Book: Layla by Colleen Hoover
Read From: 5th October - 8th October 2021
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: When Leeds meets Layla it's love at first sight. When an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life, Leeds whisks her away to the bed and breakfast where they first met to put their relationship back on track. Not long after they arrive, things begin to take a bizarre turn and so Leeds finds solace in Willow, another guest of the B&B. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being. Leeds soon realizes he has to make a choice because he can’t help both of them. But if he makes the wrong choice, it could be detrimental for all of them.
I have NEVER been this conflicted over my feelings towards a book in my life. There were so many parts I absolutely despised, but there were also so many gripping bits too! I've gone for a middle of the road rating with 3 stars - mainly because the entire time I was reading, my mind was flicking between giving it a one star and giving it a five star. I told you I was conflicted, it was so mind boggling.
It probably didn't help that one of my biggest pet peeves in this book was the main couple. I'm sorry to everyone who loved Leeds but he is honestly a walking red flag😭✋🏼 and they are just the definition of insta-love, I feel like the beginning was meant to be cute but I just found it more cringe than anything. Then of course as the synopsis suggests, it only goes downhill from there. I did feel bad for Layla after the attack, especially because her boyfriend was the biggest piece of sh*t but I felt like something was missing, I couldn't really connect to her at any point. I also didn’t like how the book tackled eating disorders - so TW for that even though it’s quite brief. Which is my issue if I’m honest, I feel like if something like that’s going to be included it should be explored a bit further? Especially if the book could work well without it?
The paranormal aspect however... for Colleen Hoover's first dabble into the genre it was done SO well, I couldn't peel my eyes away from the book. Although, I’ll admit that I haven’t read much paranormal fiction so I can’t objectively say how good it is or how it compares to others! It’s very ironic that I was as gripped as I was because I still hated the story line! I was DESPERATE to see how things ended up, but it was so frustrating with Leeds going back and forth, not being able to make up his mind.
I honestly don’t know whether I would recommend this. I normally find my 3 star books enjoyable (and therefore would recommend them more often than not), but this book has me feeling all kinds of weird things - some positive, most not! I think I’d suggest giving Layla a try if it sounds like it would be your cup of tea - a lot of people go in expecting a horror/thriller but it’s definitely a paranormal romance so do bear that in mind to avoid disappointment.
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