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esthersweet08's review against another edition
5.0
Es un libro maravilloso. Simplemente vais a amarlo, a llorar un monton y reiros a carcajadas. Colleen es genial en este libro y amo todos y cada uno de los personajes.
Pd: no me ha durado ni 24h el libro
Pd: no me ha durado ni 24h el libro
mrsbooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
'Slammed' was my third Colleen Hoover novel and one that I opened with reverence, because I had been 'slammed' emotionally by both 'Ugly Love' and 'It Ends With Us'. These novels had damaged my gentle soul with their heart-breaking and emotive plots, their perfectly developed and genuinely lovable characters, and witty, romantic dialogue. 'Slammed' fell short in regard to all of these elements for me.
When I consider 'Ugly Love' and 'It Ends With Us' I realise how simple the plots were, but they were full of deep emotion that was conveyed to the reader in every line. In contrast, 'Slammed' was overflowing with plots, but no one plot was developed enough to evoke a strong emotional response. This is significant because each of the plots should have had an emotional impact; parental death, terminal illness, forbidden love and family upheaval… I should have been teary from the start, but I just wasn't.
I have fallen in love with a few of Colleen Hoover's characters, and I felt a stirring of like for Will but again, I felt that he wasn't developed enough on the page for me to fall head-over-heels in love with, and declare him my new fictional-boyfriend. I fell into Will's story and struggle immediately. It was clear that he was emotionally strong, brave, responsible and totes hot - what isn't to like!? I just would have loved to have seen his emotional turmoil more in this novel. He wasn't given a narrative voice and Layken was so snappy and angry that any perception of Will was skewered and unreliable. What were his thoughts when he was in bed at night? How torn up was he that Layken was angry at him? How scared was he about his life and how willing was he to take risks for a relationship with Layken? When he had his 'moments of weakness' how was he feeling? How hard was it to stop? All we were told is that Layken was angry and how dare he treat her like this, but I wanted more emphasis on Will. Was he clenching his jaw in frustration as he levered her away, sick because he had promised her mother that he would let Layken enjoy her family without him?
This is what other Colleen Hoover novels have told me about the hero, and yet Will just felt like a passing character in the woes of Layken in 'Slammed'. This is where the overcomplicated plots detracted from the base emotion, and that emotion is why I pick up a Colleen Hoover novel.
Layken was my biggest issue in this novel, because she was so central to everything that happened, but she was incredibly immature and almost unlikable. She read like a parody of an angsty teen - slamming doors, giggling, running out instead of facing confrontation and name calling. She didn't seem adult enough to grasp the enormity of Will's situation. When I read that his parent's had died, and he was raising his brother, I immediately thought, wow, that is a really good guy because that is a huge responsibility and commitment. But Layken was more of the, but-this-isn't-fair-on-me train of thought. When she sat giggling in the classroom as Will worried about his future, I genuinely could have hit her for not taking the situation seriously. If I were Will, I'd long have given up on her at that point because she clearly wasn't the adult that I'd thought she was. If Layken had been a stronger and more mature character, the page time given to her flouncing tantrums could have instead have been dedicated to developing the plots or emotion.
I realise that this has read rather negatively, and while I am disappointed that it wasn't written to the standard of similar novels, it certainly wasn't terrible, and I read it easily in one sitting. I just wished that more emphasis had been given to the emotion behind the main plots rather than adding in new and unnecessary subplots, and that there had been examples of emotions other than Layken's anger and woe-is-me attitude.
When I consider 'Ugly Love' and 'It Ends With Us' I realise how simple the plots were, but they were full of deep emotion that was conveyed to the reader in every line. In contrast, 'Slammed' was overflowing with plots, but no one plot was developed enough to evoke a strong emotional response. This is significant because each of the plots should have had an emotional impact; parental death, terminal illness, forbidden love and family upheaval… I should have been teary from the start, but I just wasn't.
Spoiler
I believe that Julia's illness would have had more of an impact had it not been terminal. The family would grow and deal with the illness and treatment, but they didn't need the death. I felt that Julia was only made terminally ill so that Layken and Will had something in common, and so future novels would have direction. It was unnecessary and unemotional, made all the more so when Julia died 'off-page' and the narrative jumped a year only to be summed up with a line like, "It had been very hard." - No s**t Sherlock.I have fallen in love with a few of Colleen Hoover's characters, and I felt a stirring of like for Will but again, I felt that he wasn't developed enough on the page for me to fall head-over-heels in love with, and declare him my new fictional-boyfriend. I fell into Will's story and struggle immediately. It was clear that he was emotionally strong, brave, responsible and totes hot - what isn't to like!? I just would have loved to have seen his emotional turmoil more in this novel. He wasn't given a narrative voice and Layken was so snappy and angry that any perception of Will was skewered and unreliable. What were his thoughts when he was in bed at night? How torn up was he that Layken was angry at him? How scared was he about his life and how willing was he to take risks for a relationship with Layken? When he had his 'moments of weakness' how was he feeling? How hard was it to stop? All we were told is that Layken was angry and how dare he treat her like this, but I wanted more emphasis on Will. Was he clenching his jaw in frustration as he levered her away, sick because he had promised her mother that he would let Layken enjoy her family without him?
This is what other Colleen Hoover novels have told me about the hero, and yet Will just felt like a passing character in the woes of Layken in 'Slammed'. This is where the overcomplicated plots detracted from the base emotion, and that emotion is why I pick up a Colleen Hoover novel.
Layken was my biggest issue in this novel, because she was so central to everything that happened, but she was incredibly immature and almost unlikable. She read like a parody of an angsty teen - slamming doors, giggling, running out instead of facing confrontation and name calling. She didn't seem adult enough to grasp the enormity of Will's situation. When I read that his parent's had died, and he was raising his brother, I immediately thought, wow, that is a really good guy because that is a huge responsibility and commitment. But Layken was more of the, but-this-isn't-fair-on-me train of thought. When she sat giggling in the classroom as Will worried about his future, I genuinely could have hit her for not taking the situation seriously. If I were Will, I'd long have given up on her at that point because she clearly wasn't the adult that I'd thought she was. If Layken had been a stronger and more mature character, the page time given to her flouncing tantrums could have instead have been dedicated to developing the plots or emotion.
I realise that this has read rather negatively, and while I am disappointed that it wasn't written to the standard of similar novels, it certainly wasn't terrible, and I read it easily in one sitting. I just wished that more emphasis had been given to the emotion behind the main plots rather than adding in new and unnecessary subplots, and that there had been examples of emotions other than Layken's anger and woe-is-me attitude.
brendaguilarb's review against another edition
5.0
No se como empezar a decir lo mucho que me gusto el libro, al principio me decepciono el hecho de que la historia fuera sobre ella enamorada de su maestro *Perfon por el spoiler* pero como la historia fue avanzando me di cuenta que la autoria tenia muchas cosas por mostrar y yo por aprender, tenia mucho tiempo que un libro no me hacia llorar como este lo hizo y en verdad se los recomiendo esta lleno de cosas hermosas por aprender.
jessthebookworm's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
noelia_d's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe it's taken me over four years to re-read Slammed! I remember back when I read it for the first time that it took me a lot of time to actually pick it up because the cover just didn't appeal to me and I've never been a fan of poetry. When I finally took the chance and read it, I couldn't stop. I fell completely in love with Slammed, with Layken, with Will, with the relationship between them and their little brother and since then I've always considered it one of my favourite books from Colleen Hoover's.
This second time around it was no different, the moment I started reading it I couldn't stop and it's been really nice to reconect with these characters after so long. Knowing the story didn't make it easier the sucker punch that it was to come, in fact I started crying before anything even happened.
Slammed may not be perfect - with hindsight I think it could have been a little bit longer and developed certain things more - but it's a story that helped me discover The Avett Brothers, that made me like Slam poetry and the most important part: a story that touched my heart and has stayed with me all these years.
This second time around it was no different, the moment I started reading it I couldn't stop and it's been really nice to reconect with these characters after so long. Knowing the story didn't make it easier the sucker punch that it was to come, in fact I started crying before anything even happened.
Slammed may not be perfect - with hindsight I think it could have been a little bit longer and developed certain things more - but it's a story that helped me discover The Avett Brothers, that made me like Slam poetry and the most important part: a story that touched my heart and has stayed with me all these years.
kacianna's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of Colleen’s first books, and I love it. Her writing had gotten better over the years, but this is still so good
lauramckenzie19's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
etovey's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0