The story was heartbreaking
question: Is this book about pain and suffering?, context: If there is one author on this planet that doesn't get enough credit for her genius, it is Colleen Hoover. With every book she has published, I swear she can't possibly get any better, could not possibly top herself. And yet she does. Every. Single. Book. is better than the last. And that says a lot considering her first book was Slammed. I mean, seriously?? How does she do it? I am in complete awe. I say it every time, I know I do, but my admiration and respect of this author has reached New heights.Hopeless was a phenomenal book. The story was heartbreaking... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me. The love story between Sky and Holder was a beautiful one, undeniably so. But Losing Hope just took all my love for this story and multiplied it exponentially.First off, we met Dean Holder again but we get to know him in a whole new way. A way that makes me love him even more than I thought I already had. His telling of his sister's suicide was possibly the most heart wrenching depiction of a suicide I've ever read. Suicide is always tragic, of course... But unless you've lived through that kind of personal loss, I think we take the depth of this kind of tragedy for granted. Well Colleen Hoover takes you there. Dean's story shredded me. I found the entire story line surrounding Les... Her childhood, her utter hopelessness, her subsequent death... I found it almost more heart breaking than Sky's story. It just struck a chord with me this time around that I will never get over. Colleen Hoover really nails you in the gut with Les' suicide, it's agonizing to think of what lead Les to this place of feeling absolutely nothing anymore and her willingness to give it all up. I could taste Dean's feeling of hopelessness, of second guessing everything he could have said or done differently to save his sister from something that seems so preventable but in reality, was near impossible to save her from. I felt every ounce of anger he felt toward her about what she left behind, his anger toward her for what he and her family were left to deal with, the pain that never went away. And the letters... the letters made me laugh, cry, get angry... they were perfect. They kept Les alive in her absence, they created this amazing dynamic within the story that would have been virtually impossible to achieve any other way. We got to know Les, we grew to know the relationship between the siblings through these letters, we felt the range of Dean's emotions through his writing. It was just a perfect element that added so much to this book.Getting to relive the love story between Sky and Dean again was an amazing thing... But there's just something magical about getting it all from Dean's point of view. All those blanks filled in, all those stones unturned. You just get the whole package with a sequel from the other partner's perspective and it really gives you completion and satisfaction and closure that the love you know Sky felt for Dean is reciprocated tenfold. But knowing what Dean felt for Sky, what he felt for Hope, and knowing the pain he had lived with for years in between literally stole my breath away. It's a miracle this guy came out of all that he endured... all that he carried on his shoulders since he was practically a toddler, really. Yes, Hope disappeared when they were five. But he was her rock for years before that, just holding the pinky of the sad little girl next door. And with Losing Hope, you're treated to this amazing miracle of how he felt finding her again and how truly miraculous it is that his love for Hope and his love for Sky were both independent from each other, but yet undeniably connected. It's as if no matter where Hope went, had she never even gone anywhere, or whether or not Hope did or didn't end up as Sky, Dean Holder was meant to love her.This story is so layered. I'm still sitting here trying to get my chin off the floor as I go over and over the web that Colleen Hoover has woven with this book. The links between these characters, no matter how separated they thought they had become, how lost they believed they were to each other... their lives were so tied up in each other. Aside from the obvious, that Dean and Sky lived within miles of each other without ever knowing so, so much about how severely their lives overlapped, how one's decisions and choices and actions effected the others without ever consciously knowing it... it's absolutely awe inspiring to think about what Ms Hoover created here. Brilliant is really the only word I can use and I still don't believe that does the book justice. You live this book.I think too often an author attempts to retell a story from the male perspective and it becomes a story of cut and paste. You come out of it feeling like you just reread a story you already knew. This book is like reading an entirely different story. You think you know this story, you think you know the plot because you read Hopeless... You believe you know these characters and their story of how it began, how it ended and everything in between. But here's a bomb... You know nothing. You know nothing until the very last page of Losing Hope, when you finally have all the pieces, the completed puzzle... You have closure, you find peace with this story. You learn forgiveness in this book, you regain hope. This book is amazing. This book is a masterpiece of epic proportions. 
Is this book about pain and suffering?
The story was heartbreaking ... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me.
If there is one author on this planet that doesn't get enough credit for her genius, it is Colleen Hoover. With every book she has published, I swear she can't possibly get any better, could not possibly top herself. And yet she does. Every. Single. Book. is better than the last. And that says a lot considering her first book was Slammed. I mean, seriously?? How does she do it? I am in complete awe. I say it every time, I know I do, but my admiration and respect of this author has reached New heights.Hopeless was a phenomenal book. The story was heartbreaking... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me. The love story between Sky and Holder was a beautiful one, undeniably so. But Losing Hope just took all my love for this story and multiplied it exponentially.First off, we met Dean Holder again but we get to know him in a whole new way. A way that makes me love him even more than I thought I already had. His telling of his sister's suicide was possibly the most heart wrenching depiction of a suicide I've ever read. Suicide is always tragic, of course... But unless you've lived through that kind of personal loss, I think we take the depth of this kind of tragedy for granted. Well Colleen Hoover takes you there. Dean's story shredded me. I found the entire story line surrounding Les... Her childhood, her utter hopelessness, her subsequent death... I found it almost more heart breaking than Sky's story. It just struck a chord with me this time around that I will never get over. Colleen Hoover really nails you in the gut with Les' suicide, it's agonizing to think of what lead Les to this place of feeling absolutely nothing anymore and her willingness to give it all up. I could taste Dean's feeling of hopelessness, of second guessing everything he could have said or done differently to save his sister from something that seems so preventable but in reality, was near impossible to save her from. I felt every ounce of anger he felt toward her about what she left behind, his anger toward her for what he and her family were left to deal with, the pain that never went away. And the letters... the letters made me laugh, cry, get angry... they were perfect. They kept Les alive in her absence, they created this amazing dynamic within the story that would have been virtually impossible to achieve any other way. We got to know Les, we grew to know the relationship between the siblings through these letters, we felt the range of Dean's emotions through his writing. It was just a perfect element that added so much to this book.Getting to relive the love story between Sky and Dean again was an amazing thing... But there's just something magical about getting it all from Dean's point of view. All those blanks filled in, all those stones unturned. You just get the whole package with a sequel from the other partner's perspective and it really gives you completion and satisfaction and closure that the love you know Sky felt for Dean is reciprocated tenfold. But knowing what Dean felt for Sky, what he felt for Hope, and knowing the pain he had lived with for years in between literally stole my breath away. It's a miracle this guy came out of all that he endured... all that he carried on his shoulders since he was practically a toddler, really. Yes, Hope disappeared when they were five. But he was her rock for years before that, just holding the pinky of the sad little girl next door. And with Losing Hope, you're treated to this amazing miracle of how he felt finding her again and how truly miraculous it is that his love for Hope and his love for Sky were both independent from each other, but yet undeniably connected. It's as if no matter where Hope went, had she never even gone anywhere, or whether or not Hope did or didn't end up as Sky, Dean Holder was meant to love her.This story is so layered. I'm still sitting here trying to get my chin off the floor as I go over and over the web that Colleen Hoover has woven with this book. The links between these characters, no matter how separated they thought they had become, how lost they believed they were to each other... their lives were so tied up in each other. Aside from the obvious, that Dean and Sky lived within miles of each other without ever knowing so, so much about how severely their lives overlapped, how one's decisions and choices and actions effected the others without ever consciously knowing it... it's absolutely awe inspiring to think about what Ms Hoover created here. Brilliant is really the only word I can use and I still don't believe that does the book justice. You live this book.I think too often an author attempts to retell a story from the male perspective and it becomes a story of cut and paste. You come out of it feeling like you just reread a story you already knew. This book is like reading an entirely different story. You think you know this story, you think you know the plot because you read Hopeless... You believe you know these characters and their story of how it began, how it ended and everything in between. But here's a bomb... You know nothing. You know nothing until the very last page of Losing Hope, when you finally have all the pieces, the completed puzzle... You have closure, you find peace with this story. You learn forgiveness in this book, you regain hope. This book is amazing. This book is a masterpiece of epic proportions. 
<hl> The story was heartbreaking <hl> ... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me.
If there is one author on this planet that doesn't get enough credit for her genius, it is Colleen Hoover. With every book she has published, I swear she can't possibly get any better, could not possibly top herself. And yet she does. Every. Single. Book. is better than the last. And that says a lot considering her first book was Slammed. I mean, seriously?? How does she do it? I am in complete awe. I say it every time, I know I do, but my admiration and respect of this author has reached New heights.Hopeless was a phenomenal book. <hl> The story was heartbreaking <hl>... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me. The love story between Sky and Holder was a beautiful one, undeniably so. But Losing Hope just took all my love for this story and multiplied it exponentially.First off, we met Dean Holder again but we get to know him in a whole new way. A way that makes me love him even more than I thought I already had. His telling of his sister's suicide was possibly the most heart wrenching depiction of a suicide I've ever read. Suicide is always tragic, of course... But unless you've lived through that kind of personal loss, I think we take the depth of this kind of tragedy for granted. Well Colleen Hoover takes you there. Dean's story shredded me. I found the entire story line surrounding Les... Her childhood, her utter hopelessness, her subsequent death... I found it almost more heart breaking than Sky's story. It just struck a chord with me this time around that I will never get over. Colleen Hoover really nails you in the gut with Les' suicide, it's agonizing to think of what lead Les to this place of feeling absolutely nothing anymore and her willingness to give it all up. I could taste Dean's feeling of hopelessness, of second guessing everything he could have said or done differently to save his sister from something that seems so preventable but in reality, was near impossible to save her from. I felt every ounce of anger he felt toward her about what she left behind, his anger toward her for what he and her family were left to deal with, the pain that never went away. And the letters... the letters made me laugh, cry, get angry... they were perfect. They kept Les alive in her absence, they created this amazing dynamic within the story that would have been virtually impossible to achieve any other way. We got to know Les, we grew to know the relationship between the siblings through these letters, we felt the range of Dean's emotions through his writing. It was just a perfect element that added so much to this book.Getting to relive the love story between Sky and Dean again was an amazing thing... But there's just something magical about getting it all from Dean's point of view. All those blanks filled in, all those stones unturned. You just get the whole package with a sequel from the other partner's perspective and it really gives you completion and satisfaction and closure that the love you know Sky felt for Dean is reciprocated tenfold. But knowing what Dean felt for Sky, what he felt for Hope, and knowing the pain he had lived with for years in between literally stole my breath away. It's a miracle this guy came out of all that he endured... all that he carried on his shoulders since he was practically a toddler, really. Yes, Hope disappeared when they were five. But he was her rock for years before that, just holding the pinky of the sad little girl next door. And with Losing Hope, you're treated to this amazing miracle of how he felt finding her again and how truly miraculous it is that his love for Hope and his love for Sky were both independent from each other, but yet undeniably connected. It's as if no matter where Hope went, had she never even gone anywhere, or whether or not Hope did or didn't end up as Sky, Dean Holder was meant to love her.This story is so layered. I'm still sitting here trying to get my chin off the floor as I go over and over the web that Colleen Hoover has woven with this book. The links between these characters, no matter how separated they thought they had become, how lost they believed they were to each other... their lives were so tied up in each other. Aside from the obvious, that Dean and Sky lived within miles of each other without ever knowing so, so much about how severely their lives overlapped, how one's decisions and choices and actions effected the others without ever consciously knowing it... it's absolutely awe inspiring to think about what Ms Hoover created here. Brilliant is really the only word I can use and I still don't believe that does the book justice. You live this book.I think too often an author attempts to retell a story from the male perspective and it becomes a story of cut and paste. You come out of it feeling like you just reread a story you already knew. This book is like reading an entirely different story. You think you know this story, you think you know the plot because you read Hopeless... You believe you know these characters and their story of how it began, how it ended and everything in between. But here's a bomb... You know nothing. You know nothing until the very last page of Losing Hope, when you finally have all the pieces, the completed puzzle... You have closure, you find peace with this story. You learn forgiveness in this book, you regain hope. This book is amazing. This book is a masterpiece of epic proportions. 
If there is one author on this planet that doesn't get enough credit for her genius, it is Colleen Hoover. With every book she has published, I swear she can't possibly get any better, could not possibly top herself. And yet she does. Every. Single. Book. is better than the last. And that says a lot considering her first book was Slammed. I mean, seriously?? How does she do it? I am in complete awe. I say it every time, I know I do, but my admiration and respect of this author has reached New heights. Hopeless was a phenomenal book. <hl> The story was heartbreaking ... the story of Hope/Sky and her life literally broke me. <hl> The love story between Sky and Holder was a beautiful one, undeniably so. But Losing Hope just took all my love for this story and multiplied it exponentially. First off, we met Dean Holder again but we get to know him in a whole new way. A way that makes me love him even more than I thought I already had. His telling of his sister's suicide was possibly the most heart wrenching depiction of a suicide I've ever read. Suicide is always tragic, of course... But unless you've lived through that kind of personal loss, I think we take the depth of this kind of tragedy for granted. Well Colleen Hoover takes you there. Dean's story shredded me. I found the entire story line surrounding Les... Her childhood, her utter hopelessness, her subsequent death... I found it almost more heart breaking than Sky's story. It just struck a chord with me this time around that I will never get over. Colleen Hoover really nails you in the gut with Les' suicide, it's agonizing to think of what lead Les to this place of feeling absolutely nothing anymore and her willingness to give it all up. I could taste Dean's feeling of hopelessness, of second guessing everything he could have said or done differently to save his sister from something that seems so preventable but in reality, was near impossible to save her from. I felt every ounce of anger he felt toward her about what she left behind, his anger toward her for what he and her family were left to deal with, the pain that never went away. And the letters... the letters made me laugh, cry, get angry... they were perfect. They kept Les alive in her absence, they created this amazing dynamic within the story that would have been virtually impossible to achieve any other way. We got to know Les, we grew to know the relationship between the siblings through these letters, we felt the range of Dean's emotions through his writing. It was just a perfect element that added so much to this book. Getting to relive the love story between Sky and Dean again was an amazing thing... But there's just something magical about getting it all from Dean's point of view. All those blanks filled in, all those stones unturned. You just get the whole package with a sequel from the other partner's perspective and it really gives you completion and satisfaction and closure that the love you know Sky felt for Dean is reciprocated tenfold. But knowing what Dean felt for Sky, what he felt for Hope, and knowing the pain he had lived with for years in between literally stole my breath away. It's a miracle this guy came out of all that he endured... all that he carried on his shoulders since he was practically a toddler, really. Yes, Hope disappeared when they were five. But he was her rock for years before that, just holding the pinky of the sad little girl next door. And with Losing Hope, you're treated to this amazing miracle of how he felt finding her again and how truly miraculous it is that his love for Hope and his love for Sky were both independent from each other, but yet undeniably connected. It's as if no matter where Hope went, had she never even gone anywhere, or whether or not Hope did or didn't end up as Sky, Dean Holder was meant to love her. This story is so layered. I'm still sitting here trying to get my chin off the floor as I go over and over the web that Colleen Hoover has woven with this book. The links between these characters, no matter how separated they thought they had become, how lost they believed they were to each other... their lives were so tied up in each other. Aside from the obvious, that Dean and Sky lived within miles of each other without ever knowing so, so much about how severely their lives overlapped, how one's decisions and choices and actions effected the others without ever consciously knowing it... it's absolutely awe inspiring to think about what Ms Hoover created here. Brilliant is really the only word I can use and I still don't believe that does the book justice. You live this book. I think too often an author attempts to retell a story from the male perspective and it becomes a story of cut and paste. You come out of it feeling like you just reread a story you already knew. This book is like reading an entirely different story. You think you know this story, you think you know the plot because you read Hopeless... You believe you know these characters and their story of how it began, how it ended and everything in between. But here's a bomb... You know nothing. You know nothing until the very last page of Losing Hope, when you finally have all the pieces, the completed puzzle... You have closure, you find peace with this story. You learn forgiveness in this book, you regain hope. This book is amazing. This book is a masterpiece of epic proportions.