Hope(less) by Melissa Haag

Blurb:
Gabby’s brain is like a human fish finder. It comes in handy when she wants to avoid people. Mostly men. They seem to like her a bit too much. It’s lonely being different, but she’s adapted to it. Really. She just wishes she knew why she is different, though.

In her search for answers, she discovers a hidden community of werewolves. She immerses herself in their culture, learning about their world until she meets Clay. He’s unkempt, prone to mood swings, intense without saying a word, and he thinks Gabby is his.

It’s going to take every trick she knows to convince Clay to go away, and every bit of willpower not to fall for him when she discovers the man beneath the rough exterior.

Judgement has begun…

    

My Review:
4 stars — This one was a little bit slower to grab me in the beginning, but I was glad I stuck with it because once Clay appeared, I was all in.  I’m not sure if the beginning was just mired down in too many introduction details, or if I just couldn’t get a grasp on Gabby, or maybe it was more that I was skeptical about Sam and what all was happening with the werewolf pack, but it made for some slower going…and unfortunately that took a good chunk of the book.  Once Clay appeared, I don’t know if the book just settled into itself, or if I just personally became more invested because I was intrigued, but I just wanted to dive into the rest.

Gabby was an ok character, but on the whole I couldn’t always figure out who she was…I felt like details were missing, or I wasn’t getting the whole picture.  We’d get the occasional glimpse into her past, but usually we learn a lot more about what’s shaped a person, especially one in the foster system who had family that died when they were young.  I felt like those were just little details, and would occasionally be brought up to support her not wanting to get attached, but I didn’t have full buy-in for some reason.  It’s like she wasn’t consistent.  Or like she had all these strange qualities (the spark seeing, the pull on males) that weren’t really resolved to my personal tastes when the book ended.  I expected them to make up a lot of the book, and I felt like they were the side stories.  I might have just missed something though, or maybe we’ll find out more in the next books.  I was a bit disappointed in that. (like for example — why in the world didn’t she approach Charlene at all in those first 2 years, knowing she was different just like her?  I would have been curious, so why wasn’t she?)

So how in the world did I still get a 4 star rating is probably what you’re thinking, right?  Because even me reading all that, I’m thinking that sounds more 3 or 3.5 star to me.  Well it was all Clay.  That dog-boy won me over without saying a word.  Not that that didn’t get frustrating, but he was just so sweet and considerate, and quietly there.  And I loved how Gabby was *with* Clay.  I loved how they interacted.  Which is so strange since he spends a lot of the book in his wolf/dog form.  He alone was worth 5 stars, and hence balances this book out at a 4 star overall.  I CANNOT WAIT to read Clay’s Hope from his perspective, I’m so intrigued.

Honestly, he probably could have brought us up to a 4.5 all on his own, but then the ending felt super rushed, and I’d waited the whole book to really see them together and him talking, and get some answers, and all of a sudden it was the end of the book.  I know it’s to suck you into reading more, but I always feel cheated when I don’t get some resolution, so I was a bit cheesed over that.  Ah well, I was fully intending to read more books in the series anyways, and I can only hope that either Clay’s Hope (the companion novel to this book) or the next books in the Judgement of the Six series answer the questions I have and fulfill me.  Thanks for sucking me in Curly Carla!  I always love it when our tastes match up!