Layla by Colleen Hoover

 Rating: ★★★★☆

Dates Read: 2/2/23-2/2/23

    From the moment Leeds met Layla, he believed he would spend the rest of his life with her—until an attack, no one expected left Layla fighting for her life. Layla spent weeks in the hospital before she physically recovered, but the emotional and mental trauma changed the woman Leeds fell in love with. In an attempt to put their relationship back on track, Leeds takes Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla's behavior begins to get very bizarre. Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds makes fast friends with Willow, the other guest of the B&B. As he grows closer to Willow, so does his curiosity. He soon realizes he has to make a choice, he can't help both of them. But if he makes the wrong choice, it could be detrimental for all of them.

    I've read numerous Colleen Hoover books, and I've enjoyed the thriller/mystery one's more than her normal romance novels. I do applaud CoHo for stepping outside her genre, it's something most authors don't do, and she does it well. I can't wait for the next book in this realm of genre from Hoover.

    Leeds made me cringe numerous times throughout the story, but despite that, I found the plot to be genuinely captivating. The unexpected twists took me by surprise, and I thoroughly enjoyed the element of surprise they brought. In my opinion, there were certain aspects in the book that could have benefited from more detailed information, while at the same time, I felt that certain parts could have been left out entirely.

    I did not like the emotional cheating whatsoever. Leeds is our main character, and our narrator, and the emotional cheating made it so hard to care about him at all. So did literally all of his other actions. He's selfish, manipulative, and abusive, and then tries to justify it because he "cares about Layla". It is so difficult to like a narrator or main character, who we're supposed to be rooting for, that is such an awful person.

    Despite how much I hated Leeds, I was completely invested in this book and read it in four hours. I simply couldn't bring myself to put it down. If you're going to read this, I definitely recommend you go in blind. I did, and it made the entire book more captivating.