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There are two sides to every love story. Now hear Will’s.
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.
Then this girl...Holy hell, this girl...
It's almost as if the moment we said "I do" yesterday, the hardships and heartaches we faced as individuals were meshed, making our pasts lighter and easier to carry. From this point on I'll be able to do that for her. Should there be any more burdens I'll be able to carry them for her. It's all I've ever wanted to do for this girl since the moment I first laid eyes on her."Layken and Will are one of my favorite book couples. I totally fell in love with them during Slammed and Point of Retreat and This Girl is just sheer perfection. Not only do we get to be on their honeymoon with them, but we also get to hear Will's side of their story and Lake's new reaction to his thoughts and feelings in the past. So the story is flipped and twisted and I totally fell in love with them all over again.
"You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to my life,"...Then this girl completely shatters the window to my soul and crawls inside.
We see Will's struggle between doing the right thing and what he desperately wants. We get to be inside situations we were not privy to in the first two books when they were from Lake's POV. Lake's insecurity is still somewhat present, but now it is in the safe enclosure of their marriage. So now they are able to freely talk about things that have bothered them in the past or that they wondered about and were too scared to confront previously. The chapters alternate from present to the past, but are introduced clearly and flow well.
We get the longing, heartache, guilt, jealousy, fear, need and love all from Will's perspective. And we see Lake presently gain more understanding of their past. It made my heart both hurt and rejoice all over again as they went through their struggles, separations, pain, and happy times. Will and Lake truly belonged together and they had so much stacked against them in their young lives. But despite that, their feelings were true, strong and would not be denied. I loved the swoony new additions to their present story, especially the end and epilogue. It truly made my heart happy!
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.
This was the perfect ending to this wonderful, emotional, trilogy. These characters and their story will remain one of my all time favorites.
This review was based off a kindle version of This Girl purchased at Amazon. Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an review copy as well. Thanks to Atria for providing paperback copy.
“Sometimes two people need to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together."I take her hand and rest it between us, then stroke the back of it with my thumb. "Let's not fall apart again," I whisper.
She looks me in the eyes. "Never.” (quote from e-version)
I am going to keep my review short and sweet. As I have said on several occasions, Colleen Hoover does not disappoint! This Girl did not disappoint, Colleen Hoover NAILED Will's story of how he and Layken met. I fell head over heels in love with this couple all over again. I loved reading their troubles and angst from his side of things. I wouldn't say that you have to go back and read Slammed again to follow along, but for me the minute I finished it I had to reread Point of Retreat for some reason, I NEEDED more Will and Lake from his point of view. Even though it has been at least a year since I read this series, I slid right back into it from page one. However, This Girl is definitely not a stand alone.Thank you, Colleen for providing us with an amazing and sweet ending!
"I lie back on my pillow and think back to that day. The day that I fell for my wife"(quote from e-version)
Slammed was so angsty and emotionally intense, and only told their relationship through Lake's eyes, so it was really nice to see Will's feelings and take on things as he reminisces with Layken, while on their honeymoon about their struggles through that first year. I had fun watching Lake's range of emotions and reactions as she first hears about some of the key moments that played a major role in their journey from her husband's point of view. This Girl was more of a quiet content kind of read, much lighter even though we take a look back at the angsty scenes that made and broke our favorite hero and heroine. However, it was still somewhat emotional revisiting the intense moments with them. There was nothing better than digging deep into his mind and watching Will fall head over heels in love with Layken all over again.
While I adored every word written, my favorite part of this read was visiting with Will, Lake, Kel, Caulder, Julia, Eddie and Gavin again. It was like coming home and visiting with old friends. In my humble opinion,
I just have to finish with this quote because it is one of my faves from the book. I love Kel and Caulder, love them to pieces. I sure will miss them as much as I miss Will and Layken.
“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.”(quote from e-version)
A little sad to see it all end, but I feel Colleen couldn't have given them a more perfect ending! This series has definitely become a sweet for me; my suck is that it is ending.
Thank you to NetGalley for proving me with a copy of This Girl to review for my honest opinion. Thanks to Atria for providing paperback copy.
Kim's 5 star review
Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.
Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.
Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.
Kim's 5 star review
Hardships and heartache brought them together…now it will tear them apart. Layken and Will have proved their love can get them through anything; until someone from Will’s past re-emerges, leaving Layken questioning the very foundation on which their relationshipwas built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkin.
Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. She released her debut novel, SLAMMED, in January 2012 and the follow-up novel, POINT OF RETREAT, in February, 2012 both of which became NYT's bestsellers. In December, 2012, she published a standalone novel, HOPELESS, that went on to become a #1 NYT's bestseller.
As a "Thank you" to her fans, she went on to write the male point of views of both SLAMMED and HOPELESS. THIS GIRL, (Will's pov plus a lot more) was released in April and LOSING HOPE will be released in July.
She is currently working on two standalone novels, UGLY LOVE and MAYBE SOMEDAY, both of which will be released in 2014.
1 comments
AWESOME series
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