This Girl: A Novel (Slammed)

THIS IS ME SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!!!!! THIS. BOOK. IS. PHENOMENAL. I'm laughing. I'm crying. I'm shaking. It was perfect. Every single line was perfect. Beautiful. Heartbreak. Breathtaking. Unputdownable. Pure. butterflying. gold. 6 HUGE STARS!!! Books like this are the reason why I love reading. Colleen Hoover has outdone herself. She managed to take a story that we love and retell it from the hero's POV while still making every single word of it feel new, fresh and powerful. Yes, technically it's a retelling of Slammed from Will's POV but there is SO much more. There are new scenes, added story lines, and even a epilogue that is guaranteed to make your heart squeeze. Not one word of it felt repetitive. Reading this book was like taking a beautiful walk down memory lane. It's been over a year since I read Slammed and Point of Retreat. Those two books are one of the reasons I started blogging. Slammed was actually the first book ever that inspired me to write anything about it. At the time, it was only a small review paragraph where I tried to convey my love for the story but it was something. The depth to which those books hit me was unlike any other book I'd read at that point. I "felt" the story with every single part of my heart and soul. But before starting This Girl, I didn't have time to reread either of them and I wondered if I'd be able to connect to it as strongly as I did to the first two. But can I just say that barely 10 lines into the book, every, single emotion that the original books had instilled in me came flooding back. My heart clenched. My throat closed up. I was right back there. Right. There. In this beautifully crafted world, surrounded by the characters I'd come to love with my whole heart. There is something simply magical about reading a book that revisits characters you are already in love with. EVERYTHING just has so much more weight. It's like the best possible kind of reunion imaginable. Do you need to re-read Slammed and Point of Retreat before reading this? No. But you do need to read them at least once first? For sure! Without spoilers, I want to tell you a little about this book. The whole book is from Will's POV. I know it's being called "Slammed from Will's POV" but it is so much more . It actually takes place after Point of Retreat and is a continuation of their story in that respect. But, a major part of the book, is Lake asking Will what his perspective was on a lot of the things they went through together, and asking him things about himself that neither she nor us (the readers) knew. And because when you read this, you'll already know the general story, something as simple as this line can just make your breath catch: "I cross the street, unable to take my eyes off the girl in the U-Haul." And then, finally, after the alternate story of Slammed has been caught up, Will and Lake's story progresses even farther ((cue the squeeling)) including an absolutely perfect, utterly beautiful, heartwarming epilogue that literally left me smiling, crying and shaking. "She doesn't speak, but she doesn't have to. I know in these moments when it's just her and me and nothing else, that she truly, soul-deep, loves me." I could NOT put this book down. It was riveting, captivating, and I was so wrapped up in the story that I didn't even notice that I literally read until the sun came up. I wanted both to rush through it and yet also to read it as slow as possible to savor every and every world. It absolutely consumed me. This book was perfect from start to finish. It captured that heart-fluttering power of first love told from the POV of one of our favorite book heroes. Everything was just so emotionally charged - the flirting, the introduction, the crushing, the chemistry, the sheer, raw, passionate intensity that just rolled off the page. Like I said, perfect! "I can't remember feeling this way since... well, ever. It's new. It's scary. It's exciting. It's nerve-wracking. It's calming. It's every single emotion I've ever felt balled up into an intense urge to grab a hold of her and never let go." There are also new slams!! A few of them actually. And ohhhhh my are they ever beautiful! You know, I've never been into poetry, for some reason I just can't seem to get into it, but the slams in this series are just so POWERFUL that you can't help but "feel" them. For those of you who have yet to start this series, you should know that there is a reason that Colleen Hoover is getting the acclaim she's receiving right now. Everything about her writing - the story, the style, the characters, is simply breathtaking. The level of EMOTION that exists in nearly every line of this book is just overwhelming. I loved every minute. Her words speak straight to your soul. "I suddenly don't care where we are or who might be watching us. I have to kiss her. I have to." I laughed, I cried, and sometimes I laughed through my tears. And when the FULL understanding of the title hit me, I can't even describe to you what I felt. Just. WOW. My 6-star book list is reserved for those few books that, from start to finish, go above and beyond. That grab a hold of my heart so strongly that a year later, I can just pick the books up and the emotions are right THERE. That tell a story that is so beautiful, real, original, and powerful that it leaves a mark on my heart that I know will be there for ever. This book did that. Soul deep, guys. Just, butterflying perfect. 6 huge stars.

Anyone that has read "Slammed" or "Point of Retreat" by Colleen Hoover needs to pick up "This Girl." In "Slammed," and "Point of Retreat," Colleen introduced us to Lake and Will. "This Girl" is a follow up to the two books but is told in the point of view of Will Cooper. You get to go back and relive all the wonderful moments of the first two books but you get to hear it in Will's point of view. As much as I want to get into the book I don't want to spoil it for anyone that has not read the first two books in this series. With that being said I will say that Lake and Will have had several ups and downs in their lives and these stories show you that no matter how many times someone may get knocked down they have to get back up and live life. Will and Lake have learned to deal with so much pain and hurt at such a young age, but they finally find the one thing that will help them move on through life and that's the love and comfort they bring each other. They soon find out that family can be brought to you in all sorts of ways. *Will: "I don't know how one minute, a person can think his life is nothing more than a barren valley with nothing left to look forward to. Then, in the blink of an eye, someone can come along and change it with a simple smile." Hoover does a great job of dealing with sorrow and death but bringing out such raw emotion in her characters. I fell in "butterflying" love with these characters in the first two books and "This Girl" just brought the story to me in a whole new perspective but made me fall even more in love with Will Cooper. I rate this book at a 4.0 and would highly recommend picking up "Slammed" and "Point of Retreat" if you haven't read them and then jumping right into "This Girl."

Let me say this right off the bat. I ADORED Slammed and Point of Retreat. Adored them. They were two of my favorite books of 2012, and they are the two favorite reviews I have ever written. You can check them out here on my reviews on amazon. I especially loved Point of Retreat which is told through Will's POV. So when I heard that there would be a third book in the series telling Slammed's story through Will's eyes ... oh yeah! I was totally excited and rushed right out to get my own copy. Unfortunately I am going to have to go against an overwhelming sea of five star ratings here and only give this one three stars. Three stars because I liked it. I did. I just didn't love it. For me it did not live up to the level of the first two books of the series. Let me explain. I'm not going to spend any time explaining what happens in this book. If you've read Slammed you already know. If you haven't read Slammed, stop what you're doing right now and read it first. You won't be able to enjoy this one at all if you don't know the background behind what Will is explaining. I will explain that the framework of this story takes place where the first two books left off, during Will and Lake's honeymoon. I did not like the way this was framed at all. I would have much preferred to just read the story straight through, but at the beginning of each chapter there would be a short present day scene where Lake would prompt Will to tell more of the story of their history from his POV. Some of the reactions that took place during these scenes REALLY bothered me. A lot. There is a scene almost half-way through the book when Lake finds out that Will had gone on a date with a girl during the awkward stages of their non-relationship during the school year. One date. That's it. But Lake FREAKS out. Completely freaks out. She is laying in bed with her HUSBAND Will many, many months after this happened, and yet she is so angry that she locks herself in the bathroom and has a meltdown. This was such an immature, juvenile sort of reaction that I could see happening in junior high. It really bugged me and hurt a lot of my enjoyment of the story. Even more, it made me dislike Lake as a character, and I hate that I left this book feeling that way about a girl I loved so much after reading Slammed. Little things like this were happening all through these present day scenes. I would have rather eliminated them from the story. It would have improved things a lot. This is my own neurosis, but I have always disliked stories told in present tense. I learn to live with it, but I don't normally like it. I guess I can understand the honeymoon scenes being told in present tense, but as Will is telling Lake his story it would have made a lot more sense for that part of the book to be told in past tense ... the way all of us tell stories to our friends. It's a minor detail, but there it is. As for the story itself, here is where my major issue occurs. I loved the story of Lake and Will's relationship as it was told in Slammed. I could feel the despair she felt as she realized that she could not be with the guy she loved because of circumstances. I rooted for this couple to succeed ... somehow. I loved Will's POV in Point of Retreat, so I don't mind hearing his inner voice to tell a story. BUT in this book it made me very, very uncomfortable. I know that he is only 21 and only three years older than Lake. I know that at any other time in their lives this would not be a big deal. A year in the future this would not be a big deal, but let's face the facts. He is her English teacher. Like it or not, he is her English teacher. And no matter how perfect they may be for one another, there is no way to paint this situation where a relationship between them would be right. I understand their pain. I understand. But as I was reading page after page after page of Will's obsession with everything Lake I felt uncomfortable. Maybe it is because I have an 18 year-old daughter, but it kind of creeps me out to think about a teacher obsessing about a student like this. I hate to say it, but this story just had a weirder vibe when told from Will's POV. I still love the guy, and I'm happy they finally got their HEA, but I did not like the way the story flowed in his head. And for some reason when I hear this story told by Will I kept thinking that they fell in love WAY too fast. I didn't feel that way in Slammed, so maybe I'm just in a different place as a reader, but they had only been on one date before getting all obsessive about each other. An awesome date, yeah, but still only one date. And sadly, seeing Lake's actions toward him in this book made her seem petty and immature at times as she was constantly slamming doors after him all the time. Then having him constantly blaming himself for everything got terribly old. At one point in Will's story after he and Lake become an official item they are sitting at the club with Eddie and Gavin and this conversation takes place: "It'll take some getting used to. It just seems like you're doing something illegal," Eddie says. "I'm twenty-one," I say defensively. "I'm not even a teacher anymore. what's so weird about it?" "I dunno," she says. "It's just weird." "It is weird," Gavin says again. "It really is." And that pretty much sums up how I felt for a lot of Will's telling of this story. I hate that I felt that way. But it is what it is, I guess. Having said all of that ... I still did enjoy this book. It seems as if I had lots to hate about it, but in reality there was a lot to love about it as well. Who can turn down a chance to hear more about a favorite story, this time from the guy's POV? I would describe it as candy for fans of the Slammed universe. I LOVE the slam poetry sprinkled throughout this book. I could listen to Will perform these poems all day long. Fans of the series should find a lot to enjoy about this one. I think that if it had been published as a cheaper e-book addition to the series as so many of my favorite authors do for their fans it would have been better. Published as a full-priced book may be a bit misleading for this one. This is candy. A bonus for readers. I'm glad I got the chance to read it, but it does not stand anywhere near the quality of the main book of the series. I don't consider it to be an equal, and definitely not worth twice what I paid for the other books. I understand the reason for the pricing. And, of course, I paid it without regret. I just want to make clear my feelings about the quality of this book. Are you a fan of the series? Then I do recommend this book. It does have some great moments that we didn't get to see in Slammed. And I adored the epilogue. Will's poem at the end? Amazing! Unfortunately I'm going to have to go against the tide here and only give this one three stars. I liked it.

Holy SMOKERS Batman! This is by far THE.BEST.BOOK.EVER! I about died while reading about Will and Lake again. This book, THIS ONE,made all of my dreams come true. I couldn't have asked for a better book. Will and Layken are two people that will forever hold a place in my heart. Seriously! No jokes about that one. I was utterly taken with The Coopers and The Cohens! When I first started reading This Girl last night, I instantly started to cry. My emotions runneth over. But not in a bad way, it was all wholesome yay this is really happening tears. Ok, so after my tears I was full of anxiety....I was anxious to see how Will portrayed everything. Now, don't get me wrong, I freaking LOVE POV's from men-they're always better. And I love Will, but I was all nerved up to see how he was going to portray EVERYTHING! Basically I was a fruit cake with crazy thoughts. Will Cooper is a freaking GOD! That man is sweeter than candy....oh and the way he loves Layken killed me little by little. Alright, I am alive, but you get what I am saying. He melted me! I'm totally completely IN LOVE with THE COOPERS! Yes plural, not just Will but Layken too! Oh and Kal and Caulder <3 So after that little spiel, let me add this was the best ending to a series. Not only was it EPIC, it was beautifully written. I, myself, couldn't have asked for a better ending to a series. Really, I was floored. My mouth was agape at certain points in the story, tears would sting the back of my eyes, I would be a blubbering mess at points, and anxiety would strike me too. Now these are all feelings that I ONLY get, when I am so enthralled and feel everything in the story. I felt like Ms. Hoover displayed Will and Layken's love for one another fantastically. A[...] love! Will's side of Slammed just amazes me. Author Colleen Hoover had me falling in love all over again. It was like I was reading Slammed for the first time. But then I would have a mini flashback play throughout my head, like a movie reel, showing me everything that Layken felt, said, and did. Only, it was new because it was all Will. Oh dear goodness, and then you have Eddie and Gavin and it was such a different way to see those two too. I STILL absolutely love them. Gavin, he made me squeel a bit, ok Will did more, but Gavin is just great too! And Eddie she is such a wonderful BFF to Layken, and Gavin to Will. These two couples are it for me. You know what would be amazing? If we got a Gavin and Eddie book. Right?!?!? Who is with me? I would love to see how their life turns out after their bundle of joy is welcomed into this world....yeh that would be freaking awesome!! Ohhhh Ms. Hoover you have OUTDONE yourself yet again!! For cereal, This Girl blew me out of the water! I cannot say how much I LOVE Will and Layken and their crew. HANDS.DOWN.BEST.SERIES.EVER! Who knew my emotions would be all over the map. At times it felt like I was preggers again, I would be laughing, then all of the sudden crying, or just plain upset with the scenario happening. Like I said previously, my Emotions Runneth Over. This Girl not only gives us Will's POV, but it brings everything to a whole. A whole lot of love, happiness, and some sadness. But all and all This Girl shows us that love really does always complete you. Just take a look at Mr. and Mrs. Will Cooper! Fave Quotes or Sayings: "Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall together." --Layken "I need to find out her name. If I know her name I can look up her Facebook page and at least see that she's single." --Will "I've never wanted to be a coffee cup so bad in my life." --Will "Then this girl completely shatters the window to my soul and crawls inside." --Will "Every minute I was around you, I just fell harder and harder in crush with you." --Layken "You.Always.You." --Will

While Will's POV from Slammed isn't necessary to perpetuate my sheer love for this series by Colleen Hoover, especially since Point of Retreat was from his POV, I will not deny my utter excitement at getting another book from Colleen featuring Will and Lake. Book retellings can be a tricky business and are not always done right. I'm not a fan of simply cutting and pasting previous scenes and then just reconfiguring things to change the speaker/voice. This is where Colleen Hoover got everything right. This novel, for me, was the perfect retelling of a story from another character's POV, and Will is the perfect narrator. What makes THIS GIRL so special and unique? 1. We get not only Will's POV from Slammed, but we additionally get his POV while he and Lake are on their honeymoon. So we get the past and present mixed together. It's basically a story within a story. This could not have been done better. 2. We get Will's POV during the scenes with him and Lake during Slammed. But Colleen didn't fall into the old 'cut-and-paste' method with a few internal thoughts thrown in here and there. We get a full immersion into Will's psyche and truly get to see each situation from his deep POV, no stone unturned. Additionally, I loved the interactions between Will and Lake after he would tell her each mini-story and how together they would reflect on the different ways they saw each situation and how they were able to come together, understanding the other a little bit better after seeing the other side of the story. 3. We get lots of bonus material about Will himself: who he was before Lake, what happened with him while Lake wasn't around, how much he was dedicated to her during those really difficult times, his relationship with Julia, his relationship with Caulder and Kel, his relationship with Gavin. All of these things made me fall in love with Will over and over again. 4. We get new honeymoon scenes that prove how compatible and wonderful Will and Lake are together. While it is obvious they are on their honeymoon having sex (refer to Kiersten's definition), there is nothing overly steamy or graphic, and any sex scenes eventually go fade to black, so the audience for this book remains consistent with the audience for Slammed and Point of Retreat. 5. We get more slam poetry!! Including beautiful slams from Will!! 6. We get a beautiful, heartfelt, poignant, and perfect epilogue. You will rejoice with Will and Lake and their future, and the beauty of their life together. You will swoon over Will all over again. And Colleen somehow was able to involve all the pertinent players from the books into the epilogue. Girlfriend knows how to leave her readers happy! Bottomline: This is the perfect bonus ending to the Slammed series. I will miss journeying with Will and Lake into their future, but their future is bright and my thoughts for them will forever be happy. This is a series I will read over and over, and Will's POV is the metaphorical cherry on top. Thank you, Colleen, for your writing genius!

I guess being the third book of a series, it’s possible that someone hasn’t read the first two books. This book recaps the first two books, which makes it a bit redundant. But at the same time it’s very well written (as all of Colleen Hoover’s books are) and flips back and forth from present to the recap of the past. The happy ending is predictable, but in a good way. It leaves me wanting more of Will and Lake and the family they make

'I can't remember feeling this way since . . . well, ever. It's new. It's scary. It's exciting. It's nerve-racking. It's calming. It's every single emotion I've ever felt balled up into an intense urge to grab hold of her and never let go.' Oh. My gawd. I can't believe it's all over, what am I gonna do without these people in my life? This series and this author have forced so many emotions out of me I don't know how I survived it. There were times I actually had to stop reading and step back for a minute because I could not see through my tears. If you're reading this review and are about to start this book then I assume you've already read 'Slammed' & 'Point of Retreat'so there's no need to rehash the story. If you haven't read them yet, you really should because.... 1) well, they are just that amazing, emotionally charged & life changing 2) it's best to start at the beginning or you will miss way to much information 3) see #1 again because really, it just needs to be said 'The way she refers to me as "Mr. Cooper" makes me scowl. I hate the fact that I'm her teacher. I'd so much rather be her Will.' I really wasn't sure what to expect going into this, I honestly thought it was just gonna be Slammed in Will's POV and it was to an extent...but it was so sooo much more than that. Will is relating his side of the story to Lake on their honeymoon at her insistence, it's not just about us seeing it, she wants to understand what was going on in his head at the time. In between his flashbacks, we keep coming back to the here & now so we also get to see Lake's reaction to it. I really truly loved the way this book unfolded. 'She doesn't speak, but she doesn't have to. I know in these moments, when it's just her and me and nothing else, that she truly, soul-deep loves me.' Yes you do relive alot from Slammed, but it seems so completely different & fresh from Will's side. There are also new scenes thrown in, stuff that happened that we didn't know about at the time, and Lake doesn't take all of them so well. There are new slams YAYYYY, I love those. Gavin surprised me, Eddie was as hyper as ever, Kiersten was her butterflying honest self... "He's lying to both of you because he thinks you're still nine years old. A honeymoon is when newlyweds have sex, traditionally for the first time. But in some cases," she rolls her head toward Gavin, "people get ahead of themselves." Kel & Caulder were as funny as ever... "Suck and sweet time" "Me first," Caulder says. "My sweet is that me and Kel are finally brothers. My suck is that I now know what Will and Layken did during their honeymoon." "I second that," Kel says. Julia never fails to bring tears to my eyes, I miss that woman so very much. There are stars, we carve pumpkins, and cry a whole lotta tears. Some old tears come back to visit with a vengeance, while some new tears join in, but fear not- there are happy tears as well. This author never fails to bring me to my knees. The epilogue was a thing of beauty, utterly perfect, total sob-fest. No matter how many time I reread this series (and believe me, I will) it will ALWAYS affect me, it will ALWAYS stay with me, I will forever love everyone in it & will miss them dearly. However, I'm so very glad they finally get their HEA, they have definitely earned it. Damn, I almost feel like I'm saying goodbye to some of my very best friends. There are still tears in my eyes as I write this, I know I know-I'm a big baby, deal with it I have Lol ;) "You want to know my sweet?" I ask her. She nods. I kiss her on the forehead. "You. Always you." "Think what you want, but there isn't a single woman in this whole damn universe that I could ever love like I love you."

This book was to much like the second book! It was a great series except this last one! Could have came up with better cont