Publisher: Atria Books
Stars: 3.5/5
Source: NetGalley
There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.REVIEW
Colleen Hoover’s New York Times bestselling Slammed series has brought countless readers to their knees with a whirlwind of love, passion, and heartache.
Layken and Will’s love has managed to withstand the toughest of circumstances and the young lovers, now married, are beginning to feel safe and secure in their union. As much as Layken relishes their new life together, she finds herself wanting to know everything there is to know about her husband, even though Will makes it clear he prefers to keep the painful memories of the past where they belong. Still, he can’t resist his wife’s pleas and so he begins to untangle his side of the story, revealing for the first time his most intimate feelings and thoughts, retelling both the good and bad moments, and sharing a few shocking confessions of his own from the time when they first met.
In This Girl, Will tells the story of their complicated relationship from his point of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series.
The third part to the Slammed series is Slammed all over again, only in Will's perspective! It's told in flashbacks and is narrated by Will to Layken during their honeymoon. I do not enjoy same-story-from-another-character's-perspective kind of novels... Usually, I find it to be a waste as I rarely feel like I come away with much.
While I did want to read This Girl, I believed it wasn't a MUST HAVE... I'd much rather read about a ten-years-later plotline featuring Kel, Kierstan and Caulder! As far as I could see it, Will and Lake's story was done. While I stand by my initial opinion, I did enjoy reading This Girl.
The main reason? The nostalgia factor! Slammed, for me, was a terrific novel. It remains my favourite of the series. Apart from introducing me to slam poetry, it was heartache and heartbreak rolled into one. This Girl was a great way to revisit the beginnings of Lake and Will's relationship. They had some really cute moments and a ton of "Oh crap this is not happening!" moments. Will's perspective did shed light on some of his decisions early on. There was also a lot that happened during Slammed from Will's side that Lake (and we) didn't have a clue about! Will and Lake's mother were better acquainted than we thought, for one. I also loved the Will-Caulder-Kel moments we weren't privy to in Slammed!
Revisiting my favourite slams by Lake and Will, especially Schooled and the Lake poem were an added bonus! Learning a little more about what happened in the months between Slammed and Point of Retreat that was merely mentioned in the second part was also great. However, I did not enjoy the parts of the story set in the present, during the honeymoon, as most of their conversations didn't flow naturally. They felt very orchestrated... just to trigger relevant flashbacks in chronological order.
If you love what you've read of the Slammed series, I'm guessing no one can stop you from picking This Girl up! While the parts set in the present, which, except for the very end, made me roll my eyes... most of the flashbacks were fun. Some of the parts that I found cutest in Slammed reduced me to mush all over again (The first date! Carving pumpkins!). Some details made my mouth go slack and by the time we cut to Lake surprising Will with 'Schooled'- I was swooning all over again! This time, WITH Will. There is a lot that happened in Slammed that Lake knew nothing about. I think that ultimately made This Girl more than just a different way of reading Slammed all over again.
Rating: ★★★1/2
I didn't know there was a third in this series (I still have not read 1 & 2!) but this sounds good :)
ReplyDeleteI have Slammed, after reading Hopeless and Losing Hope and falling in love with Hoover, but I think I am only going to read Slammed and stop, the follow up books sound like they will disappoint. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI read Hoover's Hopeless recently, but I had some mixed thoughts. I've heard Slammed is better though so I'm still looking forward to giving this series a try. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Lovely review. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this as well, but I didn't need to read it. Slammed and PofR were perfect just leaving things as they were. We did get some nice scenes after the story and I was happy about that. Great review, Pooja. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review, thanks. I think i have to give a try to the series.
ReplyDeleteFor passionate readers like we all, I came across a real-time marketplace, where we can buy / sell new or used books at the best price by bargaining online "www.mydeals247.com". Just have a look, you won't be disappointed.