Hopelessly Finished Hopeless

SPOILER ALERT:  I have finished Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

Wow.  I am exhausted from reading this book.  I feel like I need a shower and about 8 hours of solid, mindless TV to wash it all away.

I gave it 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  I'm a bit confused at all the 5 star ratings and wonder if all the bloggers in the acknowledgments are really giving their honest opinion?

Why only 3 stars?  Certainly not because of Colleen Hoover's writing; I enjoyed that immensely.  And not because of her characters; I found them to be well thought-out and likable.  Holder is a character you want to spend time with...although he gets a little too sweet toward the end and doesn't seem as real.  Sky is just like so many of us who question ourselves and those around us...but don't necessarily want to know the answers.  She's very endearing in that way.

So what's my deal?  Well...I felt like it was two different stories; two different books.  The first half is laden with googley eyes about each other when you're in high school.  Don't get me wrong - I usually enjoy the sappy first love stuff...but it's a slippery slope.  You can overdo it and end up rubbing your readers the wrong way.  (Pun intended; nice grinding scene!  Wow.)  I liked the angst when it came to things like Holder getting upset over the bracelet...or leaving her house and not coming back...etc etc...but then things would seem to draw out a bit too long and I'd start losing interest until the next crisis.

One absolute joy in this book?  Breckin.  More, more, give me more.  I'd like a series just about him.  I totally want to go back to high school and look for the guy wearing bright pink shoes.  Only I went to Catholic school and you got demerits for that sort of thing.  I should know, I once got demerits for wearing a yellow sweater in homeroom.  But I digress.

OK - so - on to the 2nd half (or last third, I should say).  All the sudden you find yourself on this roller coaster ride and it's truly compelling...but you're thinking "Wait - wasn't I reading a lovely little story about young love?  How does child rape fit into this?"  And don't get me wrong - the last 3rd is truly interesting and riveting and upsetting...all at once.  All things that make for an outstanding story.  But I felt like I was a bit shell shocked and had a hard time switching gears.

Now...please don't misunderstand me.  I think Colleen Hoover is a damn good writer in that she's perfectly worded (no bad comparisons of someone's eyes to a rooftop...lordddddd) and her words flow exceptionally well.  I am looking forward to reading her New York Times Bestsellers, "Slammed " and "Point of Retreat " (aka girlfriend knows what she's doing.)

So - my overall synopsis?  I wish Hopeless were two books.  That way, I could recommend the first to my nieces in high school...and the 2nd to my book club.  If I had a book club, that is.  I used to, but I left because they only read horribly sad stories about things like child rape.  So you get my drift.  Maybe I just didn't like the subject matter of the last third of the story - even though it was thoroughly engaging and told with an abundance of tact and grace.

Really looking forward to a (friendly) discussion on this...so by all means, comment away!!

Hope + Less = Hopeless

SPOILER ALERT: I am 5 pages into Oct 27th at 8:20 PM in HOPELESS.

Holy CRAP. This book has gotten interesting. Homeboy says "I love you, Hope" and Sky just called him out on it. And he's blatantly LYING to her by saying he never dated anyone named Hope because the color just drained out of his face when she said the name and he kindof freaked for a second about it. SHIT. WHAT is his damage???

And now I'm starting to wonder about the tattoo. HOPEless. Like he's without HOPE. As in a chickski...and not just the feeling. Shit, shit, shit. I am terrified for Sky right now. Especially after the freak out in the beginning of the book. Shit shit shit!

And I know we're going to find out she was abused...and the whole story about her mom dying and her dad not being able to take care of her is a big, ol' LIE. I bet Karen really IS her mom and she had to kick the dad out. But who gave her the bracelet???

And I have this horrendous fear nagging at me...like we're going to find out she and Holder are related or something. Just like that Matt Dillon movie where they found out they were brother and sister...but they really weren't. UGH. Now THAT is some serious angst.

And I agree with Hildy. I think Karen's against the internet / phone / tv for a reason. Like she's in hiding with her daughter. But why would she leave her alone when she goes to flea markets? So that throws a wrench in my elaboration of Hildy's theory.
Crap! Gotta go read!!!

PS - Wait. Holder's got this thing about the word "hope". Maybe that's how he thinks of Sky? As his "hope" that's coming back? So maybe he was telling SKY he loved her?

OK no more theories. I have to KNOW!!!

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Hopeless, Party of Sky?

SPOILER ALERT - It's Friday, September 28 in Hopeless.

SKY, you ignorant non-slut. HOW can you not realize that Holder is wondering if the rumors are true? Hell - make something up about the damned bracelet if you don't want to tell him the truth. But don't sit there and not tell him anything! Sheesh. You are such a ding dong sometimes.

All she had to do was say "I'll tell you later and no, it's not from a guy." Would that have been so hard? HE is as stubborn as YOU, you dumbass. GET in this game! I'M in the game...HOLDER is in the game...HILDY has FINISHED the game..and you, SKY, are just pussyfooting around (haven't you always wanted to use pussyfoot in a sentence?) and NOT getting in the damned game.

WAKE UP.

PS - What was with the grinding? I have one word for you: Chafed.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Amazon Deal of the Day: On The Island

AWESOME DEAL!  Tracey Garvis Graves'  On The Island is the Amazon Deal of the Day at $1.99!!!  It's a steal!!

Hopeless or Clueless?

SPOILER ALERT: It's August 28th maybe? Or at least it's early on in Day 2 of school for Sky in HOPELESS.

OK - Have to blog about this book again for some strange reason. Just got to a cute little scene where Holder walks into class after dropping out of school...and Sky knows she obviously talked him into going back.

If I were 17, I'd be completely clueless and wondering what's going on. But because I'm 4-...well...um...not 17, I know full well what's going on. Sky is judging the snot outta Holder...because she's heard rumors about him...when she's in no position to be judging anyone, since there are rumors galore about her non-slutty, slutty ass.

Maybe if she had TV and the internet, she'd be a little less clueless to the ways of the world. Just sayin'.

Meanwhile, what's with Mr. Hand being such a complete douche? I don't blame Holder for getting up and being confident. Perhaps he should have ordered a pizza.

PS - I love Breckin to pieces.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hoping Hopeless isn't Hopeless

SPOILER ALERT:  I am starting chapter 2 in Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.

Oh boy.  Started Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.  I am a chapter in - and realize I can't make much of a judgement...except...

It's somewhat fluffy and high schoolish so far.  (Says the girl who got into blogging whilst reading Twilight.)  To the point where I'm thinking "Oh please tell me all those great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads weren't from 17 year olds.  (NOT that there's anything wrong with 17 year olds!  I'm just further from 17 than I would like.)  BUT - it's actually got a 17+ rating from Amazon...due to its adult nature!!

Lots of girl talk and sneaking boys in the window...and chatting with our over-protective, under-protective, home-schooling mom.

I'll keep you posted.  Something tells me I'm going to be changing my tune real fast.

Vampire Diaries: A Very Special Holiday Spectacular

OK - sitting here watching Vampire Diaries and thinking "HOW did I miss the fact that yet another show was NEW this week?!"  Thank God for my DVR!!!  I thought this AND American Horror story were on hiatus!  SWEET!"

Even my cro-magnon
head is all sorts-a-hawt.

Oooh hot scene with Damon and Elenabeotch.  He's adorable now that he's adorable.  Although sometimes he looks like a drac from Enemy Mine.  That forehead!  I literally just heard myself say:  "Whoa.  Look at his Cro Magnon head."

OK...yada yada...Stefan and Klaus are bonding but not really...yada yada Caroline is mad that Tyler's going to encase his body in cement like Hoffa...yada yada gratuitous Steve McQueen tank top shot...YOWSA that kid is smokin'.

Nice move Jer!  He almost had her!!  Just a few micro seconds quicker with that knife and Elenabeotch would have gone DOWN!!!!

OH geez now Caroline is bitching at Stefan (what else is new?) to get Klaus' sword before Tyler-and-his-hybrids take him down.

UGH Winter Wonderland.  Does Caroline EVER do ANYTHING but run fund-raisers and cotillions?!

Oh SHIT - Caroline and Klaus!  Shhhh!  Be right back!  I can't talk when they're making nice nice together.  Chills.

Sighhhhh.  I'm back.  I LOVE those two.  "The suspense is terrible!  I hope it will last."

Is anyone NOT just counting the
hours until they kill me off?

OMG is it me or is this man-witch-non-witch a pain in the ASS?  I don't like him at ALL.  I don't think I'm supposed to, either...so maybe they'll kill him soon.  He's like one of those stupid maenads from the Sookie Stackhouse novels aka True Blood.

ZZZZZ...this is the point in the ep where I get bored.  Caroline is locked up with Stefan (lucky girl) and a bunch of hybrids.  Witchy man just told Damon and Elenabeotch that they don't need Klaus' sword; they just have to dig up some dude named Silus (is it me or does that name sound indicative of a hawt fella?)

OK so Thursday, January 17th.  That's when we find out WHAT kind of mental ass-whooping Stefan's going to give Elenabeotch when she gets back from the lake house.  She's skippin' her non-sired ass home to him and he's gonna tell her to git GOING on her merry ass way.  Oooooh I cannot TELL you how excited I am for that. (((claps hands like a 4 year old on a pony ride)))

And what's up with that cute little girl who actually really IS in high school?  She is going to wake Rebecca which RULES because I love Rebecca and her misunderstood bitchiness.

Awww shucks.
I lasted a long time, no?

And poor Tyler's mom.  Geez - was she the LAST adult to go?  Now it's just a bunch of teens running around...a la iCarly!

And we all knew that bitchy hybrid was going to sell Tyler out to Klaus.  Frankly I was kindof happy as those whiny hybrids were getting on my last nerve.

OK I've waxed on enough for one evening.  WHAT a great episode to stumble upon when I thought it wasn't even going to be new!!!

The Walking Dead: Mid Season Finale? Why?! Are they Cleaning up the Fish Tanks?

I know, right?!

Ugh.  One week later and I still can barely bring myself to blog about The Walking Dead.  WTF is up with a mid-season finale?  I HATE that.  WHAT am I supposed to watch NOW?  And when it comes back in February, it'll seem reallyyyyyy short since it'll only be 8 episodes.  Do they not know my life revolves around them and their walkers?!

<---And by the way - I totally ganked this from searching Mid Season Finale and coming upon this page on Tumblr.

Watching this shit is better than American Idol!

OK - let's get this show on the road.  The Governor.  What is my PROBLEM with this guy?  I can't help but LOVE HIM.  And he's DISGUSTING!! Heads in fishtanks?  His daughter in the closet?  WHO keeps his walker-daughter in the closet, in chains with a bag over her head?  Seriously.  And he thinks he's being humane?  Dude.  That's NOT your daughter.  So let the poor thing go.

THAT is what I love about this show.  It's so powerful.  It makes you think.  It's controversial.  What would any of us do in that situation?  Like, when Carl shot his mom, who wasn't really his mom, but a soon-to-be walker.  What a horrible decision to have to make!

OK I'm being wayyyyy too serious...so let's move on.  ("Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep.")

Exactly how do you
brine those chops?

Andrea.  Girlfriend KNOWS that strange things are afoot at the Circle K...and yet she continues to skulk around, aimlessly...enjoying her newfound calm.  And you know what?  You'd better BELIEVE my ass would be doing the EXACT same thing!  I'd be all "Ohhhh...things seem a bit odd...but no one's killing me and the Governor's pork chops are so tender" (in more ways than one.)  Why look a gifthorse in the mouth...even when the gifthorse is sooo not on the up-and-up.  That's what I'd be thinking.

And Michonne.  Ooooh girllll...you are in TROUBLE now!  You killed the Governor's dead-walker-zombie-daughter!  And you unleashed his teeth-chomping heads!  If the Governor doesn't get you, the walkers will!  Talk about a foot in both worlds!

OK so a few things...

• Glen and Maggie.  Glad they're free but WOW did Daryl pay the price.  Do we think Andrea is going to step up and do the right thing on his behalf?

• Those new people?  Who the frig are they?  Get out, y'all!  Go find your own prison full of rotting zombie corpses!  We called dibs on this one!

Shall I shoot you?  Or maybe you'd like
me to use my weird wrist knife, instead?

• Merle.  Now that they hate him, he's going to be living with us again over at the jail.  What kind of nasty-ass shiz is he going to be pulling over there?  NOT a good situation...but tasty as hell as storylines go. 

That's it for now.  I have to go cry some more about having NOTHING to watch tonight!!! 

Boardwalk Empire Finale: Two Pineys and a Broke Down Car

WOW.  I don't even know what to say.  My first thought:  Is Gillian (Jimmy's mother) dead?  Was that a lethal dose of...whatever it was?  Heroin, perhaps?  I don't know if she'll be back next season or not!  I loathe her character...but I love what she does for the show.  She is a vixen of epic proportions.  And you know who else is a bit of a vixen?  Kelly MacDonala, aka Margaret Thompson.  Oooh!  Did you see the way she walked her ass away from Nucky and said "Yes it is!" when he said it wasn't about the money?  That girl has some serious cajones...and  that show wouldn't be the same without her!

How TREMENDOUS was that scene with Rosetti and Gillian?  MAN I wish she was able to kill him.  I said all week "Red's going to kill Rosetti".  But no can do.  We had to hear him sing that ridiculous song on the beach, instead.  WHAT a dumbass.  Didn't he know he was about to bite it?  Actually...something tells me he did.  Although honestly...I didn't feel that death was good enough for him.  I wanted suffering and lots more pain.  He may be the meanest character I've ever encountered.  Seriously.  WHAT a sociopath. 

Moving on...I loved the relationship between Nucky and Eli in this episode.  They were like two brothers again...from times before they got involved in running the town.  I almost wouldn't have been surprised if they had gone fishing, barefoot, with overalls on.  OK maybe that's a stretch...but you get my point. 

HOW much do we all now love Chalkie White?!  I can't wait for next season.  You know his new club is going to be a nice-sized chunk of the season.  Definitely looking forward to watching him boss people around.  

IT was amazing when Nucky set up Arnold Rothstein.  Positively genius.  When we realized he was going to give him 99% of Overholt, I turned to my husband and said "Do you think he made the agreement with Andrew Mellon, knowing he might one day need to use Overholt to get out of a bad situation with Rothstein?"  LITTLE did I know he and Mellon were PURPOSELY setting Rothstein up!  And I am an IDIOT because that's what their first conversation was about.  Oooh this SHOW!  It's getting harder to keep up with than Game of Thrones!!! 

And poor Richard Harrow!  He just left Tommy with his gal pal!  What's that all about?  He'd BETTER be back next season and he'd BETTER be gettin' busy with her because I loved them together!  It's about time that poor soul found love.  And her mean-assed father better NOT give him a hard time.  I think he's going to be really happy now that he has another little boy to raise.  Cross your fingers.  (Ooooh - bad thought - Richard dropped the kid off THERE?  The father drinks like a fiend.  Hmmm.  That might cause a problem.) 

Lastly - has this show canonized Al Capone, or what?  I can't help that I LOVE HIM!  It's terrible!  They humanized him early on by showing us his relationship with this hearing impaired son...and then they made him save the day by saving Nucky.  So you KNOW next year he's going to be making Nucky kiss is Chicago ass.  I wonder if the series will culminate with Nucky gettin' whacked by Al's guys.  Wouldn't be a stretch. 

Can't wait for Season 4!

Once Upon a Time: Hook, Line and Stinker

You know what's so funny?  The Queen can be so Fran Dresher sometimes.  She just...sounds like her.  Or a less New York version of her. 

I love this newfound kindship between the queen and Rumple.  They're both so...congenial.  It's refreshing!

Whoa!  We're in Rumple's cell and what a creepfest it is!  EMMA EMMA EMMA EMMA EMMA EMMA...eeek!  I guess he needed something to pass the time.  No seriously - waiting patiently while hubby fast forwards the commercials to find out. 

OH my god this show is so friggin confusing.  Portals and powers and magic, oh my.  Ooooh quite a showdown between Emma, Snow, Hook and Cora!  And how about hook giving Aurora's heart back to Mulan?  That was pretty sweet, even though he's a complete douche.  Damn, though!  Why does he have to be such a hot douche?? 

Oooh SNAP!  Emma and Snow just jumped into the portal!  Is this the mid-season finale?  (WTF came up with that stupid term, by the way?) 

OK - it's over.  And I am anNOYED.  WHY didn't they invite Regina to dinner at Granny's diner??  That is SO rude.  Henry's a little shit and his grandpop, Charming is a little pissant!  She helped them BIG time; they should forgive her and let her into their circle. 

(Remind me I bitched about this in January when she's being a complete beotch and I'm ranting about how much I hate her.)  ;)