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.
I finally – FINALLY – read Slammed and because it’s CoHo, I cried my eyes out. By this time, I’ve read a few of her novels, Hopeless, Finding Cinderella, Ugly Love, Maybe Someday and November 9, and I have to say that Slammed was probably my least favorite of all, though I still really really liked it.
My first thought when I started reading this book was how much it was clear that this was Colleen Hoover’s first novel. There’s a polish and an emotional depth in all of her other works that I’ve read, that is somewhat missing here. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is still good, but it’s still not AMAZING like it is now. With this said, the book still made me bawl my eyes out, especially towards the end, because CoHo has that amazing gift of always putting a spin to things.
Generally I liked all characters, but I have to admit that Layken got on my nerves. She actually acted her age, but she’s the most immature of CoHo leading ladies, and there were some situations that she acted like a petulant child and I wanted to slap the hell out of her. I did understand her and I seriously felt for her. And I do admit, she grew on me, because she grows up a lot throughout the book.
I really really liked Will. I loved how fiercely he loved his brother and was willing to do anything necessary for him. I thought he was overall a good and nice guy.
Now, the romance has a bit of a twist, and I know that a lot of people won’t like it. I honestly didn’t exactly mind, because I thought that they truly tried their best – most of the time. What I did mind a tiny tiny bit was the instalove… yeah, it was strong on this one.
I really liked the sense of family and friendship in this story, and how those things trumped the romance, because, yes the romance was important, but FAMILY was the most important thing here. That’s amazing and I really enjoyed it.
The element of the slam poetry was pretty cool, and it made the book more dynamic, while presenting the thoughts and feelings very clearly. Well done!
So, even though it’s not my favorite CoHo book, it’s still a pretty good one. I’m curious about the sequels, even though I’ve been told they’re not really good… I’m still curious and I’ll check them out because I need a little more Lake and Will :).
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