My BUTTERFLYING reviews of Slammed, Point of Retreat, and This Girl

Just like all of you lovelies that have discovered how AHHHHHmazing Colleen Hoover is, I discovered this gem back in October with SLAMMED, fell even more for Point of Retreat and then was completely BLOWN AWAY over Hopeless, then finally felt like she owned a piece of my heart and soul after completing This Girl... 

I was given the amazing opportunity to read This Girl by Netgalley and loved it so much that I bought a copy of it. 

Even though I am sad that Will and Layken's stories are done I am so glad I can reread them whenever I want! 

SO here is what I thought about all three of these books in this amazing series..

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

My Thoughts:

I.LOVED.IT

This was so different from the other books that I was reading. Of course it had the love/romance aspect but it also had SO.MUCH.MORE.

It had characters that were so well-rounded and amazing that there was not a character in the book that I did not love.

Layken was a very stubborn teenager (those really exist?? NO WAY!!) she was still in pain from losing her father and she was forced into a role as the rock, the comforter, the strong one for everyone else while she internally held onto her emotions. She didn't want to move away from the only home she has ever known and start a new school where she would not know anyone. But on the first day of her move she meets her quite delicious neighbor, Will.

Will takes care of his brother while working to finish his degree. He works hard and does not have time for anything other than school, work, and his brother Caulder. When he enters Layken's life, not only is her world turned upside down but so is Will's. 

They are so amazing together but when things happen and they are torn apart before they can even get started, you are left feeling heart broken for both of them. 

Layken has to deal with a lot in this book: grief, forgiveness, heartbreak, and you are feeling every emotion right along with her.

This book was so emotional and I cried buckets, I couldn't put it down and if anyone tried to get my attention while I read, they were liable to get their heads chewed off.. I just loved every stinkin minute of this book, especially the poetry..

OH the poetry was epic and I pretty much highlighted the whole book by the end.

The ending is happy and the readers are left wanting more which brings me into the next one:

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 relationship was built. Will is forced to face the ultimate challenge…how to prove his love for a girl who refuses to stop ‘carving pumpkins.’

My Thoughts:

OH EM GEE this book was the epitome of a cluster fuck of emotions. I was happy, sad, heartbroken, horny (seriously the sexual tension was so damn overwhelming!!) and left wanting so much more. 

At first I was not happy about how this book ended, I wanted more and to know more about the characters, this was of course before This Girl was going to come out so thank goodness Colleen Hoover wrote another book to round out their lives and stories, so completely. 

Layken and Will's story picked up where it left off in Slammed and this time the book is in Will's POV, and we finally get to see the inside of his delicious head. 

But this time there is so much more drama between the two characters, and you would think that after all the hardships and heartbreaks from the first book that the second would be smooth sailing.. but of course that wouldn't be much fun..

All the other characters in the first book is present in the second and there are more added to make the book so much more amazing and dramatic that you are damn near tense with anxiety the whole book. 

Layken is still as stubborn as ever and still the rock that holds them all together but there were certain parts that I wanted to shake her and scream!!! 

She started college and with the passing of her mother, she is now the permanent caregiver of her little brother, Kel. 

You see her juggling everything on her own and you fall in love with her character even more. 

Will is just as amazing as he was in the first book. He is so talented with his words that you fall in love with him over and over again. He decided to not work but only focus on getting his masters degree when his evil little ex whore girlfriend shows up completely throwing everything out of sync. 

Ahh but the drama does not stop there folks, there is also something that happens in the middle of the book that leaves you holding your breath until almost the very end. You are left on the edge of your seat, trying to keep yourself from peeking at the end of the book to see what happens so your nerves can have a break from being tense and sad. 

But waiting is totally worth it and the book ends on a special occasion that leads readers to the last and final book:

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 hispoint of view. Their future rests on how well they deal with the past in this final installment of the beloved Slammed series

My  Thoughts:

*SwOoOOooN*

I always wondered how Will felt during Slammed because he was so hot/cold towards Layken that I never could understand it. But now gaaaahhh I <3 him even more!! 

I got to relive one of my favorite books through the other character's eyes and it was swoon-worthingly amazing!! 

This book also brought the whole series full-circle and you get an awesome Epilogue that rounds off the characters, making it a wonderful goodbye to Layken and Will.

In this book Will and Layken are married and enjoying all their extracurricular activities in  their hotel room when Layken suddenly wants to know all about what Will thought about the first time they met and all the way until he graduated college. 

His POV is so very swoon-worthy and the book is not the EXACT same as it was in Slammed. There are new elements thrown in and even more amazing poetry, by the always sexy, Will. 

Oh his way with words could make any girls panties drop. 

I was afraid that it had been so long since I read Slammed that I would not remember anything but I am glad it had been a while since I read it because I got to experience every emotion like it was my first time.

I laughed, cried, got frustrated, and experienced every other emotion that you can imagine. 

Layken is still the same stubborn, sweet, person and Will is still the same swoon-worthy, level headed person that they were in the other two books. 

There is not much I can say about this book other than how amazing it was because it was similar to Slammed BUT the new information that you get when you read this one makes this book that much better.. 

 I really can't express enough how much I LOVED this series!! It was amazing, steamy, frustrating, heartbreaking, and every other emotion you can imagine. 

You fall in love with characters and pretend they are living, breathing people (ok maybe that was just me but still). You laugh and cry with them and I am sad to see them go but happy that I got to be apart of their lives.  

Colleen Hoover is an amazing writer and I can't believe that she is a writer, mother, and a ninja.. she must secretly have a twin because I can't imagine all the crime fighting, ass kicking, and booger wiping she does on a daily basis and then produce such heart warming stories that are left in your mind MONTHS after reading them. True talent right there!.

AND I also heard she was actually pretty sweet and kind..

 GAAHH GIVE this woman a medal ;)!!

I give the series a 5/5  and I can't wait to read more from Colleen Hoover!!

Here are some Snippets from each book:

“God Layken. How do you do it? she says. She blows her nose and grabs another tissue out of the box. How do I do what? I sniff as I continue to wipe the tears from my eyes. How do you not fall in love with him? The tears begin flowing just as quickly as they had ceased. I grab yet another tissue. I don't not fall in love with him. I don't not fall in love with him a lot!” 

-Slammed-

“Never judge others. You both know good and well how unexpected events can change who a person is. Always keep that in mind. You never know what someone else is experiencing within their own life.” 

-Slammed-

“I got schooled this year
by
a
boy.
A boy that I'm seriously, deeply, madly, incredibly, and undeniably inlove with.
And he taught me the most important thing of all...
To put the emphasis
On life .” 

-Slammed-

And no, I don't need days , or weeks , or months to think about why I love you.
It's an easy answer for me.
I love you because of you .
Because of
every 
single 
thing 
about you .” 

-Point of Retreat-

“I know how you like to be asked and not told. But I'm not asking you to marry me...I'm telling you to marry me, Lake.. because I can't live without you.” 

-Point of Retreat-

“If I were a carpenter, I would build you a window to my soul. But I would leave that window shut and locked, so that every time you tried to look through it all you would see is your own reflection. You would see that my soul is a reflection of you.”

-Point of Retreat-

"Layken Cooper, I love you. I've loved you since the second I laid eyes on you and I haven't stopped loving you for a second since"

-This Girl-

"If you throw this ugly shirt away, I'm divorcing you."..."Finally! You love my ugly shirt"

-This Girl-

"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."

-This Girl-

If you want to purchase them on Amazon here are the links: