Review: Slammed

Title: Slammed
Author: Colleen Hoover
Series: Slammed #1
Publisher: Colleen Hoover
Date Published: January 5th 2012
Get Your Copy: Amazon
Rating:

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.

This is a story about Will and Layken's constant struggles on what life has dealt them with. It is a story of forbidden love, an impossible love that manages to transcend in spite of.

Will is a High school poetry teacher, the sole provider to his nine year old brother. Layken recently lost her father from a heart attack and is dragged by her mom from Texas to Michigan for a new life. Together with her brother, they soon discover that there is something more to the move than a new work for mom.

The story begins with Will and Layken sharing a mutual attraction to each other that is unfortunately cut off from developing to a solid relationship due to an unfortunate circumstance.

I have always been a fan of poetry. I've written some myself, but they're for my eyes only ;) . So, this book has a particular place in my heart. Slamming --- the presentation of one's poetry/soul to a group of individuals, played a great part in expressing Will and Layken's feelings for each other. Also, each character's poetry pretty much gives you a glimpse of who they are. I admit, at times, I find some things sappy about the book but the total honesty of the characters toward each other and their feelings for each other more than compensates in taking the book to a whole new level of awesomeness. It's refreshing to find characters that uses their brains as much as their hearts. So, you can't actually put fault to a character's actions because they make sense even if we wish they'd just give in to their emotions ... to hell with everything else!