Point of Retreat
by Colleen Hoover
Published by Simon & Schuster UK
Book 2 in the Slammed series
Layken and Will have managed to overcome the obstacles that threatened to destroy their love, proving that they are destined for one another.
What they are about to learn, however, is that the things that have brought them together may be the very things that ruin their connection forever…
Layken is left second-guessing the relationship whilst Will is jumping over hurdles to prove his love for her. What the young lovers discover about themselves along this journey may change their entire world and the lives of those who depend upon them the most...
Age Recommendation:
14+
Genre:
Young Adult
Romance
Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover is the second book in her Slammed series, and this time is written from the point of view of Will. It begins a few weeks after the first book left off. Will and Lake have been happily together for over a year, and despite the stress they both go through raising their younger brothers, they find themselves blissfully happy. Until something happens that leaves Lake questioning if Will loves her for the right reasons. While Will does all he can to prove that he loves Lake for her, life proves that the unexpected can happen in the blink in the eye, and change their lives forever.
Woah. So once again I was left really loving this book. Despite it being young adult, despite no smut, I was enthralled with this book, just as much as the last one. I was a little worried going in - a whole book with Will just trying to prove his love? And while that is an important part of the book, it's not all it is. So if you have the same concern going in as me, don't. There is enough plot here to keep you interested. The romance is still great. If you are looking for steam, you won't get it. It's your typical young adult romance - kissing, making out, and fade to black sex. Very teenager appropriate, in my opinion, but definitely still enjoyable as an adult. I totally related to Lake questioning why Will loved her. I think if you haven't been in a similar situation, you wouldn't get it. For myself, I got pregnant at 18. With twins. I was in my senior year of high school. My now husband and me were together for six months at that point. No one - friends and family included - didn't think we would make it as a couple. Totally invited them to our wedding. Any way, as you can imagine, there were many times over the years where I would question why my husband loves me. In harder times, I wondered if it was because it was easier to stick around, then having to deal with custody and everything that would need to happen if we weren't together. And while I know that he loves me for me, it is very realistic to wonder, especially if you are going through a hard time. So I appreciated that storyline. I think my only issue is that while Slammed felt realistic to me, Point of Retreat felt more ... unrealistic. ------------spoiler----------> I'm sorry, but two adults agreeing to no sex for a year ... and it last longer than that? Listen, I don't think it's crazy for a couple to wait (well, I couldn't do it, but that's me), but these are two adults, who want to have sex. They love each other. And they wait. Over. A. Year? They live across the street from one another. They are the heads of their family. Nope. I don't think that's realistic. <---------------------
If you loved Slammed, you gotta read Point of Retreat. A new point of view is refreshing, and seeing everything from Will's eyes makes you fall for Will even more. Great story, wonderful character building and relationship development, and while once again an emotional one, an all around great book that I urge you to read.
Kiersten haha
I love the stars gift from Julia
I love that Will knows it's bad when Lake starts alphabetizing things
Kiersten calling Gavin a little bitch is everything. haha
Will's slam telling Lake what he loves about her
Gavin seeing his baby girls heartbeat and him finally accepting he is going to be a dad
Will promising Kel that no matter what happens, Kel is staying with him
Will leaving the purple hairclip in Lake's hand when he got to see her after her surgery
Will reading stars to Lake while she is in a coma
Will helping Lake bath
Will talking to Kierstan's bullies and standing up to the principal on Dad's day
Caulder's slam to Will <3
The wedding
Love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hardest things in the world to hold on to, and one of the easiest things to throw away. 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 . . . Will: “Well, you two have it all figured out. What do you need me for?”
Caulder: “Someone has to pay for the pizza,” Lake: “I hate that they’re so damn funny. It’s just gonna get harder, you know. We really need to start beating them now, before it’s too late.”
She closes the lid and walks the cake to the refrigerator.
Will: “Tomorrow,”
I say as I wrap my arms around her from behind.
Will: “We can’t beat Kel on his birthday.” Will: “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
She shoots me a dirty look.
Lake: “Do you want me to punch you in the face or the nuts?” Sometimes two people have to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together. —AUTHOR UNKNOWN Kiersten: “What’s going on with you and Layken?”
She looks at me like she deserves an answer.
Will: “Kiersten? Hasn’t your mother ever told you it’s rude to be nosy?”
She shakes her head.
Kiersten: “No, she says the only way to get the facts is to ask the questions.” Kiersten: “She thinks you’re a jerk. She said you were an asshole, a dickhead, a bas—”
Will: “A bastard. I know, I get it. What else did she say?”
Kiersten: “She didn’t tell me why she was mad at you, but she’s really mad at you. I don’t know what you did, but she’s at her house right now, cleaning like a psycho. When she opened the door, she had hundreds of index cards all over the living room floor. It looked like recipes or something.”
Will: “Oh God, she’s alphabetizing,”
It’s worse than I thought. Reece: “Doesn’t seem like she likes you very much.”
Will: “She loves me. She just doesn’t like me right now.” Sherry: “A man can tell a woman he’s in love with her until he’s blue in the face. Words don’t mean anything to her when her head is full of doubt. You have to show her.” Life’s hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid. —JOHN WAYNE She returns a moment later with a DVD. After she inserts it in the DVD player, she sits down on the couch beside me and turns the television on with the remote.
Will: “What is it?”
Sherry: “A close-up of me giving birth to Kiersten.”
I jump up in protest, and she rolls her eyes and laughs.
Sherry: “Sit down, Will. I’m kidding.” Kiersten: “Know what I think?”
Gavin looks at her, agitated.
Gavin: “You don’t even know what we’re talking about, Kiersten. Go play with your toys.”
She glares at him.
Kiersten: “I’m going to let that insult slide because I know you’re in a bad mood. But for future reference, I don’t play.”
She stares at him to make sure he doesn’t have a response, then continues talking.
Kiersten: “Anyway, I think you should quit feeling sorry for yourself. You’re acting like a little bitch. You aren’t even the one pregnant, Gavin. How do you think Eddie feels? I’m sorry, but as much as the guy likes to think he’s got an equal part in these situations, he’s wrong. You screwed up when you knocked her up. Now you need to shut your mouth and be there for her. For whatever she decides to do.”
She stands up and walks to the front door.
Kiersten: “And Gavin? Sometimes things happen in life that you didn’t plan for. All you can do now is suck it up and start mapping out a new plan.” Will: “There are moments in every relationship that define when two people start to fall in love. So I’m not about to apologize for loving all these things about you, no matter the reasons or the circumstances behind them. 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.” Kel walks in with two coffees. He hands me one and plops down in the chair and takes a sip of the other.
Will: “Are you drinking coffee?”
Kel: “Don’t try to take it from me, either. I’ll run.” Bradshaw takes my arm.
Bradshaw: “Will, we need to go.”
I take a few steps toward the door.
Will: “Wait,”
I put my hand in my pocket and pull out her purple hair clip. I open her hand and place it in her palm and close her fingers over it, then kiss her on the forehead again before we leave. After she’s gone, I get up, take out a star, and then crawl back in the bed with Lake.
Will: “This one’s for you, babe.”
I unfold the star and read it.
Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
I roll my eyes.
Will: “Jesus, Julia! Now’s not the time to be funny!”
I reach over and grab another star, then lie back down.
Will: “Let’s try this again, babe.” Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. —MAHATMA GANDHI
I lean over and whisper in her ear.
Will: “You hear that, Lake? Indomitable will. That’s one of the things I love about you.” Will: “I love you, Lake.”
I grab my phone off the table and stand up.
Lake: “Again,”
she whispers.
Will: “I love you.” Sherry: “You’ve got great friends,”
I raise my eyebrows at her.
Will: “You don’t think they’re weird? Most people think my friends are weird.”
Sherry: “Yeah, I do. That’s why they’re great,” Sherry: “I know you didn’t expect me to stay. I wouldn’t have been any help. But I worry about you. I worry about all of you. Kel, Caulder, you, Layken. Now I even like your damn weird friends, and I’m gonna have to worry about them, too.”
She laughs. I smile at her.
Will: “It’s nice to be worried about, Sherry. Thank you.” Lake: “This is so embarrassing,”
Will: “Lake, you asked me to stay. If you want, I’ll go back and get the nurse.”
Lake: “No. I just mean because I need to pee.”
Will: “Oh. Here.”
I walk around her and grab her other arm as she backs up. She grabs hold of the metal bar attached to the wall and pauses.
Lake: “Turn around,”
I face the opposite direction.
Will: “Babe, if you’re already making me look away, it’ll be kind of hard for me to help you in the shower. You aren’t even naked yet.”
Lake: “That’s different. I just don’t want you to watch me pee.” Lake: “Go. I’ll be fine. You need to quit babying me so much.”
I lean forward and kiss her.
Will: “But you are my baby,”
I’m not sure which direction it comes from, maybe all three, but I’m hit in the head with french fries. Lake: “What are you doing? You aren’t cutting the rest of my hair off, Will.”
I reach inside and pull out the black box that contains my hair trimmer.
Will: “I’m not cutting your hair.”
I plug in the cord and take off the guard and turn it on. I reach behind my head and press it against the back of my hair and make a quick swipe. When I bring it back around, I pull the pieces of my hair out and toss them in the trash can.
Will: “There. Now we match,”
She swings around in her seat.
Lake: “Will! What the hell? Why did you do that?”
Will: “It’s just hair, babe.”
I smile at her. She brings the wad of toilet paper back up to her eyes and looks at our reflection in the mirror. She shakes her head and laughs.
Lake: “You look ridiculous,”
Will: “So do you.” Caulder: I owe a lot to my brother.
A lot of thank yous
A lot of I’m sorrys
A lot of I love yous
I owe a lot to you, Will
For making the sucks in my life a little less suckier
And my sweet? My sweet is right now.” Will: "Would you rather I looked like Hugh Jackman or George Clooney?”
Lake: “Johnny Depp,”
That answer was a little too fast for my comfort.
Will: “What the hell, Lake? You’re supposed to say Will! You’re supposed to say you want me to look like me!”
Lake: “But you weren’t one of the options,”
Will: “Neither was Johnny Depp!”
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