Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2012
Publisher: Atria Books
Number of Pages: 352
My Rating: 5
Summary from GoodReads.com:
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.
I’m not even ashamed to admit this- I read this book in two hours. It straight up sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. I thought it had a great storyline and the author’s writing style was so descriptive it really made you feel those feelings of falling in love all over again.
While the main character is an eighteen-year-old girl, I wouldn’t say this is a ‘teenagers only’ book as the characters in the story are dealing with really heavy issues. Gut-wrenching, tears-streaming-down-your-face issues. But there is also a ton of realistic humor in it which I loved because it reminded me of things my family would say if we were sitting around the kitchen table just joking around. Hoover did a great job making everyone in the story really likeable and ensuring their personalities got to you immediately. The main character, Layken, is an awesome girl and she will make you laugh over and over again. Her neighbor, Will, is an admirable character as well and really balances her out with his logical thoughts and reasoning (most of the time).
Another great thing about this book is that it incorporates slam poetry, which is a breathtaking thing if you’ve never experienced it in person. A poetry slam is a competition in which people recite their original work with powerful emotions and then a panel of preselected members of the audience judge them on a number scale. The poetry at these slams will move your soul. While this could potentially be a hard concept to convey in writing, Hoover does an amazing job relaying the message the poets are trying to express and makes you laugh and cry while doing so.
Overall, I felt like this was an extremely enjoyable book, despite some of the tough subject matter, which made me really happy while reading. And if you liked John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, you will love this. I highly recommend it!
-Busy Brunette 
Labels: Fiction, Rating 5
