Book Review: Slammed (Slammed #1) by Colleen Hoover

Title: Slammed (Slammed #1)
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: 18th September 2012
Read In: Janruary 2013

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*This is a review from the Netgalley. Quote from Netgalley*

Falling in love can feel like poetry. Or it can feel like a slam to the heart.
Colleen Hoover’s romantic, emotion-packed debut novel unforgettably captures all the magic and confusion of first love, as two young people forge an unlikely bond before discovering that fate has other plans for them.
Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she's losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.
Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.

For the first few chapters of this book I was murmuring, “no, oh, no, no, no. Don’t do this.” I had heard some really good things about this book but at the beginning it seemed like it was going to be another really rushed contemporary. I half forgot that blurb says that something will force them apart but they had only known each other a few days. Love at first sight alright.

When this shocking discovery happened, which was a shock because I didn’t even think of it, the fact that they had only known each other a few days went right out of the window. Back to “oh no, oh no, they were so cute together.” Maybe if they had a longer period of time together before hand it would have been more dramatic but from that moment on the story picked up and I breezed through. 

“And what’s a slam?” I ask.
“It’s poetry.” He smiles at me.
“It’s what I’m all about.”…
“Poetry, huh?” I say. “Do people write their own or do they recite if from other authors?” He leans back in the booth and looks up at the stage. I see the passion in his eyes when he talks about it. “People got up there and pour their hearts out just using their words and the movement of their bodies,” he says. “It’s amazing.”

This is one of those books that I ultimately find hard to review. I finished the book, put down my kindle and just stared at the wall. Why did I really enjoy this book? It was hard to put my finger on it for this review. Everything, from the characters to the plot, just worked together. I couldn’t stop reading. 

They only reason that I can say why I really enjoyed this book was the romantic tension between Will and Layken. When they were just getting to know each other, I thought it was moving a little fast. After the revelation, I was egging them on. I love Will especially, he is 21 and yet so mature. I loved discovering more about him, from the serious situations to his shenanigans in high school. Unfortunately I did not find Layken as intriguing but she complimented Will really well. Together they are amazing.

I am not a poetry person. I have never really thought of it as an enjoyable thing to read, just something I had to do in English class at school. As for slam poetry, I had never heard of it before reading this book. As a person who doesn’t read poetry, I think the slam poetry really fit. It was a novel way of getting to know the characters at a deeper level, to learn characters deeper emotions and backgrounds. Eddie (who is a girl) is your typical bubbly best friend and yet due to the slam poetry we get to know about her past more than best friends in other books without her having to sit down an tell us her life story. It was great fun.

Kel and Clauder, the younger brothers of Layken and Will respectively, stole the book for me. With everything serious and tense going on, you need this dynamic duo to come in and make you smile. When Kel says sentences backward, it is so adorable.

Everybody has been raving about this book and I can see why. While Slammed didn’t hit me on a deep emotional level, it made me smile and I couldn’t put it down.

Becky