Book Review: Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
The second book in the Slammed series by Colleen Hoover, I found Point of Retreat to be highly in the category of meh. I did not love it. But I did not hate it either. My Point of Retreat review will tell you exactly why I have such mixed feelings about this book.
Book Information
Layken’s mother is dead. She’s living on her own raising her little brother, but at least she has Will. Will finally feels like he can breathe again. Like his life has color. It’s all because of Lake, but when Will makes a series of mistakes that might jeopardize his newfound happiness, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win her back and to make sure that he never loses her again.
Review | Heidi Dischler
I’ve got a lot to say about this novel. The good. The bad. And, of course, the ugly.
The good? I always have loved Colleen Hoover’s writing style. This book is no exception, it just feels a lot less thought out. I think Slammed was meant to be one and done and Colleen Hoover just decided to write another one for a series. It just felt all over the place and like there was no clear goal for the novel, which is definitely part of the bad.
One of the things that I disliked most about this novel was the POV switch from Lake to Will. Now Will tells the whole story from his perspective, but the thing is, it feels like the perspective hasn’t changed at all. It used to be Will who was the mature one, but in this novel, it was like he and Lake switched places. Did anyone else feel like this? So instead of getting this fresh new perspective, it feels like Freaky Friday with a body swap but same personalities. I’m honestly not even sure that makes sense, but you get the point.
Which leads me to what I liked about this novel: Lake’s maturity. So, she grew so much but whether or not that stemmed from her and Will “switching places,” I’ll never know.
Spoilers ahead.
I really didn’t like Lake and Will getting married at the end of the novel. It felt weird and rushed. I think if Colleen Hoover would’ve tied it more into the fact that Lake’s little brother would’ve had no one had she died, it would’ve made more sense for them to get married so quickly. While their love is obviously a factor, it would’ve given me a bit more peace of mind had Lake mentioned that she wanted to make them a family and make sure that Kel always had someone there for him.
Also, this novel is basically centered around and named after Will and Lake’s first time sleeping together. That, I felt, was way too over the top for me.
Overall, I didn’t dislike reading this novel. Like I said at the beginning, it’s firmly meh for me. I’m also glad, though, that I at least got some chores done while listening to this book. At least then I feel like I accomplished a bit more than finishing a mediocre novel.
Source: Audiobook from Overdrive Public Library
