You know that feeling when you pick up a book expecting a standard romance but end up sobbing over a slam poetry stage at 2:00 AM? That's basically the collective experience of the CoHo fandom when they first discovered the slammed colleen hoover books.
It’s wild to think about now. Back in 2012, Colleen Hoover wasn't a household name. She was a social worker in Texas who decided to self-publish a story about a girl named Layken and a guy named Will. She didn't have a massive marketing machine. She just had a story about grief, carmex, and the rhythmic pulse of performance poetry.
The Slammed series—which includes Slammed, Point of Retreat, and This Girl—is essentially the "indie darling" phase of Hoover's career. While everyone talks about It Ends With Us or Verity these days, these early books are where her signature emotional gut-punch style actually started.
What Actually Happens in the Slammed Colleen Hoover Books?
The story kicks off with eighteen-year-old Layken (Lake). She’s just lost her father and is forced to move from Texas to Michigan. It sucks. It’s cold. She’s miserable. Then she meets the neighbor, Will Cooper.
They have this instant, electric connection. They go on a date to a poetry slam, and it's transformative. But—because this is a Hoover novel—there is a massive, life-altering "wall" that gets thrown up between them almost immediately.
Will is Lake’s teacher.
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Yeah. That’s the hook. But unlike some other "student-teacher" romances that feel purely scandalous, this one focuses heavily on the burden of responsibility. Both Lake and Will are essentially acting as parents to their younger brothers, Kel and Caulder. They are kids forced to be adults, navigating a world that keeps taking things away from them.
The Poetry Factor
If you hate poetry, you might still like these books. Why? Because it’s not the stuffy, rhyming-couplet kind of poetry you had to analyze in high school. It’s slam poetry.
It’s aggressive. It’s raw. It’s loud.
Hoover uses the poems to let the characters say things they aren't allowed to say in real life. When Will is on stage, he’s not the professional student-teacher; he’s a grieving young man screaming his heart out. The Avett Brothers play a huge role here too. Their lyrics are woven into the narrative, acting as a sort of soundtrack for Lake and Will’s trauma and recovery. Honestly, if you haven't listened to Emotionalism while reading these, you're doing it wrong.
Why Do People Still Buy These Books Ten Years Later?
The "BookTok" effect is real, but the slammed colleen hoover books have staying power for a different reason.
They feel nostalgic.
Reading Slammed feels like 2012 in the best way. There’s a certain earnestness that you don't always find in modern, dark romances. It's about the "meanwhile." That’s a recurring theme in the series—the idea that even when life is falling apart, there is a "meanwhile" where good things are still happening.
It’s also about the side characters. Eddie, Lake’s best friend, is arguably one of the best friends in the entire CoHo universe. Her backstory involving the foster care system adds a layer of weight to the story that isn't just about the central romance.
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The Controversy and the "Ick" Factor
Let's be real for a second.
Some readers find the "forbidden" element of the student-teacher dynamic uncomfortable. That’s a fair critique. Even though Will is only a few years older than Lake, the power dynamic is tricky. However, the narrative spends a significant amount of time showing Will trying to do the right thing—often at the expense of his own happiness. He isn't a predator; he's a guy who accidentally fell for a girl before realizing he held her grade book in his hands.
Whether that excuse flies for you depends on your personal "ick" threshold.
Breakdown of the Trilogy
You’ve got three books, but they aren't all standard sequels.
- Slammed: The origin story. The move to Michigan, the discovery of the slam, the "big secret," and the fallout. It’s the most emotional of the three.
- Point of Retreat: This takes place about a year later. It deals with the complexities of keeping a relationship together when life keeps throwing curveballs. It’s less about "will they or won't they" and more about "how do they survive this?"
- This Girl: This is the one that divides fans. It’s essentially Slammed told from Will’s point of view, but framed around them being together in the present. If you love Will, you'll love it. If you don't like "retellings," you might find yourself skimming.
The evolution of the characters is what keeps the pages turning. You watch them go from impulsive teenagers to adults who understand that love isn't just a feeling—it’s a series of difficult choices.
Understanding the Avett Brothers Connection
You cannot talk about the slammed colleen hoover books without mentioning the Avett Brothers.
Colleen Hoover has been vocal about how their music inspired the series. In fact, many of the chapter titles and themes are direct nods to their songs. Lyrics from "Murder in the City" or "January Wedding" aren't just background noise; they are the emotional scaffolding of the plot.
It was a brilliant move, honestly. It gave the books a specific "vibe" that felt different from the sparkly, paranormal romances that were dominating the shelves at the time. It made the story feel grounded in reality. It felt like something that could happen in a small town in Michigan.
The Impact on the New Adult Genre
Before Hoover, "New Adult" (NA) wasn't really a defined thing.
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You had Young Adult (YA) and you had Adult Contemporary. There wasn't much for that weird age range between 18 and 22 where you're technically an adult but you have no idea what you're doing. Slammed helped bridge that gap.
It dealt with themes that were too heavy for traditional YA—like the death of multiple parents and the legalities of guardianship—but kept the high-octane emotional stakes that younger readers crave. It paved the way for everything that followed in the CoHo empire.
Is the Writing Style Different?
If you've only read Hoover's newer stuff like It Starts with Us, you'll notice a difference here. The prose in the Slammed series is a bit more raw. It’s less polished, perhaps, but it feels more urgent.
The dialogue is snappy. The "slam" sequences are written with a specific rhythm that demands you read them at a certain pace. It's an experimental style that she eventually smoothed out in her later novels, but there's a charm to the grit of these early works.
Real Talk: Should You Read Them?
If you’re looking for a light, breezy beach read, maybe skip these.
They are heavy. They deal with cancer, accidental death, financial instability, and the crushing weight of grief. But they are also incredibly hopeful. They teach you how to "push" through the bad parts of life.
If you're a fan of Colleen Hoover and haven't gone back to the beginning, you're missing the foundation of her entire career. You're missing the reason why millions of people started following her in the first place.
It’s about the Carmex. It’s about the purple hair. It’s about the way a few spoken words on a stage can change your entire perspective on a tragedy.
Actionable Steps for the Aspiring CoHo Reader
If you're ready to dive into the slammed colleen hoover books, here is the best way to do it:
- Listen while you read: Create a playlist of The Avett Brothers. Specifically, listen to the albums Emotionalism and I and Love and You. It adds a layer to the reading experience that text alone can't provide.
- Watch a real poetry slam: Go to YouTube and search for "Button Poetry." Seeing how slam poetry is actually performed will help you visualize the scenes in the book much better than just imagining someone reading a poem quietly.
- Read in order: Do not jump into This Girl first. Even though it covers the same events as the first book, the emotional payoff only works if you’ve already struggled through Lake’s perspective in Slammed.
- Check the triggers: These books deal with significant loss. If you aren't in a headspace to handle themes of terminal illness or parental death, save these for a time when you’re feeling more resilient.
The magic of these books isn't in a plot twist or a shocking ending. It's in the quiet moments between two people trying to figure out how to be okay in a world that feels fundamentally unfair. It’s about the "meanwhile." And honestly? We could all use a little more of that right now.
Next Steps for Your Reading Journey
- Acquire the Trilogy: Grab a physical copy of Slammed to fully appreciate the formatting of the poetry sections.
- Compare the Evolution: After finishing the series, read Reminders of Him to see how Hoover’s treatment of grief and redemption has matured over the last decade.
- Join the Conversation: Look up the "Slammed" hashtag on social platforms to see how other readers interpret the slam poems—many fans have written their own "Lake and Will" inspired pieces.