Review : Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Summary (from Goodreads)

Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Layken is forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she's losing hope.

Enter Will Cooper: The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.

Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces 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 secret that keeps them apart. 

Personal Thoughts

Have you guys seen the raving reviews for Slammed by Colleen Hoover ? Honestly, when basically everyone you know keeps praising a book, you can't help but have high expectations for it. You know those books with a fairly simple plot, but somehow manage to tug at your heart strings ? Well, that's exactly what Slammed was. 

After the unforeseeable death of her dad, Layken's mom decide that they should move from Texas to Michigan. Begrudgingly, Lake agrees. Inside, she's battling with grief since her dad was one of her favorite people. All that changes when she meets Will, her older neighbor. Shortly after, she and Will find themselves falling for each other. But things aren't as simple as that. Soon, a situation causes them to end their relationship, but it's not easy when they are trying to fight an undeniable attraction towards each other.

I don't know what it was about the characters in Slammed, but they were all so likable. I don't think I remotely disliked any of them. They were refreshingly realistic and they behaved in a believable way. Layken, as a main character, truly captivated me. Her intense emotions were so palpable that I kept feeling every single thing she felt. The death of her father had left her completely shattered because he was her rock throughout all her difficulties, always there to help her out no matter what. When someone like that dies unexpectedly, you can't help but be overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions : grief, anger and denial. Although, she's undoubtedly very sad, I never felt that she was overly depressed and that just showed how well she was dealing with everything. I couldn't have been happier for her when she met Will. They were a perfect match for each and then my heart broke again when she was forced to end things with him. Layken really grew throughout the book. She matured from this sad young and quite naive girl to a bold and headstrong woman. I admired her strength and courage throughout her ordeal and come to think of it, I would never have been able to handle things as well as she did. Will, her love interest, was by far one of my favorite characters ever. You guys, he wrote poems. How amazing it that ? His poems were an outlet for the passion that he held deep within himself. There was something so alluring about him. Orphaned at the age of 19, he was left with the responsibility of looking after his baby brother. I loved how he prioritized his brother before anything else. To him, nothing was more important than the safety and happiness of his brother. When he met Lake, he found an equal in her and their dynamics were out of the proportions. I can't talk about the characters in Slammed without briefly mentioning the secondary characters. They were all so wonderfully fleshed out and I loved how they were never on the side lines. In fact, they were all very momentous to the development of the characters. From Lake's mother to her best friend, they were all so wonderfully crafted. 

When you read the summary of the book, you expect nothing more than a romance. It's exactly what I expected, but I was so surprised to see that it was so much more than that. Death was one of the primary themes in this book and it's dealt with in a fabulously beautiful way. Colleen Hoover made me question so many things that I had never thought about before and I'm thankful to her for that. I truly adore books that open your mind and have you looking at life in a different way. This book was just so emotionally poignant that I don't think my words can do it any justice. One of my favorite things about Slammed has to be the poetry. They were all heart-warming and left me with a heavy heart. Through the poems/slams recited by the characters,the author managed to capture their personality and genuineness in a symbolic way. I also loved the lyrics the author added at the start of each chapter, by the band The Avett Brothers. I hadn't heard of this band before so I'm grateful to the author once again for helping me discover a great indie rock band. I will admit one thing about the book though : There's an instant romance, but don't let that put you off from reading this gem because you'll find it easy to forgive because the book will leave you emotionally drained. 

There was nothing light about Slammed. Instead, it has to be one of the most powerful books I've ever come across throughout my venture in YA. Dealing with the loss of a loved one, love, family life, hope, responsibilities and sailing through life are some of themes that the author has intertwined to write this sensational book. Trust me when I say that Slammed is sheer brilliance. To sum up, all I can tell you is to add this book to your to-read list right away while I'm off to buy the sequel!

Rating

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 5/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5

**The overall rating for the book is 4.5 stars, but I'm going to raise it up to 5 stars because it would be unfair to lower the rating by half-star because of an awful cover!**

For now, I'm going to leave you with a Youtube video of The Avett Brothers, Living Of Love.