I’m yet again back with another universally–unique question, ‘What’s with this new Hoover book again?’ except for the fact that this book has been around for years, and no one could make me read this one unless they paid for it and actually listened to the rant that’s about to drop.
My team must really love me.
I picked up the book on a very good day until I realized it was a sequel to ‘Slammed.’ That’s why some people consider it the ‘Slammed series book 2’.
So now, I’m reading two Colleen Hoover books back to back and rethinking my previous statement – My team must really love me.
If you are here to know what I thought about the book the moment I put it down – my freshly-cooked plots and the freshly-baked thoughts – this will be unapologetically honest and full of emotion.
This is nothing new to people who are reading my reviews and taking it seriously (I love you guys). I do not filter anything and pour my heart out in my thoughts. And that’s how you know you are reading something worth reading.
Then comes Colleen Hoover. I read some of her works and liked some quite well (read my reviews here). No biased judgment here; I’m gonna thought-dump so that you can save or spend your time if you feel like it.
Oh, and before that, you need to read Slammed series.
How Slammed Series Fits Into All This?
And that’s my nth time reminder that I cannot simply start reading a book without context just because I liked how it looked.
If you have already read the previous book, ‘Slammed’ by Colleen Hoover, you are good to skip this step and move on with your life. But if you haven’t, boy, I have a lot to tell you.
If you were a kid in the 2000s, slumping at the back of Wattpad or, later, a huge nerd for Webtoon, you are already familiar with this story. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience despite not liking the kind of trope it promotes.
From the beginning, we are introduced to the show’s Stargirl, Layken Cohen, whose name makes me wonder if she is inspired by Colleen Hoover. I hope that’s not the case because, girl, you’re gonna be behind b, ars, and that’s for a good reason this time.
Layken is someone who I cannot hate, no matter what she does. We have that oldest daughter trauma in us. For that sole reason – whatever she does, I’ll always have an excuse exclusively for her and to defend her in every situation.
Erm, except maybe some of them.
Layken lost her father some time ago, and that put her whole family into environmental and emotional trouble. They moved to Michigan from Texas for the same reason: to leave everything behind and start a new life.
Oh, Layken has a younger brother named Kel. That is important information. I’ll tell you why in the latter book.
That lady and her mother were grieving, and Lay was in her vulnerable state (that’s what I like to think) because there is no other reason you were attracted to the first average-looking guy you see on the town.
And that’s how I introduced you to the book’s protagonist – Will Cooper.
That’s about the whitest name I have ever read in a book – Ms. Hoover should try giving them better names. It should help with the sympathizing.
Will and Lake instantly clicked and became best buddies as the story, and the relationship progressed. Mind you, they are already developing feelings for each other at this moment.
Except, erm, Layken starts her new school, and guess who her new teacher is there?
Yes. Classic Colleen Hoover.
I thought that would be the end of this couple and we’d get to see more of some more interesting characters (that we get, don’t you worry).
However, both seemed to have no control over their feelings, and they extended the situation despite being forbidden by society and everything.
And that gave birth to the second book – the extension of their love story and the struggles that come with it. In case you were wondering, they lived happily ever after in this book.
So why the sequel, then?
At one point, it was a forbidden relationship that would have consequences. That’s why the world was blessed with another Colleen Hoover write-up launch.
This time, it is called ‘Point of Retreat’ because, at this point, this relationship needs a retreat.
Explaining Point of Retreat Summary and How it Fits into Everything!
Since I’ve covered significant ground, can we get a Point of Retreat summary?
I liked how the introductory plot was prepared. Not saying I love it when someone dies.
Let’s Look at the Pilot of the Novel
Would it be weird to say that I actually liked this one? In my defense, the weird teacher-student trope was ignored in this one, and they are now in a sweet and committed relationship. This one is from Will’s POV, so that’s gonna be interesting.
This is a sweet and easy relationship except for the part where Layken’s mother dies, and the couple is now raising Layken’s younger brother Kel like their own child.
They live across the streets but take responsibility for their younger brothers. Honestly, it was refreshing to see Ms. Hoover writing family concepts.
But they are both still navigating through life. Lake has just started college, and Will is attending graduate classes – this should be fun.
Controlling kids isn’t easy, though, and they both struggle with school complaints. It’s exhausting just to read about them; I don’t know how they physically deal with each of them.
Will’s Current Classes have Triggering Content rather than Academic
In this book, Will Cooper makes me fall in love with him – and the opposite is true for Lake.
Will has started his grad classes, and a plot-changing character appears in the book: Will’s ex-lover, Vaughn. I could swear he was delusional, with all his claims that girl was obsessed with him and wanted him back until I sat back for a moment and observed.
Also, Will has decided not to tell Lake anything about this so as not to make her worry. Yep, shit’sshit’s going down now.
Will and Lake finally got some alone time together and planned a getaway to enjoy it fully. But guess who shows up at the door? That’sThat’s right, Vaughn, it is.
She wants him back, but girl, why now? And I wish Will would possess some kind of human brain to not have brought her up to his bedroom to comfort her. That’sThat’s when thatwthat’sat girl broke down, and Will comforted and kissed her on the forehead.
Lake saw it from a distance.
And she ran from the house. I mean, my man wouldn’t see the light of the day if he did that but okay.
Lake’s been a bit too much
Is it because of Will’s POV but is Lake really getting on my nerves in this book?
Will just lost the love of his life over something that didn’t mean anything to him. Our sweetest next-door girl Kristen and her mom help with the situation but in vain, the damage is already done.
That’s what I thought until she came back to take the vases full of stars that her mother gave them. They talk for a while and things get intense.
Will hesitates because he doesn’t want to go further with this, respectfully, but that drives Lake nuts. Why would you hug another girl without hesitation but chicken out the moment your lover asks you to do what you should’ve done way before?
Well, they had her mother promise with this relationship boundary thing but anyway.
Lake breaks up with him. I think she’s been really insecure with this whole ex-girlfriend stuff but the overreacting does not end there.
She storms out which was justified in the beginning but the whole jumping into the physical part of the relationship feels a bit too much. You will get it if you reverse the genders – yeah, that man would be behind bars by now.
Umm, he does way too much at one point but she’s standing on business for too many days – it’s impossible to convince her. But I’m glad this plot ended after dragging it for chapters because it was unbearable at this point.
I Loved How Art and Poetry were Portrayed
This has a connection with the word ‘Slam poetry’ and behind the naming of the book ‘Slammed.’
For me, poetry has been a whole-ass topic in which raw emotions are portrayed without actually saying how you feel but visualizing the emotions and the feelings that are perceived according to one’s capacity. That’s the highest form of art to me.
Lake and Will’s passionate or hateful emotions were expressed through poetries most of the time, like how Butterfly got a new meaning in this book. I loved the concept but I think it would have been more sophisticated if the sole focus was on poetry at each point.
The Plot-Changing Accident
I don’t know if that’s for good or bad but this was one of the crucial points for Eddie and Gavin. Oh, the conflict between Lake and Will was resolved soon after.
But the unfortunate events don’t end there, Lake, Kristen and Pregnant Eddie get into a horrific accident on their way.
Yes, you read that right, Eddie is pregnant. That’s one of the turning points of Eddie and Gavin’s relationship. Eddie’s now pregnant and wants to keep the baby but Gavin is too scared for this.
After that horrific accident, I think everyone came back to their senses of reality – Gavin realized he didn’t want to act like a child but have one instead. He goes to Eddie’s father and resolves the matter.
I think the accident was for the greater good, it brought Lake and Will closer to each other.
And that’s Point of Retreat Colleen Hoover summary for you guys.
Analyzing Point of Retreat Characters
Layken changed and drained me drastically throughout the whole book. I tried to love her, but she was unreasonable.
Especially after that ex-girlfriend situation. But I’ll tell you what: She is the oldest daughter of the house, and that’s a whole new qualification if you know what I mean.
I could sympathize with her in the situation when her father died, later on, her mother expired and she was all alone in a new city with her problematic boyfriend to take care of her and her boyfriend’s younger siblings.
She’s independent and confident, but poetry brings out a different side to her that every reader should know about. I love her lover side, not the crazy-in-love side of her.
Will. Oh, will.
I have a feeling if this wasn’t from his POV, you would be puking at him. In this book, he wasn’t that big of a fighter, but I still admire his patience in dealing with Lake’s psychotic episodes.
I have a theory here: Miss Hoover understands what the girls want. She gave an artistic, responsible, and mature match to the oldest daughter of the house.
Even though he was going through his own deals, not for sure he seemed irresponsible to Lake or the family members. I liked him in this book. Kristen will need her own book. ASAP. Also, Kel is cute, genuinely.
Okay, maybe after Eddie and Gavin. We learned about this couple in this book, but something tells me this isn’t over, and we will need more of them in the upcoming books.
My Final Words
This is not the type of book I would crave to read, but the one I would pick up once in a lifetime to know what all the hype is about. That’s because I’m not much of a romance-genre person, and even if I was, my tastes inclined towards books like Pride and Prejudice. I love it from start to finish.
Mr. Darcy set the standards quite high, eh?
Apart from that, the target audience seems to be around 15-20 of age (that means I’m one of the targets), but this book was not for me. It was a casual read, but the characters were written beautifully.
I love literary works and poetry, and I absolutely adore how poetry was embedded in every plot of the book – bringing out the influence of poetry in the smallest events of our lives, which is the whole point of poetry.
The characters were decent to taste. You can give it a try for experience.