Losing Hope by Colleen Hoover

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.
An engaging read with a realistic male POV—LOSING HOPE is another win for Hoover.

Holder's POV. That what it's all about, peeps. Holder's side of all the crazy events from HOPELESS, as well as extras from his childhood, the years in between, and the sweetest part of all—his letters to his sister Les that are threaded throughout in "handwritten" sections, which I thought was an absolutely perfect touch and a very clever idea from Hoover.

During HOPELESS, you'd have been forgiven for being slightly weirded out by Holder and his often confusing, and sometimes disturbing, behaviour. I know I was. He seemed to blow hot and cold without warning, and perhaps even had a little anger management problem sprinkled on the top. But that was before we knew about the thing. You know, the thing? Of course you do. Now that we do know about the thing, those exact same scenes as seen here in LOSING HOPE through Holder's eyes, suddenly make a whole truck load more sense, and were very enjoyable to read. Not to mention well-written, and with a very authentic sounding "boy" voice.

The only complaint I have about LOSING HOPE is that the end chapters—which really are all about Sky's character—felt slightly choppy and rushed when told from Holder's POV. Since he was only on the periphery during much of it, he had to do a lot of summarising, which of course isn't as satisfying as living it in all its pain-filled glory like we did in HOPELESS. Still, it's only a minor quibble, and didn't really detract from the book's appeal.

So basically, if you loved HOPELESS, you're going to love LOSING HOPE—and Holder—all over again. Enjoy!

4 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.