Slammed By Colleen Hoover: Novel Analysis

Throughout the novel “Slammed” by Colleen Hoover, Layken is forced to move from her beloved home in Texas to a new, unfamiliar city in Michigan. She hated Ysilanti, Michigan. “Lake, stop being such a downer...I think you’ll love Michigan” (Hoover 3). This quote is one that I can relate to very well. It is almost exactly what my mother said to me when I was moving from California to where I live now, Windsor, Ontario. I was seven years old and resentful of the move we were about to make but of course, just like Layken, my brother was happier than ever. I was obviously much younger than Layken when we made this big move so it was much easier for me to not only accept but love where I have built my true “home.” However, it was not until I read …show more content…
Living in Michigan became much less detrimental as the novel advanced. One of the biggest life lessons that Layken gained during the novel was to “Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for” (168). Personally, I have taken that lesson that Layken derived all her actions from and applied it to my own life. I learned that stepping out of your comfort zone allowed you to make new discoveries. It opens your eyes to what is around you and you learn to love the new things that you’ve recently become aware of. At this point in the novel, when her mother gave her the advice, I started to make prediction that there was a soon-to-happen turning point in Layken’s life. My predictions were confirmed after Layken and her mother, Julia told Kel about Julia’s cancer. He said, “’But I wanna stay here, by Caulder, he says as he lifts his head from her shirt and looks at me. “Layken, are you gonna make me move back to texas with you?’” (249). Layken had every intention of moving back to Texas prior to Kel saying that however, as soon as she heard that he wanted to stay next to someone he loved she realized that home was not where you were born or where a building was set up with a bed for you to sleep