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a_strix_named_strix's review against another edition
1.0
Cheating, duct tape, attempted drowning... this is ridiculous in the worst possible way.
cipotalectora's review against another edition
1.0
I’m going to keep this one short and get straight to the point: I hate liars, and I hate cheaters.
If I wanted to read a book about a cheating or lying protagonist, I would have. The only story I have read with cheating as part of the plot is [b:Forget Me Not|51523852|Forget Me Not|Q.B. Tyler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568522896l/51523852._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71751145] by Q.B. Tyler. I knew there was cheating, and I knew what I was getting myself into, which is why I didn’t allow myself to be affected by it when I reflected on my final thoughts. Although I don't like and accept cheating at all, no matter what reason, fictional cheating I can stand as long as I mentally prepare myself. If I am not ready to read a book with cheating characters or want to read it, I won't. In this case, cheating and lying were two things I didn't know were big on the plot, so my mood was completely faltered.
I’ve read two books by CoHo, those being [b:Confess|22609310|Confess|Colleen Hoover|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412280173l/22609310._SY75_.jpg|42099145] and [b:It Ends with Us|27362503|It Ends with Us|Colleen Hoover|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470427482l/27362503._SY75_.jpg|43940889], which I didn’t like. Given that I was not too fond of this one either, I can see where my relationship with this author is going. Unfortunately, I am someone who needs to continue reading books from an author I have read. Yeah, it’s a curse, I know.
Layla follows the story of Layla and Leeds, who meet during Layla’s sister’s wedding and instantly feel a spark between each other. However, while their relationship is off to a good start, a tragedy strikes them both and causes Layla to fight for her life. After some time, Layla has recovered physically, but she is still struggling with her emotional health. To help this, Leeds decides to take Layla back to where they met, but strange things start happening around the house and with Layla. It doesn’t help that Leeds begins forming a connection with Willow and makes him reflect on his feelings towards Layla.
Back to my point: I hate liars, and I hate cheaters.
While it was one of my first times reading a romance novel with the pov of a male character (which I didn’t mind, to be honest. I like the change), Leeds has got to be one of the most pathetic characters I’ve come across reading. This man is an example of why I question love and loyalty. Emotional cheating is defined as "a particular type of secretive, sustained closeness with someone who isn't your primary partner. It's one person making a unilateral decision to cultivate nonsexual intimacy with someone other than their primary romantic partner in a way that weakens or undermines the relationship." (Source)
In my opinion, what Leeds does is emotionally cheat.
To start off, here are some quotes as to why I think Leeds emotionally cheated:
We’re supposed to sympathize with Leed’s character and actions, but I don’t understand how. When we first meet him and are introduced to his relationship with Layla, we find out he has her wrists tied up, and she is locked up in a room. We don’t know the reason why, we don’t know what’s happened, and we don’t know what’s about to happen. All we know is that he is having an interview with a man who is recording what he is about to say. I knew then that Leed would be too problematic for my liking.
We’re then thrown into how Leeds and Layla meet. Her sister's wedding, some horrible dancing with a horrible band, instant attraction, talking, sex, and then back to the interview. The cycle repeats except, of course, the events change.
After the accident (which was a shooting where Leed’s obsessive ex shot Layla), Leeds decides to take Layla back to where they met. He never told her this, though, because he wanted to keep it a surprise since he also planned to propose to her. Not only that, but according to the doctor, it could have helped Layla with her memories or overall health. While this is true and believable, I believe Layla had the right to know she was going back to a place like that. It would have helped her prepare and not get a panic attack on her way there, as well as avoiding feeling dizzy and not well. Still, he didn’t mention it to her. This is where the lying started, and I found myself questioning how these actions would be justified. They didn’t really get better, and when Willow entered the room, it made things worse.
Willow is a ghost Leeds forms a friendship with and begins to develop feelings for. Part of this has to do with the fact that Layla “feels distant” to him, as if the psychological trauma she endured never happened, as if her memory loss isn’t taking place, as if she’s not struggling to try to accept the fact that she was brought back to a place filled with dark memories without her even knowing beforehand. See, Willow is a ghost who can snap into Layla's body. Leed finds this out and begins talking with her through that switch. It literally became something he wished was real. This is where I saw the second red flag. His actions, later on, didn't help at all. From lying to Layla about who he is talking to, to lying about why she appears in places she doesn't remember, to even going out of his way to try and drug Layla by putting a sleeping pill in her wine so she can fall asleep quickly so Willow can snap into her body. He thought about Willow, wished he could talk to Willow instead, and wished Layla wouldn't leave because then Willow would leave. This all happened all while dating Layla, all while not knowing the truth, which is why I found everything unjustified and overall terrible.
Hence why he ties her wrists.
Well, not entirely, but part of it.
From how I see it, Leed’s emotional cheating is justified in the end with the truth. He knows his actions are wrong, but he does them anyway. He lets Willow snap into Layla's body and talks to her that way. He continues lying to her when she snaps back and is confused about where she is. I found nothing justified, but instead, I found Leed to be toxic. He played with Layla and used her emotions, her body, and her sanity. While still recovering from trauma and physical injuries, Leed’s actions are done to show that he cares and loves her. Regardless of the ending and plot twist, I felt his actions unforgivable. I felt pity for Layla throughout the entire book (after the accident) because of how she was being used. I thought she was being held against her free will, even though both Leeds and Willow say that isn't the case. I disagree. Her body was literally borrowed by Willow against her free will. Willow would snap to her body, and this was something Leeds preferred. Layla would appear from one place to another and be confused as to why she was where she was at. Leeds would lie to her or pretend nothing strange was happening. In fact, he found himself becoming attracted to Willow (did I mention she is a fucking ghost?) because of how easy it was to talk to her. He and Willow both knew what they were doing was wrong, yet neither did anything stop them from continuing.
And the whole "I'm doing this because I love you?" bullshit? Yeah, I didn't buy it.
Not only that, but I couldn’t sympathize with any character whatsoever, especially Leeds. As the reader, we’re supposed to feel some positive emotion, yet I only found anger towards him. What started as a solid and mediocre relationship turned into lies, manipulation, and gaslighting. It all became a repetitive cycle of emotional playing. Not only that, but I found the story boring as a whole. Even the plot twists were something I shrugged off and read through as if they didn't mean anything (because, really, they didn't).
When I heard this was paranormal, I thought it would be about a ghost or someone haunting the couple's house, making their life complicated in ways. While it is, it isn't how I expected it to. I didn't think Leeds would become attracted to Willow as if the past 8 months with Layla were nothing to him. Seriously, this man really started imagining Willow blowing him when it was Layla, yet he doesn't even know what Willow looks like. But, one way or another, he managed to hope. He even admitted that his feelings for Layla were basically gone and moved on to Willow.
There was nothing I felt towards this book, the characters, and whatever the book's message is. I don’t even remember what I thought I would expect from this book, but what I got was definitely not it.
Side note: Not sure if this counts as a spoiler or not, but this book starts off with part of the ending and plot twist. Layla is tied up, and while the characters know the truth, we don't. You question why Layla is tied up. This is something that definitely impacted my overall feelings as well because I started feeling bad for Layla with what Leed was doing, so after finding out the truth, it didn't really change much, which is why his actions weren't justified for me.
If I wanted to read a book about a cheating or lying protagonist, I would have. The only story I have read with cheating as part of the plot is [b:Forget Me Not|51523852|Forget Me Not|Q.B. Tyler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568522896l/51523852._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71751145] by Q.B. Tyler. I knew there was cheating, and I knew what I was getting myself into, which is why I didn’t allow myself to be affected by it when I reflected on my final thoughts. Although I don't like and accept cheating at all, no matter what reason, fictional cheating I can stand as long as I mentally prepare myself. If I am not ready to read a book with cheating characters or want to read it, I won't. In this case, cheating and lying were two things I didn't know were big on the plot, so my mood was completely faltered.
I’ve read two books by CoHo, those being [b:Confess|22609310|Confess|Colleen Hoover|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412280173l/22609310._SY75_.jpg|42099145] and [b:It Ends with Us|27362503|It Ends with Us|Colleen Hoover|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470427482l/27362503._SY75_.jpg|43940889], which I didn’t like. Given that I was not too fond of this one either, I can see where my relationship with this author is going. Unfortunately, I am someone who needs to continue reading books from an author I have read. Yeah, it’s a curse, I know.
Layla follows the story of Layla and Leeds, who meet during Layla’s sister’s wedding and instantly feel a spark between each other. However, while their relationship is off to a good start, a tragedy strikes them both and causes Layla to fight for her life. After some time, Layla has recovered physically, but she is still struggling with her emotional health. To help this, Leeds decides to take Layla back to where they met, but strange things start happening around the house and with Layla. It doesn’t help that Leeds begins forming a connection with Willow and makes him reflect on his feelings towards Layla.
Back to my point: I hate liars, and I hate cheaters.
While it was one of my first times reading a romance novel with the pov of a male character (which I didn’t mind, to be honest. I like the change), Leeds has got to be one of the most pathetic characters I’ve come across reading. This man is an example of why I question love and loyalty. Emotional cheating is defined as "a particular type of secretive, sustained closeness with someone who isn't your primary partner. It's one person making a unilateral decision to cultivate nonsexual intimacy with someone other than their primary romantic partner in a way that weakens or undermines the relationship." (Source)
In my opinion, what Leeds does is emotionally cheat.
To start off, here are some quotes as to why I think Leeds emotionally cheated:
I’m supposed to crave her, to want her tongue in my mouth, my hands on her body, to push myself inside her. But it’s not what I want right now. All I feel right now is overwhelming impatience.
I’m not soaking up any of the words because I can’t stop thinking about Willow. Layla did agree to give me a few more days in the house, but we’ll still eventually have to leave. Willow will be alone.
Neither of us speaks for a moment after she says that. It’s tough, because we both know this is wrong, but I think we’re both hoping the other one doesn’t put a stop to it. We obviously enjoy each other’s company or we wouldn’t be doing this night after night.
Sometimes, when I look at Layla, I wish she were Willow. At breakfast, I catch myself wishing I were chatting with a cheerful Willow over coffee, rather than Layla complaining about her headache.
During the day when I’m chatting with Willow on the computer, I spend that time wishing she could take over Layla and I could talk to her face to face.
And now . . . as Layla slides her tongue up the length of me, I kind of wish it were Willow doing this to me.
It’s easy to pretend Layla is Willow because Layla’s face is the only one I can attribute to Willow when I think about her. I wrap my hand in Layla’s hair and watch her for a moment . . . wondering what this would feel like if it were Willow inside of Layla right now. Would Willow use her tongue like that? Would she make the same noises Layla makes?
I imagine how Willow’s kiss would feel. Would it feel the same as Layla’s kiss?
Would sex with Willow feel different than sex with Layla?
Would she arch her back the same way Layla does when I push into her?
Everything about this moment is wrong. Layla thinks she’s pleasuring her soon-to-be fiancé while I’m pretending she’s the ghost I’ve been slowly falling for.
Now all I feel is remorse, because it wasn’t until ten seconds ago that I realized I’ve already moved on to another cycle.
I’ve moved on to Willow.
It’s Willow I want to talk to when I wake up. Willow I want to see before I close my eyes. Willow I want to spend all my time with during the day.
I prefer Willow over Layla now, in almost every way, and it’s a heavy, appalling, shameful realization.
“Do you think what we’re doing is wrong? Using Layla like we’re doing?”
“Of course it’s wrong. Just because we’re able to do this doesn’t mean we should be doing.”
I’ll still pretend Layla is Willow every time I kiss her.
I never thought I’d feel more for someone than I felt that night. But right now . . . I’m feeling everything I can feel in this world, coupled with everything I could feel in Willow’s world.
If she leaves, I won’t get to see Willow again.
“She’s prettier when you’re inside of her,” I say.
“I don’t want to marry her, Willow.”
“Then you shouldn’t have proposed,” she says quickly.
“What was I supposed to do? Let her leave?”
Willow rolls over and sits up. “Yes.” She makes it sound so simple.
But is it right to let her think she’s losing her sanity?
We’re supposed to sympathize with Leed’s character and actions, but I don’t understand how. When we first meet him and are introduced to his relationship with Layla, we find out he has her wrists tied up, and she is locked up in a room. We don’t know the reason why, we don’t know what’s happened, and we don’t know what’s about to happen. All we know is that he is having an interview with a man who is recording what he is about to say. I knew then that Leed would be too problematic for my liking.
We’re then thrown into how Leeds and Layla meet. Her sister's wedding, some horrible dancing with a horrible band, instant attraction, talking, sex, and then back to the interview. The cycle repeats except, of course, the events change.
After the accident (which was a shooting where Leed’s obsessive ex shot Layla), Leeds decides to take Layla back to where they met. He never told her this, though, because he wanted to keep it a surprise since he also planned to propose to her. Not only that, but according to the doctor, it could have helped Layla with her memories or overall health. While this is true and believable, I believe Layla had the right to know she was going back to a place like that. It would have helped her prepare and not get a panic attack on her way there, as well as avoiding feeling dizzy and not well. Still, he didn’t mention it to her. This is where the lying started, and I found myself questioning how these actions would be justified. They didn’t really get better, and when Willow entered the room, it made things worse.
Willow is a ghost Leeds forms a friendship with and begins to develop feelings for. Part of this has to do with the fact that Layla “feels distant” to him, as if the psychological trauma she endured never happened, as if her memory loss isn’t taking place, as if she’s not struggling to try to accept the fact that she was brought back to a place filled with dark memories without her even knowing beforehand. See, Willow is a ghost who can snap into Layla's body. Leed finds this out and begins talking with her through that switch. It literally became something he wished was real. This is where I saw the second red flag. His actions, later on, didn't help at all. From lying to Layla about who he is talking to, to lying about why she appears in places she doesn't remember, to even going out of his way to try and drug Layla by putting a sleeping pill in her wine so she can fall asleep quickly so Willow can snap into her body. He thought about Willow, wished he could talk to Willow instead, and wished Layla wouldn't leave because then Willow would leave. This all happened all while dating Layla, all while not knowing the truth, which is why I found everything unjustified and overall terrible.
Hence why he ties her wrists.
Well, not entirely, but part of it.
From how I see it, Leed’s emotional cheating is justified in the end with the truth. He knows his actions are wrong, but he does them anyway. He lets Willow snap into Layla's body and talks to her that way. He continues lying to her when she snaps back and is confused about where she is. I found nothing justified, but instead, I found Leed to be toxic. He played with Layla and used her emotions, her body, and her sanity. While still recovering from trauma and physical injuries, Leed’s actions are done to show that he cares and loves her. Regardless of the ending and plot twist, I felt his actions unforgivable. I felt pity for Layla throughout the entire book (after the accident) because of how she was being used. I thought she was being held against her free will, even though both Leeds and Willow say that isn't the case. I disagree. Her body was literally borrowed by Willow against her free will. Willow would snap to her body, and this was something Leeds preferred. Layla would appear from one place to another and be confused as to why she was where she was at. Leeds would lie to her or pretend nothing strange was happening. In fact, he found himself becoming attracted to Willow (did I mention she is a fucking ghost?) because of how easy it was to talk to her. He and Willow both knew what they were doing was wrong, yet neither did anything stop them from continuing.
And the whole "I'm doing this because I love you?" bullshit? Yeah, I didn't buy it.
Not only that, but I couldn’t sympathize with any character whatsoever, especially Leeds. As the reader, we’re supposed to feel some positive emotion, yet I only found anger towards him. What started as a solid and mediocre relationship turned into lies, manipulation, and gaslighting. It all became a repetitive cycle of emotional playing. Not only that, but I found the story boring as a whole. Even the plot twists were something I shrugged off and read through as if they didn't mean anything (because, really, they didn't).
When I heard this was paranormal, I thought it would be about a ghost or someone haunting the couple's house, making their life complicated in ways. While it is, it isn't how I expected it to. I didn't think Leeds would become attracted to Willow as if the past 8 months with Layla were nothing to him. Seriously, this man really started imagining Willow blowing him when it was Layla, yet he doesn't even know what Willow looks like. But, one way or another, he managed to hope. He even admitted that his feelings for Layla were basically gone and moved on to Willow.
There was nothing I felt towards this book, the characters, and whatever the book's message is. I don’t even remember what I thought I would expect from this book, but what I got was definitely not it.
Side note: Not sure if this counts as a spoiler or not, but this book starts off with part of the ending and plot twist. Layla is tied up, and while the characters know the truth, we don't. You question why Layla is tied up. This is something that definitely impacted my overall feelings as well because I started feeling bad for Layla with what Leed was doing, so after finding out the truth, it didn't really change much, which is why his actions weren't justified for me.
casey_howell's review against another edition
4.0
I really don’t know how to explain this book. The twist at the end was so obvious yet so unexpected. It made me feel so many emotions all at one. I got through this book so fast it was such a good read but honestly left me speechless. I rate this book 4/5
tays_bookcorner's review against another edition
5.0
I honestly think too many people are too much in their heads about this book. This is not a true story, its a completely crazy, made up story that rocked my world! From start to finish this book had me by the pony tail, I was on the edge of my bean bag the entire read and even though the story is messed up and the main character is completely selfish and abusive. At first I was really made at the main character but then I started to see things from their side and sort of slipped into their way of thinking and I kind of felt bad but then when I found out the plot twist I was like okay perfect I don't feel so bad anymore. Anyway it was such a good read and if you are one of those sensitive people who can switch off and enjoy a story then I don't recommend you read this one.
kellisromancereadingnook's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
2.0
dsimon22's review against another edition
5.0
This book was a total mind scrambling book. My heart and head were all over the place trying to figure out everything and wrap my head around what could possibly be going on. Part of me I was mad at things were happening but then once it all came to light and what really was happening it all made so much sense! By far one of the best books I have read! It was a great physiological mystery and romance!!! Highly recommend!!
heathergornalll's review against another edition
3.0
i have very high expectations for this book, although it’s brilliantly written it’s not like Colleen’s usual style book and I wasn’t the biggest fan at all