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. Every single second with her felt like an awakening. Like I’d never really opened my eyes until she came along. I was blind but now I see.” Leeds. He's the leading man in this 'love story'. He's also manipulative, abusive, selfish, judgemental, unsympathetic, a liar who routinely gaslights his girlfriend yet seems to consider himself a victim in everything. I went into this book blind, I only knew that it was paranormal. It really surprised me, especially since this book had a few horror elements that got me on the edge of my seat. Fui do desespero, ao medo, a incredulidade, a raiva, ao asco, a mais raiva ainda, e no final eu entendi, mas ainda assim julguei muito as atitudes dos personagens.

Dnes som ju musela jednoducho dočítať, nemohla som ísť skôr spať. A po prečítaní musím povedať, že ma Colleen Hoover opäť nesklamala. In short, I hated the first 70% but loved the remaining 30%. If you’re looking for a similar type of romance, I recommend Chase the Butterflies by Monica James. She’s the victim now, even though she’s unaware of it. The only thing Layla did wrong is fall in love with me. other than guy gaslights girl. (Oh and insta-love, but that’s kind of a given in a CoHo book.) That gaslighting though? Oof! I’m all for characters that break bad, but the author has to convey some level of awareness that it’s happening. Here we’re just supposed to keep rooting for him and a happy ending. Which I did, until I realized the gaslighting had happened to me too.That revelation was a little exaggerated for my own taste! I drank my whole bottle of Sauvignon Blanc but I was still giving blank looks to my e-reader, blinking nonstop and telling my husband : I solved the mystery, I’m Layla! So yeah, Leeds actions didn’t sit well with me for the majority of the book. I was genuinely concerned for Layla. I found Leeds and Willow’s constant togetherness distasteful despite the fact that I also thought they were sweet. At this point, I was questioning why the book was called Layla instead of Willow. LOL, if only I’d paid more attention. I’d make a terrible detective. The first 70% had my sense of loyalty warring with my guilt (👎), and the remaining 30% had me feeling all sorts of mushy (👍). Potom príde veľa napätia, ťažkého rozhodovania hlavných hrdinov, miestami ma chytala zlosť na Leedsa (no dobre, naňho som sa príšerne dlho hnevala), potom na Laylu, a aj som sa pri niektorých momentoch cítila naozaj divne, dokonca som sa trochu bála. So they do this, Sable (who still thinks she’s Layla and that Leeds loved her but is now betraying her) is fighting for her life with no idea why he’s holding her underwater. Once she dies, Leeds has to her Aspen to perform CPR and obviously everything works out at the end.

Když se zastavím u hlavních postav Leedse a Layli, tak mi přišo, že jsou napsaní tak, aby si je čtenář neoblíbil. Leeds je prostě boyfriend kterého nechcete - manipulátor, sobec a přestože na konci ho máme asi litovat nebo ho chápat, tak mě prostě neskutečně vytáčel. U Layli mám zase pocit, že jí nebylo dáno dostatečně prostoru, aby jsme ji mohli poznat a tím pádem s ní soucítit. Mě vlastně na konci bylo úplně jedno jak to dopadne. Nejlepší na tom všem byla Willow. Také mě štvalo, že celou knížku vyprávěl Leeds. A upřímně tím, že jsem knihu měla jako audioknihu, tak ten kdo jí namluvil, mu taky zrovna dvakrát nepomohl. 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) 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. Leeds meets Layla and falls head over heels. After suffering a brain injury, Layla is not herself. Leeds meets Willow, a mysterious woman who can't remember her past. Leeds falls for Willow. He must make a choice between the woman he once loved or the woman he now loves. But when the paranormal parts start evolving, I slowly started to lose my interest. It starts to turn into some nonsense love triangle! And when the big revelation comes out, I turned into that dumb person I mentioned at the beginning of the book: I asked myself : who am I ? What am I doing here? Who is who? What? What? WHAAAATTTT?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. I hate Leeds so much. He doesn't have a single good trait. And I still haven't recovered from the part where he ate a strand of Layla's hair. Whenever I see Colleen Hoover put out a book that crosses genres, I'm always salivating to get my hands on it. But it's not long into Layla before it becomes apparent that this story would be bogged down by a problematic narrative, and nothing can save it. While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement. I prefer Willow over Layla now, in almost every way, and it’s a heavy, appalling, shameful realization.