Slammed is a first novel for an author with little to no previous writing experience that was written initially only for family and friends and then was self-published on Amazon to (a surprisingly) great reception. After finishing this short book, I just don't agree with the majority of readers that this was a great YA romance. I think I was especially let down by the central slam poetry theme which fell pretty flat in terms of the poetry itself and the development of the slam poetry culture. When I think of slam poetry, I generally imagine great emotion and raw truth and sticky subjects. None of this was captured in Ms. Hoover's novel. Some young people in my life recently told me that the slam poetry movement is now full of "posers" with no real message to share and no real passion for the art. This book felt full of "posers." Even though their life experiences could have been the source of good poetry, those opportunities were squandered away by the characters in this book. Elsewhere on the web, Ms. Hoover has expressed her concern that there were not more novels with slam poetry as a central theme. I'm afraid we are still waiting.
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