There are a lot of similarities between this book and Wait for You, which I just read: sexual abuse, a Texas setting, a boy with supreme anger management issues, assault of the boy's sister in some form or fashion, first kisses that weren't considered first kisses, bad First Time scenes, bad parents, token slutty and gay best friends, hotel room hookups (and shower scenes at that), companion novels from the guy's pov... The list goes on. And I really think I prefer Wait for You. I'm not saying that stories like Hopeless shouldn't be told; on the contrary, these kinds of stories should be told with the loudest voices possible so that readers can...not experience the very real horrors of life, but at least understand them. However, I think there was just Too Much Going On here. At least two plot elements should have been scrapped to truly focus on what was important. Need to tell a story of a girl who suffered traumatic abuse as a child? Do away with the missing child weirdness and the knew-you-when bit. Want to talk about the friendship the boy lost when the girl went away? Get rid of the abuse and the sister's suicide. Just...too much. This novel was way too long and there were way too many subplots and details. Keep it simple because heavy stories and trauma are complicated enough.