Slammed

When reading Slammed, I laughed, cried and smiled – all in one sitting. It was that good.

This novel is the first of the Slammed series written by Colleen Hoover.

Slammed is told from the point of view of 18 year old Layken Cohen who just moved from Texas with her mother Julia and younger brother Kel. She meets her 21-year-old neighbor Will and his younger brother Caulder. Immediately they feel a connection but due to their situation they can't be together because Will is actually Mr. Cooper, the student teacher at her high school. 

Although I devoured the book in one night and I am looking forward to reading the last two, I personally give it a 4 star rating. The back cover summary is a bit misleading (kind of dramatic as well), as if you will get to know the characters on a deep personal level - but that never happens. Despite the misleading summary the novel is entertaining and you can feel the emotions of the characters.  It is also interesting how Colleen Hoover incorporated slam poetry into the story (the quote used in the above picture is Layken's slam poetry/love confession to Will). I don't personally read or analyze poetry so I can't judge whether the slam poetry in the novel is spectacular but I thought they went well with the plot. This was definitely an easy read and nothing too deep but enough to allow the emotions of the characters to be felt. If you are looking for something extremely deep and want to analyze the poetry that was incorporated into the story then this is not for you. However, if you are looking for a good contemporary romance that is a light read this is the book.  

Slammed has a lot of good quotes and my personal favorites from the story are from Layken’s mother, Julia, to Layken herself.  The quotes below are actually sound advice, in my opinion, which is why I am choosing to share them. The first quote occurs at the very beginning when Layken’s mother was giving her relationship advice – how you know if someone is a good guy and worth being with (forgot to get the page number). 

And the last quote is from a letter Layken’s mother wrote, basically the whole thing is worth quoting but I just chose the last bit (page 316).

안녕!!

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