Likewise book for my experiment, and I had high hopes for it. This book was suspenseful because of what we learned about Sky. So it was like this high school romance between Holder and Sky, but Sky has had an interesting past. The book is written from Sky's point of view and is kind of like a journal with entries in it. I like the reveals that happened in this book, but I'm just kind of past the whole high school thing. If I had read it in high school or right after it, I think I would've enjoyed it a little bit more, but I'm just so burnt out on high school romances. But I will say this one did have some really interesting twists, and I appreciated it not being the run-of-the-mill high school romance. I don't want to pick up the sequel, but I want to read all of Hoover's books, so I'll end up reading them. I just don't know when I'll get to it since next month I plan on reading only thriller/horror books

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