Review: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Paperback, 327 pages
Published December 2012
Book #1 in the Hopeless series

I just finished this book--and let me just say, this may seem like an exaggeration, but it's not...I have never been more in love with a character in a book in my entire life than I am with Dean Holder right now.

He's perfect. Just perfect. There's nothing left to even say. But for those of you who don't know anything about this book (and if that's the case, shame on you!), here's a quick catch-up:

"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."

This book was SO GOOD. I found myself drawn to it and absorbed by it--I wasted an entire day (well, I wouldn't say wasted) sitting and reading this book because every time I put it down, I could not get myself to turn away. The way that Holder is so sweet, caring and passionate about Sky shows what a wonderful guy he is, even when Sky is being pretty melodramatic and even when she's in a bad mood.

He's a guy like no other. He actually understands. 

Okay, enough about Holder and more about the book. There are a couple of spoiler alerts (okay, maybe a lot), so you have been warned.

Sky had been abused by her father, and then abducted by a stranger (slash her mother slash her biological aunt, who had also been abused by her father). I kind of suspected this when Karen (Sky's "mother") had such a strict no technology rule and acted pretty weird around Holder, when she'd usually been pretty relaxed when it came to Sky's past boyfriends. It raised a bit of a red flag.

But as the drama unfolded, the book totally captivated me and I loved it so, so much. Even in the end, Sky's ultimate decision of what to do to Karen once she finds out the truth (which I will be kind enough not to post on here, so I don't spoil it for anyone) is a pretty brave one. I'm not even sure that I could do something like that after I found out all of the things that I did.

I definitely can't wait to get my hands on Losing Hope, which is the second book in the series. Did I mention that it's written in Holder's point of view?! EEEP!