The Truth About Hope
by Kate James
Blurb:
Who is Hope Wilson?Is she the girl her former hometown thinks she is? Or the girl Luke Carter once loved—and maybe still does?
When Hope returns to Canyon Creek, Texas, to honor her father’s last wishes, there’s only one person on her mind: her high school sweetheart, Luke. The boy she lied to when she had to leave Canyon Creek as a teen, finding it easier to hide what she really felt than deal with the grief of loss. Her father’s fortune could make a big difference to Canyon Creek—but Hope finds that the townspeople have a long memory about his misdeeds. With a plan to make amends on his behalf,
Hope learns the truth about herself. And the truth about love.
My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review
The Truth About Hope is a book I really enjoyed, but also really annoyed me at some moments. It’s hard to adequately explain my thoughts about this one as it had so many good things and some things that didn’t quite work for me. Let’s start with something positive. This book is original. I never imaged I would ever say that about a romance novel but there it is. The Truth About Hope takes place over about 15 years time I think. We follow Hope from when she’s 17 years old till she’s a women of around 30 and returning to her home town.
I loved how we get a feel of how Hope her life goes and we see her change and grow. Also while having the book span so much time might sound confusing or like it would be rushed, but it really worked. There were some skips or jumps forward, but they were done really well. The story would zoom in or a scene or two then skip forward again and zoom in again and then after the first 30% or so it slows down a bit more and the last 2 years take place in the last 60% and there are less time skips. Somehow this way of telling the story really worked for this book. The downside of it was that it felt a bit too telling in general and it made it harder to really feel the emotions in the moment.
I did like Hope, she’s a great main character who fights for what she believes in. Once she set her mind on something or made a decisions she stuck with it. She was very caring and I liked how much she cared about animals. The only thing I didn’t like was her decision to lie about why she was leaving town, but as she was a teenager at that time and did regret it later I could understand that a bit more. besides Hope it was a bit harder to really get a feel for the rest of the side characters. There were some side character who made an impression and who I did like, but due to the way the book was written many side characters only played a small part in the story. I did like Einstein, Hope’s dog, he was adorable and the mentions of the animals were nice.
I like the small town setting, but the fact how people still resented Hope and her father for the things they had done felt a bit weird. And no one thought to ask her why or explain things. It really bothered me how no one ever communicated or got to get her side of the story. It did change later on, but I felt like ti was too little too late. And I can only admire Hope for how she stuck with her plan even though the whole town seemed against her.
Then there is the romance, which is one of my biggest issues with this book. I just didn’t feel it. At all. The book started with Luke and Hope as a couple the 12 years later she’s back in town and they never got serious about anyone else and still have feelings. We’re told this, I didn’t feel it. Then there is a lot of miscommunication, assumptions instead of asking, throw in some lies and not communicating and it was really hard for me to get behind this romance. There is just so much drama and I wanted to shake some sense in Luke and tell him to just talk with Hope, but he didn’t, because he thought he knew the truth. Then we’re told they do things together and their feelings grow, but we don’t feel. I would’ve liked to see more time of them as a couple. I did like how the romance got resolved, I just had hoped to feel more invested in their relationship. There are a few chapters from Luke his point of view, but I never really got a feel for him and liked him like I did with Hope. He just seemed very bitter and I dislike how he made assumptions without asking Hope about them, the lack of communication or miscommunication between them really bothered me.
To summarize: I am glad I read this book as overall I did really enjoy it, it’s written in a very original way and the way the story is told and spans so much time really worked. It’s great to follow Hope her life and story over so much time and see her change and develop. The main character Hope was a great character and I really liked her determination and caring nature. There were some great side characters, but it was hard to get attached to them as they often only played a small part. I didn’t really care for Luke or the romance. I just never felt it. There was a lot of telling instead of showing and hardly we see any scenes of these two together. Then there is a lot of drama, miscommunication, lack or communication and it really bothered me. If they had just talked about things it would’ve been solved way earlier. I also felt a bit distant from the story, seeing it all play out like that, but overall I did enjoy the book.
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Small town stories are always my FAV! Ever since I read the Lux series by Armentrout, it’s like they’ve just CALLED to me, you know? I have a feeling that I would love the main character! It seems like she’s a lovely person, strong, and willing to do what is right. <3 I'm glad you liked this one, love!
Keionda @Keionda Hearts Books recently posted…OH. YES. ^^Review: Sweet Reckoning By Wendy Higgins
I also love small town settings, they are some of my favourite settings. I like reading books that take place at a small town. And Hope was a great main character who fought for what she believed in, even if everything and everyone seem to work against her.
Lola recently posted…Review: The Truth About Hope by Kate James
I like these types of romances too and the cover is really cute.
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The cover is cute indeed and it fits the story as well 🙂
Lola recently posted…Review: The Truth About Hope by Kate James
I keep going on and on about Simone St James these days, but she is my current favourite romance author. She writes post-war mystery/paranormal romance. How’s that for originality? Silence for the Dead holds the top spot for me, but I enjoyed all of her books.
That sure sounds like an original combination of genres! I haven’t heard of that author before.
thanks for your honest thoughts! Sorry you didn’t really feel the romance; that’s a big deal with these types of books. It’s good the time length worked well though!
-Lauren
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It was a good book and I am glad I read it, but it was a shame I didn’t feel the romance. That made me enjoy it less than I would’ve had else.
Original writing usually guarantees that one enjoys a book 🙂 but lots of telling is also a sure way to running it at least for me! I’m glad you did enjoy the book overall I.
Daniela Ark recently posted…What a week [44]: Conquer Camp NaNoWriMo: Back to outlining and characters’ motivation!
It was very original and I enjoyed that part. I did enjoy the book overall, but sadly there were a few things that kept me from really enjoying it.
That is really neat to see how much time was covered so the reader could really get to know the heroine. Ugh, yes, I would find his stubborn refusal to listen frustrating, too. And it’s tough to believe a romance when you can’t get to know one of the romance pair and on top of that when they won’t talk about stuff.
But her coming back to fix things and the small town setting sounds nice.
I know I have been surprised by a romance, but my mind is blanking on actual titles for the moment. 🙂
Sophia Rose recently posted…To Be or Not to Be…Read TBR Pile Vote April
Yes the way the story covered so many years was really well done and made for an interesting story. I haven’t read a book like this before, so I enjoyed that aspect.
It just was a shame Luke refused to talk about things and thought he knew everything. I just felt like I knew Hope well, but never got a feel for Luke. It was hard to get into the romance because of that. Luckily there was still enough for me to enjoy the book and the coming back to fix things plot line worked really well and it was really rewarding to see.