Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover - 5+++ Holder-iffic stars! (Review)

    

Book summary: 
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.

My Review:

As most of you know, this book is Hopeless told from Holder's POV. I absolutely LOVED Hopeless. In my opinion, it was superior to Slammed - I also realize I'm in the minority here. Everything about Hopeless had me sucked in like a black hole in space. The story was heartbreaking but also beautiful. So of course I was dying to see it from the male's POV. I believe I have said it before, but I ALWAYS enjoy the guy's side a little more. So I have to thank Colleen Hoover for writing this book because everything I thought I felt in Hopeless is amplified by 390287645 in Losing Hope.

Losing Hope starts off in quite the heartbreaking manner. We get more of a back story into what made Holder who he was when he met Sky/Hope again. Reliving his experiences is even more emotional than anything we read in Hopeless. Even though we're led to believe this is the same story, it really isn't. There is so much more than we ever knew and I'm so blown away by this book. I loved getting into Holder's head and learning what made him tick. All those moments we had to guess at what he was thinking are now answered. I have to applaud Colleen because I wasn't sure this could be better than Hopeless. Whatever you thought you knew and felt about him before is nothing. If you loved him before, you will fall in live with him all over again. I guarantee it.



Some of my favorite things:

1. The notebook - Holy heart clenches! There were so many entries that had me crying. Amazingly powerful.
2. The humor. Daniel is by far one of the funniest characters! I absolutely LOL'd at his names for everyone. Not to mention his "performance" in the cafeteria. It definitely made some of the depressing aspects easier to swallow.
3. Getting the rest of the story. We missed out on so much when we read from Sky's POV. Things that seemed douchey at the time are explained. You will fully appreciate every decision he made.
4. Watching him fall in love. Oh, Holder! This book catapulted him into top 10 BBF status. He always manages to say the perfect things exactly when they're needed. One of my favorite lines from the book came from him:

"I wonder if it's possible for people to fall in love with a person one characteristic at a time, or if you fall for the entire person at once."

And then to have them list each item as he fell in love with it... *sigh*



Losing Hope is now one of my favorite books I have read this year. Colleen Hoover has truly outdone herself with this one. I literally started reading and found myself taking breaks just to prolong its greatness. You realize early on that this one is special. Losing Hope is a little bit of perfection. I adored it and would rate it 10 stars!