Slammed

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.

Synopsis from Goodreads.

Hands down, this book is one of the best books I've read this year. I finished this one in one in less than a day. I've stumbled upon this book a couple of times in Goodreads before, one because I've seen it was nominated for a Best Young Adult Fiction or something? I forgot. It was nominated alongside The Fault In Our Stars, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (both of which I've read already) and I Hunt Killers (which I'm currently reading)

I didn't want to read it first, probably because of the cover. I know, I know. I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I can't help it. The third time I somehow stumbled upon it, I read the summary again and I formulated a theory about the supposed shocking revelation that tears Will and Layken apart. So I gave the book a go to prove I was right.

I was way off. I was off by a thousand miles and a couple of oceans.

I wouldn't spoil the book or anything, but when I read that revelation, I felt queasy. I didn't like reading books about such topics. (I'm being careful with my words!) But I didn't stop reading, mostly because I was curious about how these two characters who seem so perfect for each other overcome this obstacle.

This isn't your typical Y.A. novel about teenagers falling in love, but it did start like it was. Well, not exactly because Will isn't a teenager, but you get the point. I've read a lot of Y.A. novels about falling in love, that I have noticed a pattern: boy meets girl, they find each other attractive but don't say anything about it, they have all these cute moments that I would kill to have with an attractive guy, conflict in the form of an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend/family issue/personal issue, conflict gets resolved, they get together in the end, yay!

Slammed isn't like that.

There  is so much conflict that you think there's no way out of it, unless you know there's a sequel. (which there is and I haven't read it yet!) I love a book that makes you scared for what the future brings for the characters, that you can't stop reading because you want to know what happens next, that makes you care for not just the main characters but for everyone else.

Spoiler alert: I cried. And it takes a lot to make me cry.

I know this isn't much of a review but I just wanted everyone to know what a great book Slammed is. I give it 10/5 stars!! (This is my blog, I make up the rules.)