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Hope for the Best
Seventeen-year-old Lareina has no family, no home, and no last name. What she does have is an oddly shaped pendant and Detective Russ Galloway who would follow her across the country to take it from her.
Through her own resilience and wit, Lareina has survived her teenage years in a chaotic and crumbling world by stealing what she needs. Hoping to escape the detective and discover the truth about her pendant, Lareina flees the city.
On her journey she meets Nick and Aaron who remind her how much she has missed feeling a connection to other people. Together they learn survival is impossible unless they can learn to trust each other.
Through her own resilience and wit, Lareina has survived her teenage years in a chaotic and crumbling world by stealing what she needs. Hoping to escape the detective and discover the truth about her pendant, Lareina flees the city.
On her journey she meets Nick and Aaron who remind her how much she has missed feeling a connection to other people. Together they learn survival is impossible unless they can learn to trust each other.
412 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2020
3 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Vanessa Lafleur
5 books31 followersVanessa Lafleur is a high school English teacher and competitive speech coach. Her absolute favorite part of teaching is helping her students discover their writing talents and hone their skills. When she isn't in the classroom, grading research papers, or coaching at a speech meet, Vanessa enjoys spending time outside, reading, and of course writing.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 16, 2021
*Disclaimer: I received a free e-copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an HONEST review. All opinions are my own.*
HOPE FOR THE BEST is a clean dystopian read. While recommended for YA readers, personally, the writing style seemed more middle-grade to me (with the exceptions of a few parts). Unlike most dystopians I've read, the plot didn't revolve around a teen protagonist rebelling against the government or a love triangle, which was something new.
While I enjoyed HOPE FOR THE BEST, I felt like the plot dragged quite a bit. There were some parts where the MC just speculated on her overall journey, rather than doing anything essential to the plot. And maybe it's because I don't connect well with middle-grade-style third person, but I didn't sympathize very much with the character. She seemed to do a lot of things on impulse and overall just felt bland and juvenile to me. Which hurts me to say, because I really think she had potential to be a memorable female dystopian MC.
However, I did love how this book handled lies. Unlike a lot of books I've seen, where the author didn't show the consequences of lying/deceiving others, the main conflict between the characters in this book was how damaging lies can be in relationships. The MC actually had to learn that lies damage relationships and break bonds of trust.
Unlike other reviews I've read, I liked Nick and how he and the MC struggled with their friendship. While certain scenes toward the end seemed unrealistic , overall, I liked how their relationship was full of conflict, unlike the MC's relationship with Aaron—he was too perfect and too happy-go-lucky.
And yes. This book had platonic relationships. For once, a middle-grade/YA book with a female main character and two male "sidekicks" of sorts that DIDN'T have any sort of romance between them whatsoever. Definitely refreshing.
However, plot-wise, the end didn't wrap up very well, and I struggled with the believability of some aspects. I don't know why an MC who lies all the time—because that's all she's ever known in order to survive in her broken world—would keep a pendant that almost got her shot multiple times for the sake of keeping a promise to a girl she barely knew.
I didn't understand the importance of the pendants, other than the fact that they were friendship necklaces of sorts (?). If I was the MC, I wouldn't go through all this trouble of being chased by a detective and constantly being on the run just for the sake of a friendship necklace. :P I just felt like I wasn't getting a grasp of its importance, and so I didn't really care about what the MC was protecting. Though since this is a duology, I hope all this pendant stuff will be explained later.
I also struggled a bit with the setting. It's set in a futuristic America, where some cities are fenced off due to a deadly virus (coronavirus, anyone?), others are abandoned, and some are surrounded by walls. They all seemed very. . . normal, at least to me. Too normal. The world-building didn't play a big part in the story, so while it was futuristic, it felt just like our world today. No cool tech or anything. And most of the cities weren't abandoned.
CONTENT WARNINGS: A character smacks another character in the head with a stick, multiple attempted shootings, blood, a character gets his leg stuck in a trap, multiple kisses are mentioned briefly but not described (but not for romance purposes :P), multiple characters get shot and die (not described in detail).
Overall, while I struggled with some of the main aspects of the story, I do feel like this author created a dystopian novel that went against some of the cliches common in dystopian fiction, all while doing it in a clean way. The themes were true and realistic, and there wasn't any language. The writing style was clear and easy to understand, with some pretty quote-worthy lines thrown in. I would feel comfortable recommending this to my eleven-year-old brother and dystopian-loving middle-grade readers.
HOPE FOR THE BEST is a clean dystopian read. While recommended for YA readers, personally, the writing style seemed more middle-grade to me (with the exceptions of a few parts). Unlike most dystopians I've read, the plot didn't revolve around a teen protagonist rebelling against the government or a love triangle, which was something new.
While I enjoyed HOPE FOR THE BEST, I felt like the plot dragged quite a bit. There were some parts where the MC just speculated on her overall journey, rather than doing anything essential to the plot. And maybe it's because I don't connect well with middle-grade-style third person, but I didn't sympathize very much with the character. She seemed to do a lot of things on impulse and overall just felt bland and juvenile to me. Which hurts me to say, because I really think she had potential to be a memorable female dystopian MC.
However, I did love how this book handled lies. Unlike a lot of books I've seen, where the author didn't show the consequences of lying/deceiving others, the main conflict between the characters in this book was how damaging lies can be in relationships. The MC actually had to learn that lies damage relationships and break bonds of trust.
Unlike other reviews I've read, I liked Nick and how he and the MC struggled with their friendship. While certain scenes toward the end seemed unrealistic , overall, I liked how their relationship was full of conflict, unlike the MC's relationship with Aaron—he was too perfect and too happy-go-lucky.
And yes. This book had platonic relationships. For once, a middle-grade/YA book with a female main character and two male "sidekicks" of sorts that DIDN'T have any sort of romance between them whatsoever. Definitely refreshing.
However, plot-wise, the end didn't wrap up very well, and I struggled with the believability of some aspects. I don't know why an MC who lies all the time—because that's all she's ever known in order to survive in her broken world—would keep a pendant that almost got her shot multiple times for the sake of keeping a promise to a girl she barely knew.
I didn't understand the importance of the pendants, other than the fact that they were friendship necklaces of sorts (?). If I was the MC, I wouldn't go through all this trouble of being chased by a detective and constantly being on the run just for the sake of a friendship necklace. :P I just felt like I wasn't getting a grasp of its importance, and so I didn't really care about what the MC was protecting. Though since this is a duology, I hope all this pendant stuff will be explained later.
I also struggled a bit with the setting. It's set in a futuristic America, where some cities are fenced off due to a deadly virus (coronavirus, anyone?), others are abandoned, and some are surrounded by walls. They all seemed very. . . normal, at least to me. Too normal. The world-building didn't play a big part in the story, so while it was futuristic, it felt just like our world today. No cool tech or anything. And most of the cities weren't abandoned.
CONTENT WARNINGS: A character smacks another character in the head with a stick, multiple attempted shootings, blood, a character gets his leg stuck in a trap, multiple kisses are mentioned briefly but not described (but not for romance purposes :P), multiple characters get shot and die (not described in detail).
Overall, while I struggled with some of the main aspects of the story, I do feel like this author created a dystopian novel that went against some of the cliches common in dystopian fiction, all while doing it in a clean way. The themes were true and realistic, and there wasn't any language. The writing style was clear and easy to understand, with some pretty quote-worthy lines thrown in. I would feel comfortable recommending this to my eleven-year-old brother and dystopian-loving middle-grade readers.
April 20, 2020
Thank you to Netgalley and BQB Publishing for providing a free eARC in exchange for an honest review *This in no way changed my opinion of the book*
A character overcoming a nation crumbling under deadly disease and coming to realize how important human connection is. That seems incredibly topical for the times we find ourselves currently in. Throw in escape from a detective and a mysterious pendant, and you have the makings of what could have been a great YA title. Unfortunately, this felt very disjointed to me, making it a mediocre YA title at best.
Lareina is given a mysterious necklace from a dying woman and is told to protect it with her life from a detective or something bad will happen. Along the way, she meets Nick and Aaron, who become her travel buddies. They get themselves in and out of situations on their long journey to Nebraska.
First off, let's start with the pendant. I kept waiting for an explanation. What is the pendant? Why do the detective and the people he's working for want it? What happens if it falls into the wrong hands? What happens if they both fall into the wrong hands? (Yup, there's two!) None of this is ever explained other than "it will be bad". I don't even know what they are other than a triangle shaped necklace. That's not a great place for the reader to be after finishing your book. The stakes could have felt higher, but they didn't, because for all you know, they're fighting over worthless plastic.
Lareina is an okay protagonist. She's a rough and tumble orphan, used to living on the streets and not trusting others, but longing for a family of her own. She meets Nick and Aaron and she starts to care about them. This isn't a new idea, but the friendship aspects were well done and build as they encounter multiple obstacles together, like gathering food, finding shelter, and escaping Detective Galloway. Aaron wants to be a doctor and is my favorite of the characters. He's very pleasant and happy-go-lucky. Nick, on the other hand, is a different story.
Nick Ziel is the worst, most selfish, self-righteous, hypocritical character I've had the displeasure of reading about in a long time. Lareina meets him when he falls into a hole, hurts himself and is trapped. She helps him and he proceeds to spend the rest of the book being a holier-than-thou jerk, constantly judging her for breaking into ABANDONED houses instead of freezing outside and for stealing ABANDONED food from said houses to survive. But he has no problem eating it when it's offered to him or "forcing" himself to live in these houses, as well. So he's doing the same thing, but judging Lareina and Aaron for it. He gets all bent out of shape about honesty, even when honesty at the moment will get him or his friends killed. And he does NOTHING! His main motivation is trying to find his friend, Ava, and he can't get the information to find her without Lareina's help. He can't get food on his own. He falls into traps on his own. Where he gets off with this attitude is beyond me, but he would have been dumped a long time ago, were I her.
My last big issue with this book is that the pacing starts off great and then grinds to a complete halt when the characters come across Oak Creek, a militarized development where people aren't given the choice to leave once they're there. Prior to this, any situation they get themselves into is done within a few chapters, which lends to the idea that they're running constantly. They reach Oak Creek in Chapter 16 and don't leave until Chapter 30. That's almost 1/3 of the book spent in this ONE place that ultimately adds very little to the story.
Me, the entire time they were at Oak Creek:
Oak Creek itself seems kind of like an above ground ripoff of District 13. It's there to be a temptation for the characters in that it offers stability, but without freedoms. It was a challenge to get through this part of the book. I kept waiting for it to get back to the plot with the pendant.
Overall, this read like the Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. It's essentially the same story: girl with mysterious power she doesn't understand finds friends and goes on a road trip to nowhere. If you really enjoyed the Darkest Minds, then you'd probably really like this. I wasn't in that camp, and so it was just okay for me. I didn't hate every part. Like I said, I enjoyed Lareina and Aaron. I can't get too much into the rest of the book without delving very deep into spoiler territory and I don't want to spoil anyone more than I already have. If you like that kind of sci-fi book, then I would recommend you try it. But if you don't, I would maybe skip it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
A character overcoming a nation crumbling under deadly disease and coming to realize how important human connection is. That seems incredibly topical for the times we find ourselves currently in. Throw in escape from a detective and a mysterious pendant, and you have the makings of what could have been a great YA title. Unfortunately, this felt very disjointed to me, making it a mediocre YA title at best.
Lareina is given a mysterious necklace from a dying woman and is told to protect it with her life from a detective or something bad will happen. Along the way, she meets Nick and Aaron, who become her travel buddies. They get themselves in and out of situations on their long journey to Nebraska.
First off, let's start with the pendant. I kept waiting for an explanation. What is the pendant? Why do the detective and the people he's working for want it? What happens if it falls into the wrong hands? What happens if they both fall into the wrong hands? (Yup, there's two!) None of this is ever explained other than "it will be bad". I don't even know what they are other than a triangle shaped necklace. That's not a great place for the reader to be after finishing your book. The stakes could have felt higher, but they didn't, because for all you know, they're fighting over worthless plastic.
Lareina is an okay protagonist. She's a rough and tumble orphan, used to living on the streets and not trusting others, but longing for a family of her own. She meets Nick and Aaron and she starts to care about them. This isn't a new idea, but the friendship aspects were well done and build as they encounter multiple obstacles together, like gathering food, finding shelter, and escaping Detective Galloway. Aaron wants to be a doctor and is my favorite of the characters. He's very pleasant and happy-go-lucky. Nick, on the other hand, is a different story.
Nick Ziel is the worst, most selfish, self-righteous, hypocritical character I've had the displeasure of reading about in a long time. Lareina meets him when he falls into a hole, hurts himself and is trapped. She helps him and he proceeds to spend the rest of the book being a holier-than-thou jerk, constantly judging her for breaking into ABANDONED houses instead of freezing outside and for stealing ABANDONED food from said houses to survive. But he has no problem eating it when it's offered to him or "forcing" himself to live in these houses, as well. So he's doing the same thing, but judging Lareina and Aaron for it. He gets all bent out of shape about honesty, even when honesty at the moment will get him or his friends killed. And he does NOTHING! His main motivation is trying to find his friend, Ava, and he can't get the information to find her without Lareina's help. He can't get food on his own. He falls into traps on his own. Where he gets off with this attitude is beyond me, but he would have been dumped a long time ago, were I her.
My last big issue with this book is that the pacing starts off great and then grinds to a complete halt when the characters come across Oak Creek, a militarized development where people aren't given the choice to leave once they're there. Prior to this, any situation they get themselves into is done within a few chapters, which lends to the idea that they're running constantly. They reach Oak Creek in Chapter 16 and don't leave until Chapter 30. That's almost 1/3 of the book spent in this ONE place that ultimately adds very little to the story.
Me, the entire time they were at Oak Creek:
Oak Creek itself seems kind of like an above ground ripoff of District 13. It's there to be a temptation for the characters in that it offers stability, but without freedoms. It was a challenge to get through this part of the book. I kept waiting for it to get back to the plot with the pendant.
Overall, this read like the Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. It's essentially the same story: girl with mysterious power she doesn't understand finds friends and goes on a road trip to nowhere. If you really enjoyed the Darkest Minds, then you'd probably really like this. I wasn't in that camp, and so it was just okay for me. I didn't hate every part. Like I said, I enjoyed Lareina and Aaron. I can't get too much into the rest of the book without delving very deep into spoiler territory and I don't want to spoil anyone more than I already have. If you like that kind of sci-fi book, then I would recommend you try it. But if you don't, I would maybe skip it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
March 14, 2020
Hope for the Best was actually better than I expected it to be. I don’t connect well with third person, but this was written well enough that the sentences flowed and I didn’t get confused with who was talking. Lareina was a likeable and tough character; she hasn’t had the easiest life and knows what she has to do to remain alive. Aaron was amazing from start to finish; he was calm, intelligent, and compassionate with everything they endured. I didn’t like Nick because of his mindset and also because the hot and cold games between him and Lareina were tiresome. Nick didn’t agree with Lareina stealing and lying in order to keep them alive and regularly picked fights with her about it. They would make up just for the cycle to quickly repeat. I was hoping he would change by the end of the book, but his character never grew.
I’m not sure if this is a standalone or a series/duology because it somewhat ends on a cliffhanger. Not to spoil anything, but the reader never gets the answers to important questions which inclines me to believe there will be another.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.
I’m not sure if this is a standalone or a series/duology because it somewhat ends on a cliffhanger. Not to spoil anything, but the reader never gets the answers to important questions which inclines me to believe there will be another.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.
April 6, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. I'll post that review upon publication.
UPDATED 4/6/20: Three stars
The description of this book spoke to me: young adult woman identifying character used to going rogue and surviving on her own outwits a nefarious character and makes friends after a period of lengthy isolation. Sounds promising! And some of these elements - particularly Lareina's free spirit and distrust of others - work.
From this read, I wanted some element of surprise, a faster pace, and a clear resolution to the central mystery surrounding the pendant. To touch on each of these points briefly, this is too predictable for a YA novel; readers can guess almost all elements of the plot very early on. What makes this variation different and/or memorable? Next, the characters' lives move so slowly and change very little in the context of this genre. There's a lot of walking, sitting, thinking about the weather...I'd have loved to see more character development and excitement in the plot, less description, and maybe 100 fewer pages. Finally, I found the ending incredibly unsatisfying. One element of the pendant issue gets resolved in a way that I found WAY too easy and potentially lazy. Another element of the pendant issue goes fully unresolved, and this drove me crazy. Please don't let me read hundreds of pages only to be left with important questions about a central concern. These points, and the extremely convenient coincidences, weakened my enthusiasm overall.
Lafleur uses a reader-friendly style and includes some intriguing ideas here, but I found this too expected in most ways and lacking in the ending.
UPDATED 4/6/20: Three stars
The description of this book spoke to me: young adult woman identifying character used to going rogue and surviving on her own outwits a nefarious character and makes friends after a period of lengthy isolation. Sounds promising! And some of these elements - particularly Lareina's free spirit and distrust of others - work.
From this read, I wanted some element of surprise, a faster pace, and a clear resolution to the central mystery surrounding the pendant. To touch on each of these points briefly, this is too predictable for a YA novel; readers can guess almost all elements of the plot very early on. What makes this variation different and/or memorable? Next, the characters' lives move so slowly and change very little in the context of this genre. There's a lot of walking, sitting, thinking about the weather...I'd have loved to see more character development and excitement in the plot, less description, and maybe 100 fewer pages. Finally, I found the ending incredibly unsatisfying. One element of the pendant issue gets resolved in a way that I found WAY too easy and potentially lazy. Another element of the pendant issue goes fully unresolved, and this drove me crazy. Please don't let me read hundreds of pages only to be left with important questions about a central concern. These points, and the extremely convenient coincidences, weakened my enthusiasm overall.
Lafleur uses a reader-friendly style and includes some intriguing ideas here, but I found this too expected in most ways and lacking in the ending.
March 1, 2021
This is a young adult coming-of-age adventure story set in 2090 about a girl trying to find her way in a world where a virus has decimated society. Despite the dystopian premise, it reminded me of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
The girl, Lareina, who has lived on her own since she was 12, rescues Nick, a naïve innocent and they soon add Aaron, a young man who wants to become a doctor to their team. Lareina is pursued by the mysterious Detective Galloway who wants a pendant that was given to Lareina by a friend before she dies. The group travels north from San Antonio hoping to catch a train to Nebraska.
The virus, climatic changes in the weather, and roving gangs and militias, along with the unstoppable Detective Galloway, create a myriad of challenges for the group on their journey.
This is an imaginative, fast-paced story. Highly recommended for any age group.
The girl, Lareina, who has lived on her own since she was 12, rescues Nick, a naïve innocent and they soon add Aaron, a young man who wants to become a doctor to their team. Lareina is pursued by the mysterious Detective Galloway who wants a pendant that was given to Lareina by a friend before she dies. The group travels north from San Antonio hoping to catch a train to Nebraska.
The virus, climatic changes in the weather, and roving gangs and militias, along with the unstoppable Detective Galloway, create a myriad of challenges for the group on their journey.
This is an imaginative, fast-paced story. Highly recommended for any age group.
September 24, 2019
This is a prerelease review of the book. I have heard about the story and done my research. The book is very promising and grabs my attention when I read what the book is about. I am looking forward to the book and most likely get the book.
-Walker Gullicksen
-Walker Gullicksen
May 2, 2020
Good concept but I couldn't get swept away in the story. I didn't care for the characters. Events felt disjointed. I'm not sure if it was the story or the writing style, this one just wasn't for me.
December 31, 2020
How did Vanessa Lafleur know that we would be living through a pandemic when her book was published? Uncanny!
Lareina (aka Rochelle), who has been entrusted with a small pendant, finds herself in danger as she travels her broken, decrepit world. Readers ride on freight trains, weather thunder storms, and harbor in evacuated houses with Lareina as she tries to keep both herself and the pendant safe from harm.
This was a fun read.
Donna O'Donnell Figurski
author of "Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale"
Lareina (aka Rochelle), who has been entrusted with a small pendant, finds herself in danger as she travels her broken, decrepit world. Readers ride on freight trains, weather thunder storms, and harbor in evacuated houses with Lareina as she tries to keep both herself and the pendant safe from harm.
This was a fun read.
Donna O'Donnell Figurski
author of "Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale"
December 31, 2020
How did Vanessa Lafleur know that we would be living through a pandemic when her book was published? Uncanny!
Lareina (aka Rochelle), who has been entrusted with a small pendant, finds herself in danger as she travels her broken, decrepit world. Readers ride on freight trains, weather thunder storms, and harbor in evacuated houses with Lareina as she tries to keep both herself and the pendant safe from harm.
This was a fun read.
Donna O'Donnell Figurski
author of "Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale"
Lareina (aka Rochelle), who has been entrusted with a small pendant, finds herself in danger as she travels her broken, decrepit world. Readers ride on freight trains, weather thunder storms, and harbor in evacuated houses with Lareina as she tries to keep both herself and the pendant safe from harm.
This was a fun read.
Donna O'Donnell Figurski
author of "Prisoners without Bars: A Caregiver's Tale"
March 1, 2021
Action-packed and vividly imagined, Lafleur’s Hope for the Best offers a thrilling glimpse into a future (but hauntingly familiar) world ravaged by a pandemic and coming apart at the seams. Seventeen-year-old Lareina is a true bad-ass— tough, prickly, resourceful, and loyal— and I was rooting for her from the very first page. With detailed scenes and evocative prose, Lafleur has crafted a page-turning adventure story that probes the question of who counts as family and where we call home.
June 6, 2023
This one for me would have been better situated as a middle grade title. It was super slow and well kind of boring. The title really does scream what I was hoping to get out of this book. I hoped for the best but it just didn't work out. For this one I could take it or leave it. And if you decide to check it out I hope the best for you. And well you might want to try the library first.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews