Point of Retreat (Slammed #2) by Colleen Hoover

Book cover from goodreads

Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover

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.’ (goodreads description)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I give Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover 5/5 stars for being absolutely amazing and definitely less gloomy this time around. (Less gloomy equals less blubbering, on my part, which is definitely a good thing.)


Disclaimer:

Once again, like my review on Slammed, I have found myself completely emotional and struggling to write yet another review for this series. It will be short and sweet but I would give nothing less for such an amazing novel. 

Once of my biggest concern for Point of Retreat was the switch to Will's POV. It almost made me not want to continue the series (I have issues with male POV's). I'm so glad I didn't listen to myself. I would have missed out!


Point of Retreat obsession:

I would love to begin this review by point out that Ms. Hoover has mad skills. I’m not sure why it took me so long to start the Slammed series but I’m sure glad I did. I’ve cried, screamed, swooned, and straight-out want to punch a character in the face. Altogether, Slammed was one of the best books (series) of the year. I’m now eagerly and impatiently waiting for the next installment,Will s Story, due out in 2013. *finger crossed the release dates moves up*


Point of Retreat review:

Point of Retreat begins exactly where Slammed ended. From the epilogue, inSlammed, we find out that it has been an entire year since Layken Cohen and Will Cooper finally became an official couple. Much is happened in the past year, more importantly speaking, Layken and Kel’s mom Julie has inevitably passed in September from lung cancer. Since this is the case, Layken is now the sole guardian of Kel making her predicament very similar to Will and Caulder’s. 

However, of course, there wouldn’t be another novel unless there was more drama arising to destroy Layken and Will’s perfect world. That ‘drama’ is in the form of Will’s ex, Vaugh Gibson. From Slammed, we learned that Vaugh was Will’s girlfriend for the two years before his parents died. Their relationship, ended after Vaugh left Will heartbroken two weeks after his parents died. What a swell girl, huh? Oh you just wait. It gets better.


Recommend?:

Yes!. Point of Retreat is a perfect secondary novel to follow Slammed. 


Notes:

Once again, I find myself thrilled by the whole idea of slam poetry. I think the whole concept is brilliant and I really wish I could make one of my own. We’ll see. I may even post it later to this review. 

Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honestly, if I could give Slammed by Colleen Hoover more than a 5/5 star rating, I would in a heartbeat. That is how much I love Slammed. 


Disclaimer:

Due to the blubbering mess that has become of me since finishing Slammed, I’m afraid this novel will not get a proper review until I can control myself. Having said this, I will at least attempt to write some sort of review onSlammed for the time being. 


My attempt at some sort of Slammed review:

First and foremost, I feel the need to explain how much of a disadvantage I was at going into this novel. For the friends who recommended Slammed to me, I hate you all for giving me the wrong impression! I was completely unprepared for this novel. 

From the synopsis, the reader is made aware that 18-year-old Layken Cohen has recently lost her father. Though I fully understand the emotional fallout that would accompany such a tragedy, I was by no means expecting the novel to be as heart-wrenching as it was. 

On a more positive and less depressing note, I thought it was really awesome and such a cool idea how Ms. Hoover integrated slam poetry into her novel. I, for one, have never been too enthusiastic when it came to poetry to begin with but I have to admit, I may like this concept of slam poetry. I would love to actually see it in person one day. 


Reminiscing...

The only background knowledge I had on this type of poetry prior to the novel dates back to that movie made back in 1999 called Drive Me Crazy(based on the popular song by Britney Spears). You know the one with Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier? I remember the scene where character Adrian Grenier plays, Chase Hammond, is sitting in a coffee shop with his girlfriend and someone (maybe his girlfriend) is performing slam poetry. That is as far as my memory stretches so if I missed a detail, oh well, it was 13 years ago. 


Recommend?:

Absolutely. Slammed is such as amazing novel, I would recommend it to any looking for a very powerful read. Yes, I won’t mislead anyone. This novel deals with intense topics that will bring out the water works.