Published in 2013, This Girl is a New Adult romance novel by Colleen Hoover and the third installment in the Slammed series, which also includes Slammed (2012) and Point of Retreat (2012). Hoover first gained prominence when she self-published Slammed, which quickly became a New York Times bestseller and launched her career. Her work later saw a massive resurgence in popularity through the BookTok community on the social media platform TikTok. A defining feature of the novel is its use of point-of-view retelling, a popular device in contemporary romance, which revisits the events of the previous books from the perspective of a different character. The novel also features slam poetry, a competitive performance art focused on emotional expression, which the characters use to articulate their deepest feelings.

Set during Will Cooper and Layken “Lake” Cohen’s honeymoon, This Girl is framed as a conversation in which Will recounts his side of his tumultuous courtship with his new wife, Lake, after she asks him to help her understand his past and his perspective on their relationship. Will’s retelling reveals his internal thoughts during pivotal moments from the previous books in the series, from his first encounter with Lake and the personal and professional crisis he faced upon discovering that she was a student at the high school where he taught. Thematically, the narrative explores Reconciling with the Past to Build a Future, The Conflict Between Personal Desire and Moral Responsibility, and The Duality of Love as Both a Healing and Destabilizing Force.

This guide refers to the 2013 Atria Paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain depictions of illness or death, cursing, sexual content, sexual harassment, and a romantic relationship between a high-school teacher and his 18-year-old student.

Plot Summary

As Will and his new wife, Lake, enjoy their honeymoon, Lake asks Will to recount the story of their relationship from his perspective, wanting to know everything about his past. Will agrees, beginning his story just prior to the events of Slammed, recounting his breakup with his then-girlfriend, Vaughn, shortly after the deaths of his parents.

The narrative shifts back in time, two weeks after Will’s parents died in a car accident. Will, then 19, has become the legal guardian of his seven-year-old brother, Caulder, and has forfeited his teaching scholarship to care for him. In tears, Vaughn breaks up with Will, explaining she is too young for the responsibility of being a mother figure to Caulder. Angered by her decision to break up with him while he’s still deeply grieving the loss of his parents, Will shouts at Vaughn and tells her to leave. Overwhelmed by grief and his new duties, Will breaks down, but finds solace in comforting a frightened Caulder, cementing his role as his brother’s new guardian.

Back in the present, Lake asks Will about his first impression of her. The story shifts back two years after Will’s breakup with Vaughn. Will, now 21, works as a high school English teacher while finishing his degree. He sees Lake’s family moving in across the street and is immediately captivated by her, particularly by a sad look in her eyes. He introduces himself while she plays with Caulder and her younger brother, Kel. Later, when Lake falls on an icy patch on the sidewalk, Will helps her into his house to bandage a cut, giving her his jacket and making her coffee in his late father’s mug. Will learns that Lake is 18, but assumes she’s in college.

Will impulsively offers to guide Lake to the grocery store, taking a long route to spend more time with her. They bond over a shared love for the band The Avett Brothers, and Lake reveals her father recently died of a heart attack. After a moment of intense attraction at the store, Will asks Lake if she has a boyfriend, and she tells him she’s single. Back at her house, he kisses her forehead and meets her mother, Julia. He asks Lake on a date for the following night, and she accepts.

On their date, they eat grilled cheese sandwiches in the car. Will takes her to Club N9NE for a poetry slam. Lake is moved by the performances and insists Will perform. He recites a poem titled “Death,” revealing the story of his parents’ accident and his guardianship of Caulder. Touched by his vulnerability, Lake kisses his palm. When he drives her home, they share a passionate kiss before she goes inside.

The following Monday, Will sees Lake in the hallway of the high school where he teaches and realizes she’s a new student. Lake is devastated to learn Will is her poetry teacher. In class, Will angrily ejects a student, Javier, for making inappropriate comments about Lake. After school, Will explains that their relationship is unethical and impossible due to his teaching contract. He tells Lake she must withdraw from his class and that they must separate completely, leaving her heartbroken.

The next day, Will finds Lake attempting to forge his signature on a transfer form. He changes his mind, telling her it is unfair to make her drop a class she loves, and she agrees to stay. That week at the poetry slam, Will performs a poem titled “This Girl,” about how Lake entered his difficult life without hesitation. Afterward, his students, Eddie and Gavin, try to set him up on a date with a woman named Taylor to get his mind off the girl in the poem. Later, Julia visits Will and makes him promise not to act on his feelings for Lake because she doesn’t want her wrapped up in a forbidden romance during what will be a very difficult time in her life. Julia confesses she has terminal cancer, but she hasn’t yet told Lake and Kel. Will promises to keep her secret. Pressured by his friends, Will goes on a date with Taylor. Though the date is pleasant, a kiss from Taylor confirms his inability to move on from his deep feelings for Lake.

Back at the honeymoon, Lake feels hurt and jealous that Will agreed to go on a date and kiss another woman when he and Lake had feelings for each other, even though they weren’t yet in a relationship. She yells at Will, instigating their first argument as a married couple. Later, when they’ve both apologized, she asks Will to continue the story.

Three weeks later, Lake’s car breaks down, and Will stops to help. He confesses how difficult their separation has been for him. Later, when their brothers go missing, Lake and Will find them in the driveway, asleep in the back of Will’s car. Will invites Lake inside, and the conversation leads to a passionate kiss. Remembering his promise to Julia, Will abruptly stops, calling it a “weak moment” (224) and pushing Lake away for what he believes is her own good. Lake leaves, furious.

The next day in class, Lake performs a poem titled “Mean,” listing 30 synonyms for the word directed at him. She agrees to a date with another student, Nick, in front of Will, which leads to a heated argument that Eddie, who has befriended Lake, partially witnesses, making her suspicious. A few days later, Lake has a fight with her mother, believing that Julia’s secrecy and frequent absences are evidence that she’s having a romantic affair with a secret boyfriend. When Julia eventually confesses that she has terminal cancer, Lake runs to Will’s house for comfort. Will lets Lake spend the night in his bed, comforting her as she sleeps. Julia comes to the door looking for her daughter, and Will admits he’s in love with Lake. The next day, Lake avoids her mother by manically cleaning Will’s house. To snap her out of her denial, Will forces her into a cold shower and goes across the street to get her fresh clothes. At Lake’s house, he encourages Julia to let Lake raise Kel when Julia is gone. Back at his house, Will and Lake fall asleep on the living room floor. Will wakes up to see Eddie leaving, knowing she’s seen them together. Panicked, Will lashes out at Lake and sends her home.

That evening, Will joins the family to carve pumpkins, where he and Lake share a moment of connection during a bittersweet evening where they use the term “carving pumpkins” as a metaphor for avoiding the painful topic of Julia’s illness. The following week at the slam, Will performs “The Lake,” a poem declaring his love for her. Afterward, he sees Lake kissing Javier outside. Consumed by jealousy, Will attacks Javier. The next day, in a meeting with Will, the high school principal, and Javier’s father, Lake reveals that Javier kissed her without consent and wouldn’t stop when she said no and tried to push him away. Will feels overwhelming fury at Javier when he learns that the kiss wasn’t consensual. Realizing he cannot control his feelings for Lake or his anger toward Javier, Will resigns from his position and is transferred to a school in Detroit to finish his student teaching. That night, another passionate encounter in his laundry room ends with Will again pushing Lake away, believing it’s what’s best for her.

Three months later, on the night before Will’s college graduation, Lake appears at the slam and performs a poem titled “Schooled,” publicly declaring her love for him. Overjoyed, Will performs “Better Than Third,” proclaiming she is his priority. They reunite with a kiss. Will is accepted into a Master’s program, releasing him from his new teaching contract. He and Lake officially begin dating. One night after a date, they go back to Will’s house and make out in the dark. Julia finds them half-clothed and makes them promise to wait one year before having sex. They agree and establish a “point of retreat,” a signal for when their physical intimacy needs to stop, to define their boundaries.

Will’s story concludes, bringing the narrative back to the honeymoon. He and Lake recount their wedding night, the first time they did not call retreat. They return home to their blended family of Caulder and Kel, and have dinner with their friends, Gavin and Eddie, who announce their engagement. Will reflects on his journey, feeling complete.

The epilogue jumps forward in time three years. Lake is in labor and gives birth to their first child, a daughter they name Julia. Kel gives Will a note from Julia, written before her death, congratulating him on becoming a father. Holding his baby for the first time, Will feels his life is finally whole.