Frannie in the Pages

It’s been almost a year since I read Slammed, first book of this series. In the meantime I’ve read all of the other Colleen Hoover’s books, all of them, and I’ve come to the conclusion she’s in my top three favorite authors’ list, no doubt about it. All her love stories are unique and specials and they are the only ones that every single time make me cry. I have no idea how the butterfly she does that but after the first few chapters, for one reason or another, I methodically start crying, and I mean the sobbing and shaking kind of cry, like it’s too much to bear but at the same time I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else doing anything else.

Nonetheless, I am a human being and I always have my doubts. The ending of Slammed broke me, it was too painful and perfect and wonderful but terrible and I was afraid of starting Point of Retreat, cause honestly there was no butterflying way it could be as good as the first one. No way.

I should be used by now that I’m always, always wrong when I say that. With Colleen Hoover the sequel is always as good as the beginning, if not better. Point of Retreat was no exception.

I wasn’t expecting this book to be told by Will’s point of view. I was worried because I had loved Layken, she was such a strange and wonderful character and I was used to navigate in her thoughts and her life; also I couldn’t connect with Will in the first pages, I was panicking cause I wanted to love this book with all my heart as I did with the others but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. Comes the second chapter and I was already completely into the story, living the characters all over again.

It’s been one year since Lake and Will became officially a couple and three months since Lake’s mom passed away. Now their life is even more complicated than before: two kids to manage (Caulder and Kel), courses at universities to attend and a wonderful woman to grieve.
Plus they need to find the right balance between being the older sibling and being a parent. Kel and Caulder get suspended at school for defending a girl Kel liked from bullies. What to do? Ground them for using violence or laugh it off and congratulate them for standing up beside their friend? And how about their first crush and birthday parties?
It’s a struggle every single day but they’re lucky. They don’t have much alone time but they do have each other to lean on, two wonderful best friends to count on and the kids bring funny awkwardness and joy to their life with their “suck and sweet time” and their “backwards day”, running around and laughing with all they’ve lost and been through.
But then Will’s ex-girlfriend comes along and their attempt at living a normal life as a big family starts trembling and crumbles to the ground. One kiss on the forehead and Lake begins to doubt and question relationship and whether Will really loves her. Is he with her because of her, of who she truly is or because of the circumstances, both having no parents left and a kid to take care of?

For some time I couldn’t understand how Will could have slipped like that if she loved Lake and I was angry with him as well; he should have known what he was doing and I could relate to Lake, to how she was feeling. Nonetheless, it’s a mistake that can be overcome. As Layken’s mom says, two people must fall apart to realize how they truly feel, how important they are to each other and to fall back together. Thanks to little pieces of advice from the stars – and from neighbors – Will will understand that sometimes saying “I love you” is not enough. Sometimes you have to prove it, to show to the one you love how much they matter, not giving up until you have succeeded or until you’re completely sure you have done everything it was in your power.

It’s impossible to describe all the feels this book gave me. There was tension and heart-breaking events and twists when you could least expect them; even in the tragic moments, when you’re holding your breath and you feel like you need a pause because you can’t take anymore, here it comes that sentence, that joke that makes you laugh out loud and release the tension you had accumulated and you can inhale and exhale again before going back to the seriousness of the situation.

That something, for me, was Kiersten. Butterfly me, that little girl is only eleven years old but she has an attitude! She’s witty and sarcastic, unpredictable and confident and she talks like a grown-up trapped in the body of a kid; she’s always ready to fire a comeback and she knows what to believe in. Her monologue about swear words was irresistibly funny and interesting and well, I almost wish she was my best friend cause she’s truly awesome. A piece of work, I’d say. A whole book on her wouldn’t be enough to understand that little thing.

The ending confirmed me this series is a YA and I honestly can’t wait now to read the last one. I need more slam poetry, because once again in this book I’ve fallen in love with it. I don’t whose PoV is gonna be or what could possibly happen more to the characters but I learn from my mistakes. It’s Colleen Hoover. I’m gonna butterflying love it!