Eddie & Gavin wishlist {Slammed series}

I cannot stop thinking about the characters in Slammed and Point of Retreat. Will and Lake truly got me feeling all mushy and gushy over love. I mean I just want to lock myself up in my office and write slam poetry about my husband and wish that he would reciprocate the action!

But what I'd really love to see, is Colleen Hoover tell us the story of Eddie and Gavin from the beginning! I want to hear about Eddie's past and how her and Gavin came to be so perfect for each other. Then maybe a second book that tells us what happens during and after the events in Point of Retreat from their POV.

***Don't read on if you don't want spoilers from Slammed or Point of Retreat***

Eddie is a spunky girl who has learned to face the cards she's been dealt. She is the product of a drug addict mother who, after trying to sell her at age 9, loses her daughter to the system. Not that she cared. Eddie is raised by many different families and has many different siblings throughout her time in foster care. Luckily she ends up with Joel at the age of 14, and the poor guy has no clue how to raise, but falls in love for her like any great father love his daughter. Who wouldn't want more than just the snippets in Slammed, to learn about Eddie's trials and tribulations???

Eddie and Gavin are one of the most genuinely in love couples I've read about. They love each other endlessly. Gavin, an 18 year old during Slammed, is spunky enough to write slam poetry to Eddie and recite it in class sans embarrassment. In Point of Retreat they reach a bump {hehe} in their relationship when they find out Eddie is pregnant. They struggle with the realization of being parents at such a young age, especially since they see their friends experience first hand. Gavin has a hard time telling Eddie how he feels about the situation, and doesn't do a great job of helping her through her emotions of being pregnant. Towards the end of the book Eddie is in a car accident and that is when Gavin realizes he loves Eddie and their future baby girl more than anything. At the end of Point of Retreat, Lake and Will let Eddie and Gavin take Lake's mother's house for the next couple of months.

So my thoughts...

Book 1: Learn about Eddie and Gavin, their past, and how their love story unfolds. Maybe end with their pregnancy.

Book 2: How Eddie and Gavin deal with being 19 and pregnant with friends who raise their siblings there to give advice

I'll have to email Colleen and see if maybe just maybe she'll consider this as a book option!?

Point of Retreat- Colleen Hoover

I just now... like an hour ago... finished this book. It is the second installment of Slammed by Colleen Hoover. Point of Retreat picks up a year after Slammed ends. 

Point of Retreat was, I have to say, even better than Slammed. I actually cried, laughed, and slammed out loud! It was incredible. I love that I feel like the characters are all part of my own extended family. I even feel the need to use key phrases like "butterfly you" or "carving pumpkins." Those of you that have read one or both of these books, will understand what I mean. 

Colleen definitely outdid herself with this book and I really hope she gives us more snippets of Layken and Will on her blog. 

This is the Amazon.com synopsis for Point of Retreat:

Layken and Will's relationship persevered through hardships, heartache and a cruel twist of fate, further solidifying the fact that they belong together.  What they don't expect is that the things that brought them together may ultimately be the very things that tear them apart. 

 Layken is left questioning the very foundation on which their relationship was built.  Will is left questioning how to prove his love for a girl who can't seem to stop "carving pumpkins."Once they find answers, the couple faces an even greater challenge.  One that could change not only their lives, but the lives of everyone who depend on them.

Loved:

• Will and Lake!!! <33333333
• watching the boys grow up from the last book
• Kiersten and Sherry's characters
• sucks and sweets (worst and best part of each day)
• the poetry before each chapter
• Julia, Lake's mother's, grasp on life even after death
• the tragedy that makes a good story
• slams
• the inside jokes that make you feel like a part of the story

Loathed {disliked}:

• the lack of trust and communication that occurs
• that there wasn't as much slam poetry as in Slammed

Jason Mraz's I Won't Give Up is the perfect song to accompany this book. Colleen posted it on her blog, and as soon as I finished Point of Retreat I was compelled to listen to it. It completely and utterly encompasses what this book is about. 

Listen to it on loop while you eat up Point of Retreat!

Go and buy it!!! $3.99 Will. Not. Break. Your. Bank.

Slammed- Colleen Hoover

I most recently finished this series and have to say it was enthralling as well as refreshing. When one is like moi, with the sick habit of consuming books like drugs, it is easy to notice redundancies within genres.

I finished this series after reading eight other Young Adult {YA} and New Adult fictions. Slammed came up as a recommendation through Amazon. I immediately scrolled down to look at reviews, to gauge if I should spend another couple of bucks on a book. Tammara Webber {who wrote the Between the Lines series as well as her latest title, Easy} had a featured review that made my mind for me:

If you're in a reading slump, and you want to try something genuinely unique, unlike anything else out there - here's your book. It sneaks up on you, starting out with one girl (Layken) missing one parent (check). Add quirky little brother (check) and an unwanted move cross country, because of a parental job transfer (check). She arrives at her new destination, and immediately meets cute, charming guy (Will - double check). 

What you don't realize is that this is the end of what you expected...I honestly don't want to tell you any more. Just go read it already. And when you hit that point at about 20% or so that makes you go, "OMFG!" - that's your departure point, right there. Strap in and put your tray in the upright position. Oh, and prepare to buy the sequel (which is out now - lucky you!), because you're gonna want it. As. Soon. As. You. Finish. Reading. 

With Tammara's words I quickly did a 1-click purchase on Amazon for a whopping $2.99 and dug in!

According to Colleen's blog here is what Slammed is about:

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. Within days of their introduction, Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope.
Not long after a 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 force that keeps them apart.

Loved:

• great romance with great heartache
• responsible young adults
• resilient mother
• slam poetry!
• swoon worthy hottie
• there is a follow up book {Point of Retreat}
• pride in intelligence
• indie feel

Loathed {disliked}:

• Avett Brothers lyrics... I don't know why they distracted me!
• NOTHING else!

Loved. Loved. Loved this book. It was deep and thoughtful and made me want to write my own slam poetry. I'll follow up with Point of Retreat!

Go buy now: Slammed by Colleen Hoover ebook