Review: Slammed by Colleen Hoover

Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance
Format: Kindle
Published: 1 January 2012
Publisher: Self/Amazon Digital Services
Series: Yes!
Price: $2.99 (worth every penny and more)

Synopsis: {via 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.

Review:

This review might be short because, frankly, I found very little wrong with this book. I loved it, it was fantastic, and to go on for too long would just be gushing. While I think this book probably actually deserves gushing, I'm not really a gusher. So, I'll be brief, but I'll say that I think anyone and everyone interested in a touching story should read this book. Yes, it's romance, but it's much more than that. Give it a shot.

The Characters:

Both Layken (or "Lake") and Will are believable, sympathetic characters. Lake is going through a great deal of turmoil throughout the novel, but I never felt like she was petulant. She does have fits, but they're understandable fits. In a lot of ways, she and Will are in a terrible place. They're drawn to one another, but can't be together and you feel for them. Even Kel and Caulder are great little characters, as is Julia, Layken's mom, and Layken's best friend Eddie (a girl). All in all, the cast is well-rounded.

One thing to look out for here is that the book is not only first person, it's present tense and from the point of view of a teenage girl. Lake is eighteen, but she's young and the perspective works beautifully. We see, in many cases, her immaturity in dealing with Will and the bad spot they're in. But, she usually pulls it together in time to see her priorities and make choices that lead her the right direction.

The Plot:

This book really touched me. There were moments I laughed out loud, other when I cried. Crying is not a usual reaction for me, but this book has moments when you really feel for, and relate to, the characters. The plot isn't overly complicated, and while it had the potential--if handled incorrectly--to be cringe inducing (particularly given the news and climate with regards to some of this book's topic), it turned out to be endearing. Hoover handled a somewhat touchy subject with grace and the book was fantastic as a result.

The Issues:

I did feel a bit like the book left me hanging at the end, it's over a bit abruptly for my tastes, but the epilogue is available to help rectify that. It does end on a nice note, and in a place that I think worked, I just tend to believe much more could have been said. Still, it's a stylistic choice and I can respect that. Something else I'm a little bit put off by is that the second book in the series, Point of Retreat, has a different narrator.  Rather than being narrated by Layken again, the book is narrated by Will. I literally stopped reading a book series (Kushiel's Legacy) half-way through (after book 3) because I couldn't handle the idea of a new narrator (Immriel). So, this takes me outside my comfort zone a little bit. I think, though, if I can like this book and remember who the narrator is, then maybe I can go back to Kushiel's Legacy with a more open mind. We'll see.

The Verdict:

Rating: 5/5

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It's a self-published novel and it stands together really well with some of the other self-published (and traditionally published) works in this genre. The story is heartwarming and heartbreaking at turns, but has a happy ending. I said so in my introduction, but I think if you're looking for a quick read that you should check this out. I can't wait to get into the next book, which I bought at the same time as this one in anticipation that I'd like it. I hope, if you take the time to check this one out, that you'll love it too.

Teaser Tuesday: No. 8

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read 
• Open to a random page 
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Not going to lie, after finishing and reviewing Love Unscripted by Tina Reber yesterday, I spent the better part of this evening moping around avoiding my Kindle. It's not an unusual response for me, but I normally only have it when I've just finished a book I really liked. Apparently, books I didn't so much like have this power over me too sometimes. Awesome. I think, in this case, the issue is that I fought so hard to make myself finish it and now that it's done I don't quite know what to do. Also, I have a lot of books on the TBR pile and choosing what will come next is never easy for me. But, I managed to do it, and so far, I'm enjoying Slammed by Colleen Hoover.

Synopsis:

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.

Teaser:

 "May the force be with you!" He laughs and hops into his car as I stand there, staring down at the Darth Vader house shoes I'm still wearing. Classic.

I just started the book, so I thought this one was fun and sort of shows the characters' personalities a bit. Okay, have a lovely Tuesday!  If you're here by way of Teaser Tuesday, please take a moment to say hello so I can visit you, too! :)

Musing Mondays: No. 2

Musing Mondays is a book meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. It's fairly simple, just check out the weeks question/prompt, answer it, leave her a comment with your link, and visit others who've done the same. Easy as that!

Have you ever read a book that, at the time, you didn’t feel a strong connection towards, but as time goes by you find yourself thinking about it a lot?

This one's both easy to answer and not, but two books really come to mind when I think about the question: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I read each of them for classes, the first for a Feminist/Female literature course, the second for an a graduate level course called The Southern Novel. Each of them left a lasting impression on my brain, which I tried to reject at first and still, to this day, can't seem to do. They're just the kind of novels that make stick to you, deep down, and refuse to let go and I've always been glad I've gotten the opportunity to read them.

The first, Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is the story of a woman, Lily Bart, that sees herself as an object. She's looking for a wealthy man to care for, she's been told by her now-dead mother that her only worth is in her looks, but ultimately she cannot seem to settle for an advantageous marriage. She ruins herself along the way, all the while outwardly looking for something she inwardly cannot accept. The book is tragic and beautiful, and haunting. For Wharton, it was an inside look at the society of which she was a part. It was risky for a woman during the early 1900s to write a novel condemning her own social class, but she did it fearlessly. Edith Wharton has always been, and will continue to be, one of my very favorite authors of all time. I highly, highly, recommend this book if you're looking for a really good book.

The second novel, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, is also the story of a woman. It's also tragic, but there's nothing really beautiful about it. Rather, it's gritty and uncomfortable, and there are moments I wish I never laid eyes on this book. Mostly, though, I'm thankful that I did because this book is another one that's taken hold and has absolutely refused to let me go. It's the kind of novel you never, ever forget once you've read it. It's about the events surrounding the death of a woman, Addie Bundren. It's told from several different view points, the most prominent of which is her son, Darl. Each chapter's title tells the reader who's speaking during the course of that chapter. This technique gives Faulkner the opportunity to explore, first hand, the different voices of the characters. Only one chapter is in Addie's voice, and it is absolutely heartbreaking. You learn, during the course of that chapter, how much this woman has suffered and how much she has hated her life. You really get the sense that she's glad it's over, but it's just not as simple as that. There are moments when Faulkner takes the metaphor of dragging the corpse of the old south around behind you to a literal level and it's disturbing, to say the very least. I recommend this one, too, but it's not for the faint of heart. If you've never read Faulkner, start with his short stories, "Barn Burning" and "A Rose for Emily" are amazing.

I hope you get the chance to check them out sometime, they're both amazing reads!

Have a lovely Monday, and if you're here for Musing Monday, please take a moment to say hello and leave me a link back so I can visit you, too!