How do I put into words how good this book is? I won't even try. 
 I was resistant to read this book because the review mention poetry and it didn't entice me. I'm so glad I read it anyway. I had read Hopeless before and I liked it but Slammed is a masterpiece. 
 The story begins with Layken moving from Texas to Michigan after her father died. They sold their home and now her mom and brother are her only family. She just turned eighteen and will start her last year of high school. 
 When she meets her neighbor Will Cooper they get along great, an attraction builds and when Will asks her to go out with him, he takes her to listen to slam poetry. Oh my, who would have thought that slammed poetry can be funny, sweet, sad, and awesome? Not I. 
 Of course everything changes when school starts. 
 I won't go into any details. Why? Because this book was crafted perfectly. Kudos to Colleen Hoover for writing this sweet story. 
 Point of Retreat is next. 
 Now, where is the movie? 
 5/5 Fangs- nothing less for this book. 
 I used to love the ocean. 
 Everything about her. 
 Her coral reefs, her white caps, her roaring waves, the 
 rocks they lap, her pirate legends and mermaid tails, 
 Treasures lost and treasures held. . . 
 And ALL 
 Of her fish 
 In the sea. 
 Yes, I used to love the ocean, 
 Everything about her. 
 The way she would sing me to sleep as I lay in my bed 
 then wake me with a force 
 That I soon came to dread. 
 Her fables, her lies, her misleading eyes, 
 I'd drain her dry 
 If I cared enough to. 
 I used to love the ocean, 
 Everything about her. 
 Her coral reefs, her whitecaps, her roaring waves, the 
 rocks they lap, her pirate legends and mermaid tails, 
 treasures lost and treasures held. 
 And ALL 
 Of her fish 
 In the sea. 
 Well, if you've ever tried navigating your sailboat 
 through her stormy seas, you would realize that 
 her whitecaps are your enemies. If you've ever tried 
 swimming ashore when your leg gets a cramp and 
 you just had a huge meal of In-N-Out burgers that's 
 weighing you down, and her roaring waves are 
 knocking the wind out of you, filling your lungs with 
 water as you flail your arms, trying to get someone's 
 attention, but your friends 
 just 
 wave 
 back at you? 
 And if you've ever grown up with dreams in your head 
 about life, and how one of these days you would pirate 
 your own ship and have your own crew and that all of 
 the mermaids 
 would love 
 only 
 you? 
 Well, you would realize. . . 
 As I eventually realized . . . 
 That all the good things about her? 
 All the beautiful? 
 It's not real. 
 It's fake. 
 So you keep your ocean, 
 I'll take the Lake. 
 cross posted at my blog http://mrsleifs.blogspot.com