Finding Hope by Colleen Nelson
*I was given this book by NetGalley and Dundurn for an honest review*
I was first attracted to this book by the simplicity of the cover.
Finding Hope explores the lives of Hope and Eric; siblings that reside in a small town. Lumsville is town where nothing happens and everything is boring. Except for Hope and her family. Her brother is a meth addict and her family is slowly falling apart. Hope momentarily escapes this madness through her poetry, hoping for a chance to escape.
The opportunity comes, and Hope packs her bags and heads to Ravenhurst Academy as a boarding student ready for a fresh start.
At first, Ravenhurst is better than anything Hope could’ve dreamed of. But as quickly as it started, her life at Ravenhurst goes spiraling down of control. With roommates, online boyfriend, school cliques, and her meth addict brother.
When I first began the book, I was not sure how I felt about it. The beginning was rocky, because there was no sense of a timeline. At one point I was not sure what time it was. The constant change of point of view from Eric and Hope I was not sure if it was weekend, weekday, morning, day or night.
Even though the beginning was strong, straight to the point of whom the characters were and what their stories were. But once Hope arrives to Ravenhurst time seems to flow better.
I was very intrigued by Eric, watching him go from high and semi-sober. (Kinda like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) The change in his train of thought demonstrated his two state of being of high and not high. Nelson does a great job showing the destruction drugs inflict on someone. She also did a marvelous and slow reveal of why Eric turned to meth. Why he chose to escape into a mentality of constant high.
Hope was raw. You really see her darkness through her poetry. Her poetry through out the story really gave the reader what she is really feeling and going through. She was easily manipulated which got her bullied by the Ravenhurst clique. This intense bullying made her weak, and nearly saw suicide as the only option.
Great portrayal of how abuse can emotionally destroy someone and cause their life to go on a downward spiral.
This book is not for everyone, and I would not recommend it to a lot of people.
There is drug abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and suicide thoughts. This can be a trigger book, and for those who suffer any of those thing should not read this book unless mentally prepared.
Finding Hope was raw. It was different. The subject matter was something new in the world of YA. It was short and heavy.
I wish we could have read more about Eric when he was put into rehab.
Rating: 4/5
Release Date: 04/2016
One response to “Finding Hope by Colleen Nelson | Book Talk”
hmmmmm