Colleen Hoover is famous for writing masterpieces of contemporary romance and young adult fiction stories. The “Hopeless” series has romance, abuse, suicide and other explicit content that are only appropriate for readers above 18 years. It revolves around themes of loss, love, self-discovery and recovery.
I love books with closures and clear-cut endings where one does not have to assume what would have happened next, especially when the series is over and no more books are expected. Ugh, I wouldn’t say I like that feeling. But rest assured, “Hopeless” has a fascinating and captivating end, which I am sure you will cherish for a long time after reading it.
Hopeless series by Colleen Hoover Overview:
In the Hopeless series, we live the lives of Sky and Dean. Their love is intense and unforgettable. Through Hopeless and Losing Hope, CoHo weaves to form a world that tests the boundaries of love and its potential and explores the lifetime impact of trauma and the power of truth.
The series consists of six main characters: three females and three males. The first two main characters, Sky and Dean Holder, are found in the series’ first books, Hopeless and Losing Hope. Sky is an unsettled young girl who never liked the idea of love, but when she met Dean, she was ready to play the love game.
The next couple, Daniel and Six, were the main characters of the two novellas of the series, Finding Cinderella and Finding Perfect. The story tells of a young man who falls in love with a girl he meets in the dark. This girl is Six; she is daring and different in all the right ways.
Lastly, in All Your Perfects, are the couple Quinn and Graham. In the present day, they are married, but the story tells of the moments before and after, secrets, and breathtaking moments of Hopelessness.
Best Reading Order for the Hopeless Series:
The Hopeless series offers related books that are followed by each other. It is recommended to read the series in chronological order. Hopeless is followed by Losing Hope. On the other hand, Finding Cinderella is followed by Finding Perfect.
However, Colleen Hoover has personally advised the reader to read All Your Perfect before Finding Perfect for the best love experiences.
Reading order is important so you do not get major spoilers earlier and are fed up leaving the series.
So, the best reading order for a romantic flow is:
- Hopeless (2012)
- Losing Hope (2013)
- Finding Cinderella (2013)
- All Your Perfects (2018)
- Finding Perfect (2019)
Character Analysis:
The major characters of the series are the main couples.
Furthermore, there are many other characters about which, I think it is not very necessary to mention here:
Couple 1:
- Dean Holder: Sky’s Boyfriend
- Sky Davis: Dean’s Girlfriend
Couple 2:
- Six: Daniel’s Girlfriend
- Daniel Wesley: Six’s Boyfriend
Others:
- Tessa: Daniel’s ex
- Lesslie Holder: Dean’s twin sister
Summaries of the Books:
Hopeless:
This novel is told from Sky’s Point of view (POV). Karen adopted Sky Davis and has been n having receiving action at home. Now, she is admitted to high school, and students treat her differently, as if she were a misfit. But she is self-empowered and doesn’t pay much heed to them. Davis joins a track club, meets Dean Holder, and gets attracted to him. After a few weeks, Sky and Dean become friends, but Sky notices that he has bipolar disorder. He would get triggered by trivial things and become aggressive.
Sky and Davis started spending more time and discussing their pasts with each other. Sky talks about her detached father, and Dean talks about his sister. Sky was wearing a bracelet which was gifted to her by a kid when she was in foster care before getting adopted. Dean saw the bracelet and became uncomfortable, and left in anger. Neither of them interacted for weeks. One day, when Karen wasn’t home, Dean went to Sky’s house. Dean tells Sky that he has this tattoo of “hopeless” on his back because everyone has betrayed him, whom he loved and trusted.
One day, Dean fought with a boy, and Sky came to sort things out. Dean tells Sky that he is the brother of that boy he beat in the past, not because he accused Dean’s sister of suicide. After confessing this, Dean tells them she is into her and names her names”. Dean invites Sky to his home, where she sees a childhood picture of Dean and his sister Les. Sky can recognize the background of that photo. What do you think she recognized?
Dean begins telling Sky that they were neighbours in Austin in their childhood, and he knows that his sister Les gave this bracelet to Sky. Dean also tells Sky that her name was “Hope” in childhood. He narrates that one day, all three were playing when a woman came in a car and took Sky with her. Everyone thought someone had kidnapped Sky.
Sky became curious and wanted to know more about her past. Dean and Sky go to Austin to Sky’s old house, and some terrible memories of the past haunt her. They meet Sky’s father, who gives his confession of assaulting his sister, as well as Dean’s sister, Les. After saying this, Sky’s father shot himself.
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Published Date | First published December 18, 2012 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 408 Pages |
| Series | Hopeless #1 |
| ISBN-10 | 147674355X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1476743554 |
Sky comes back to her home and confronts her adoptive mother, Karen, for kidnapping her in her childhood. It is revealed that Karen was her aunt, who her father assaulted her. Karen told Sky that she did not kidnap her but rather tried to rescue her. The story ends with Dean and Sky committing to spend the rest of their lives together.
“Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…”
No doubt giving it a 5 out of 5!
Losing Hope (Hopeless #2):
“Losing Hope” is told from Dean Holder’s Point of View. There is a party in Holder’s school, where he sees his sister’s boyfriend, Grayson, hanging around with another girl. Holder went to Grayson, punched him, and asked him to call her sis and break the relationship with her. As told, Grayson did it, and Holder returned home to console his sister. The next day, Holder found out that his sister Les overdosed on sleeping pills and passed away.
When he returned to school, he overheard people saying that Holder was responsible for his sister’s death, to which he became angry and attacked a student. He then took a break from his school and returned after some time. Holder saw a girl who liked a grown-up girl, Hope, who got kidnapped during her childhood, but this girl’s name was Sky. After losing his sister, he began his search for Hope. Both Holder and Sky are runners and started going on running together. He still thinks she is Hope, her childhood neighbour and friend. Grayson doesn’t want Sky to befriend Holder, so she keeps telling her lies about Holder.
Holder and Sky become close while running together, and at this point, Holder becomes convinced that Sky is not Hope. But soon, his stance changed when he saw Sky wearing a bracelet because Sky and Holder’s sister Les had the same heart charm bracelets. Holder is convinced again that she is Sky. Holder didn’t say anything; two weeks passed, and they didn’t talk. After Les’ death, Holder wrote her letters about what was going on in his life.
After these two weeks, Holder went to Sky’s home. He explains to her about the reason for getting that “Hopeless” tattoo. He tells Sky about her past traumas and says that he did not want to hurt her. After some days, Holder cooks food for Sky and calls her at his home. She goes upstairs to Les’ room and finds a photograph. The background seemed familiar to Sky, and he tried to recognize it. She is curious to discover who Hope is, as Holder took this name for her in the past.
Holder tells her that she got kidnapped during her childhood. That night, Sky had a dream that her adoptive mother kidnapped her. Karen didn’t allow Sky to have a phone and even gave her a home education so nobody would know about her. They confront her adoptive mother and leave the house. Sky and Holder go to Sky’s childhood house in Austin, and she gets haunted by her childhood memories. Sky meets her father in the house and confronts him for his wrongdoings. He confesses that he abused Holder’s sister also and apologizes for that. And then shoots himself.
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Published Date | First published July 8, 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 321 Pages |
| Series | Hopeless #2 |
| Literary awards | Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2013) |
| ISBN-10 | 1476746555 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1476746555 |
Holder finds a letter from her sister Les that she has been abused so many times by Sky’s father. She writes that Holder is not the reason for her suicide. Les told Holder that she and her mom knew that Hope was alive and was in her aunt Karen’s custody to save her from her father’s physical abuse. Sky and Holder go to college together, and Holder is no longer hopeless. He found his Hope in ‘Hope’ (Sky).
“I’ve loved Hope since we were kids. But tonight? Tonight, I fell in love with Sky.”
Finding Cinderella Hopeless #2.5:
This story is a novella about Holder’s best friend, Daniel, and Sky’s best friend, Six. Daniel lost his mother and is in a state of grief. He likes to spend time alone in the school’s dark room. Six is also going through some emotional trauma. She is popular for wearing mismatched shoes, so people have named her Cinderella. This Novella is from Daniel’s point of view. One day, Six and Daniel meet in a closet in a dark place in school, and they are total strangers.
During their first meet-up, they do not even know each other’s names, but they connect with one another and spend time together. They did not try to know each other deeply, and they just spent one hour together and left without turning on the light, which means they do not even know each other’s faces.
When their meet-up time is over, Six leaves. Daniel starts looking for his Cinderella girl, with whom he spends time in the closet. Six flew to Italy after that time. Daniel and Six met again after about a year when Six returned from Italy and became friendly. They do not know each other, nor do they know that they are the same people who spent time together in the closet a year back. With time, their friendship grows deeper, and they like to spend time in each other’s company.
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Published Date | First published October 14, 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 178 Pages |
| Series | Hopeless #2.5 |
| ISBN-10 | 1476783284 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1476783284 |
Both of them have kept some secrets hidden, which caused a stir in their relationship. Their relationship goes through a roller coaster of emotions. Daniel is still grieving his mother’s death, and Six is fighting with her past demons. Are you curious about what secrets both of them are hiding? The Novella has all your answers.
All Your Perfects Hopeless #3:
The novel narrates scenes from the present and past, which happened 7 years back. At present, a couple, Quinn and Graham, are going through the problem of infertility. Quinn cannot conceive a child because of some medical health condition, such as endometriosis, and the couple cannot adopt a child because Graham has some criminal history from his youth time. They have tried IVF procedures, which were not successful, either. Quinn feels guilt that she cannot conceive a child and cannot make his husband a father.
To overcome her guilt, Quinn starts avoiding Graham and cries while showering.
Quinn has a good bond with her sister Ava and shares her feelings with her, not his husband, Graham. This causes some problems in their relationship. Ava moves to Europe and is expecting a child. Quinn is sad that she cannot conceive but is happy for Ava. In the past, when they were young, they were close and committed to meeting all the challenges together, but in the present time, after 7 years, they do not have the same closeness.
At present, both Quinn and Graham have started telling lies to each other. One day, Graham holds Ava’s child and tells her he is unhappy that he hasn’t been a father. Quinn hears this but leaves from there silently. Quinn suspects that Graham is having an affair with someone, and he admits it, too. Quinn is unhappy; she packs her bag and leaves to meet her mother, Avril. After some time, Quinn returns home.
One day, Quinn has stomach pain, and Graham takes her to the hospital, where she is told that Quinn had a rare type of pregnancy and had a miscarriage, and there was no hope to conceive ever again. Quinn breaks from her married life and goes to Europe to stay with her sister Ava. After some weeks, Graham comes to Europe and brings the wooden box of letters that Quinn and Graham promised to open either on their 25th anniversary or in case of emergency during their married life.
When they open the box, Quinn reads the letters, and Graham writes that he understands the pain Quinn is going through. Quinn starts crying and says she wants to live with Graham. They go shopping for Ava’s son’s second birthday when people ask if they are shopping for their child. They said yes, they are shopping for their 6th daughter. They played a lying game to everyone who asked to overcome the discomfort. They also adopted a dog named August after the month of their marriage anniversary.
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Published Date | First published January 1, 2018 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 305 Pages |
| Series | Hopeless #2 |
| Literary awards | Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2018) |
| ISBN-10 | 1501193325 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1501193323 |
Finding Perfect Hopeless #3.5:
In “Finding Perfect”, Daniel and Six had a surprise baby after a quick encounter. Six gave the baby up for adoption without knowing Daniel. Later, they fall in love. In the story, they’re having a tough time, and Daniel wants to reunite with their child, uncovering the complexities of love and family ties.
The novella also tells about a Thanksgiving plan of friends; Daniel, Six, Holder, and Sky. But there’s a problem, a secret that’s making things difficult. Daniel tries to find answers to help the person he loves most. It’s an emotional story with characters we know from other books.
| Publisher | Atria Books |
| Published Date | First published November 30, 2019 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 138 Pages |
| Series | Hopeless #3.5 |
| ISBN-10 | 166801338X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1668013380 |
I liked “Finding Perfect” because it gave a better ending than “Finding Cinderella.” Returning to the familiar characters felt nice. “Finding Perfect” provided a satisfying conclusion.
Review and Analysis:
The Pros:
The “Hopeless” series didn’t make me hopeless after completing it. I had a delightful experience reading the first book, “Hopeless”, which was an interesting story between Holder and Six. The plot twist was interesting; Sky recognized the background in a picture and started searching for her childhood and true identity. I found the revelation of Sky as “Hope” really interesting through that heart charm bracelet.
Where I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Hopeless”, which was from Sky’s point of view, I found the second book “Losing Hope” redundant, which had nothing new except that the same previous story was told from Holder’s point of view. I found nothing new in this second book.
“Finding Cinderella” was a short novella about Daniel and Six’s lives with no drags but rather some cliffhangers revealed in “Finding Perfect”. I found “Finding Cinderella” a bit unrealistic. Although fiction stories are not real, this one is more unreal. For example, how could Daniel and Six spend time together without seeing each other’s faces?
I liked the idea of that wooden box in “All Your Perfects”, which had letters from Quinn and Graham, and they served as a means to unite them in the times when their marriage was on the verge of ending. Overall, the series has 4.5 stars for its storyline and character development.
Conclusion:
The series has 5 books in total, of which three are novels and two are novellas. It would help to read the series in the order of their release to avoid reading spoilers. “All Your Perfects” is part of the Hopeless Series but is not a continuation of the previous 3 books.
The book has a different storyline and new characters, making it standalone. But its story continues in the last book, “Finding Perfects”, which narrates its epilogue. “Finding Perfect” also tells the fate of Daniel and Six from “Finding Cinderella”.