Literary, etc

It pains me to write this review as well as give it the rating I do because I LOVED Colleen Hoover’s Slammed. I knew This Girl was going to be Will’s point-of-view, but what I didn’t expect was to read Slammed all over again. If I wanted to reread it, I would have just picked up my copy and saved the $8 I paid.Colleen Hoover’s This Girl is the highly anticipated third book in the Slammed series. Will and Lake are now married and are on their honeymoon. One night, they are reminiscing on how they met and Lake asks Will to tell her what his first impression of her was. Will reluctantly agrees and along the way Lake discovers Will has been harboring a few secrets of his own.As far as characterization goes, Lake come off as bratty. I hoped she would have grown up, but no we have her pouting and throwing a temper tantrum in one scene because Will mentions having gone on one date with another girl AFTER they realized they couldn’t be together because of his job. Sorry Lake, how is this any different than you agreeing to be set by Eddie? You can’t have it both ways, asking Will to tell you about what happened during the time you were apart and not like what he says. Now if I could take a moment to address the narrative. It felt off. It read almost as if this wasn’t the Will we got in Point of Retreat. He’s mature and responsible and yet in This Girl when he’s talking to Lake between reminiscing scenes, something is off. I can’t put my finger on it.There were a few plot holes mostly with regards to certain scenes not mirroring the original. I’m thinking primarily, the scene where Lake in class reads the poem “Mean” and in Slammed she asks Will if it has to rhyme and he says no, but in This Girl she asks if there’s a time minimum. Also when they first attend a slam reading, it’s always been assumed they were there for a few readings before Will takes the stage and in This Girl, it makes it seem they were there longer than a few performances. Another that comes to mind is the whole Lake / Javi incident when she’s called to recount the incident involving Will’s fight. Her account just doesn’t mirror the original. There were a few other scenes, but these stood out.What I did like were the Julia parts and Will talking to her. I always liked Julia and I know she wanted the best for Lake and to see her talk to Will in scenes where we thought she disliked him was eye opening and lovely. While the epilogue made me angry because I wanted Will and Lake to be alone for a few years without more added responsibility, the fact that Julia thought of everything and left another set of notes left me in tears. Although, I do have to question how much Hoover was inspired by PS I Love You and the notes left by Gerry to Holly.I debated with the rating and decided on a two instead of a one because of the Julia scenes. Julia has always been the heart of Slammed and what ultimately brings Will and Lake together. I do feel a lot of what I read in This Girl could have been addressed in Point of Retreat and it would have wrapped up the series nicely. On another note, I’m not one to shy away from a sex scene, but I really didn’t need to read how many times Lake and Will got it on between story telling time.If you’ve never read Colleen Hoover’s Slammed, then you’re in luck. Feel free to pick between the two, otherwise save your money and don’t bother with This Girl.Review originally posted at Literary, etc.