SECOND READ: this was a little cheesier than i remember, but i still loved it! also, gabriel was SO FUCKING INFURIATING
like just tell the poor girl the truth??

yes, i’m still team jonah all the way bitches




FIRST READ: well shit. i am not going to lie, Lailah confused me at first. as readers, we were pushed into her world with little backstory. but as the story moved forward little bits and pieces pushed together, creating a fantastic story. i love all the characters AND enjoyed the love triangle. there is nothing like a good old fashioned love triangle, my friends. team Jonah all the way, bitches.

A veces cuando leo libros antes de terminarlos me meto en la parte de los reviews para ver que opinan en general las personas sobre el libro que estoy leyendo actualmente. En oportunidades concuerdo y en otras no, pero en este caso no entiendo el nivel de hate que recibe este libro.

La historia me pareció interesante, todo el tema de las vidas pasadas, los angeles y vampiros estuvo bien. No es una obra maestra digna de millones de premios, pero es entretenida.

Going back through this book, I'm giving it three stars because it wasn't especially bad or good, it was just kind of meh, and I felt like there wasn't any important plot unlike the last 50 pages. I'm generally a fan of Angel fiction, but they seem to be very hit or miss. And this feels like a foul ball: the bat collided, but the ball didn't really go anywhere significant. The saving grace for this book was the characters: I loved nearly every single one of them. The twists were good, nothing too out of left field, but like I said: nothing too extremely interesting here.

Too predictable making it a boring read

DNF. I can't even with this book. The writing was mediocre, the characters flat, and the protagonist whiny/passing out every twenty pages. No, thank you. I don't mean to sound critical, and I hate not finishing, but I've come to realize that I only have X amount of free time and I want to fill that with as much reading of awesome writing as possible.

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

Anytime a Big Bad vamp bites through a pregnant angel's stomach and infects the baby with its venom in the first few pages of a book, it's a pretty clear indicator of what you're in for.

If that sounds awesome to you, then, hey, you might love LAILAH by Nikki Kelly.

BUT . . . if you're like me and think that's just about as cornball as it can get . . . you are not wrong.

Francesca doesn't know what she is, she only knows that she cannot die. If she's injured badly enough, she can appear to be dead while her body shuts down to repair itself. When this happens, she wakes up with incomplete memories from her prior life that come to her in fits and starts, and sometimes while she sleeps. She has no idea how old she is, but she knows she's much older than her seventeen year old appearance.

The only thing she's sure about is the man whose face she's been seeing in her dreams throughout all her lives. The man who radiates light, the man whose beauty makes her heart ache, the man with a golden halo of blond curly hair . . . Gabriel. *rolls eyes*

But while Gabriel is the man of her dreams (HA!), Jonah in the injured vamp in her backyard. And even though her last life ended when she came face-to-face with the darker nature of vampires (the more recent the past life, the more vivid the memories), Francesca has a "hunch" that Jonah is different, so despite knowing that he's been tortured, starved, and is grievously injured, she ignores his warnings to keep her distance, lest he exsanguinate her, and cuts her own wrist, forcing him to drink.

The only reason she survives this idiocy is b/c Jonah's captors show up, distracting him from her blood, and then--OMG!--freshly fed, he somehow manages to take out ALL the bad guys.

Hmmm . . . I wonder if there's something different, something super special about Francesca's blood?

But while Jonah is busy with the vamps, Francesca hears/sees a silver bullet racing straight towards Jonah's heart, so she jumps in front of it, getting hit in the shoulder, and passes out.

When she comes to, none other than Gabriel himself is leaning over her. And not only is her dream man there--in the flesh--but would you believe that he's also the angelic leader of the motley band of good(ish) vamps that Jonah belongs to?

SMALL world.

And what a cruel twist of fate. After spending countless lives alone, she had just found Jonah, with whom she shared an instant connection. Jonah, who bares a remarkable resemblance to Damon Salvatore, both in appearance and temperament.



But then there's Gabriel. Gabriel who she's longed for in all of her lives . . . it's just SO confusing. What's a girl to do?<------W-A-F-F-L-E.

So the plot's ridiculous. How about the writing?

He wasted no time scooping me up off the bark and thrusting my body against his. He clung to me, allowing no space between us, pushing his hand into my soaking hair. Eventually I removed my face from his chest and stared up into his eyes; they were enlarged with worry and brimming over with sadness.

He didn't hug or embrace her, he thrust her body against his. She didn't look up, she removed . . . her face . . . from his chest. *headdesk* His eyes weren't wide, they were . . . enlarged.

Then there was the single page in which Francesca was, "utterly perplexed," "bewildered," and "completely dumbfounded," in quick succession.

I also have this peeve about people using the word "literally" for emphasis: I literally walked out, he literally ignored her, she literally just got here, etc.

STAHP. Ugh.

And let's not forget about all the random and bizarre, yet technically correct, words that can be found on nearly every page. Like when the monster vamp slices off a lock of Francesca's hair, and instead of smelling it, or lifting it to his nose, he raised it to his "orifices."

*sing songs* Someone literally needs to have their thesaurus confiscated.

And that's all I got. There were moments that were relatively painless, but overall . . . Lailah by Nikki Kelly was not for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of a Fallen + Twilight + Vampire Diaries mashup + a surplus of adverbs, and a questionable use of adjectives.

Hmmm, this book was alright. The book took FOREVER to get to the "interesting" stuff. And it's not as interesting as I thought it would be. I thought a lot of things could be solved if G just tell everyone the truth from the beginning.

The ending felt like a dejavu and reminded me of the part one ending of the last movie of Twilight (you'll agree with me if you've watched that movie. Don't judge! It was on TV). Not sure if I want to read the next book, we'll see.

Lailah initially gained popularity on Wattpad, and since then it has been re-released by Feiwel & Friends. It's heralded as a fresh take on standard vampire and angel mythology, and I wholeheartedly agree with that claim.

This first book in The Stylcar Saga is an unexpected read and every time some part of it felt commenplace, it made up for that by surprising me with a creative twist. Lailah was not at all what I expected, and I believe many other readers will find the same.

Reasons to Read:

1. Innovative mythology:

Hands down, this is the best part of the book. I've read a number of angel books, and my fair share of vampire books. And at first, Lailah didn't seem to have anything particularly new or noteworthy to offer. But then this story veers off into uncharted territory, with a twist that has left me pondering it since I finished the book. It raises some questions about perspective and personal beliefs, which I hope are further addressed in later books.

2. A sweet pseudo-father/daughter relationship:

Lailah finds herself with a ragtag group of friends (mostly vampires) and while I wasn't particularly attached to many of them (although a couple had potential), I really loved a relationship she develops with one of them where she's basically adopted as a daughter. It's touching and so nice to see included in a darker story like this, and it added that extra bit of emotional attachment to the story and its characters.

Lailah launches into the story right away and it doesn't hold back at all. This was a bit jarring for me as a reader, because I had a harder time grounding myself in the world and its mythology (which is very rich).

Not every reader is going to like Lailah. She's very independent and confident (neither of which are bad things), but as a result of those characteristics she tends to come across as rather reckless and impulsive. In turn, this just gets her into trouble as she doesn't take the time to think things through before acting. It's a little ridiculous at times, but I believe it's consistent with her character. Readers will need to have some patience with her, though.

This definitely ties into her romantic life as well, which features one of the most complex love scenarios I have ever read. It's one of the main motivating factors to keep the plot moving, so be forewarned that romance has a huge role to play in Lailah, and it's definitely over the top.

ARC received from Macmillan for review; no other compensation was received.

I first read this book when it was on Wattpad and I’ve loved it ever since then. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia or the love I have for Nikki Kelly (Who was always so sweet to 13 year old fangirl me), but even after rereading this book several times, I can’t find it in my heart to dislike it. I love pretty much every character and every scene. 5/5 from now 20 year old fangirl me

Oh, god, this book is so bad. Just. So bad. If the jacket flap had told me that there were also Angels in opposition to the Vampires (always capitalized), I would never EVER have picked it up. If I weren't reviewing this for a professional publication, I would have stopped reading after chapter one. As it is, I very seriously considered quitting it anyways and just writing the review based on the prologue & first chapter. As it turns out, finishing the book does not change my review substantially.

The dialogue is awkward and unrealistic, and all the characters are SUPREMELY annoying, except the Irish Vampire. Unfortunately, he insists on calling the heroine "love" and "sweetness" the entire damn book, which is pretty annoying. And the heroine? UGH. Literally, EVERY SINGLE DECISION she makes is in relation to one of the dudes, all of whom are super disrespectful and sexist. She's either being treated like a damsel in distress (despite being more powerful than all of the other characters) or given no agency to make her own decisions or as if she means "try harder" when she says no. And the dudes all get away with this because they're super hot. Just ugh. SO MUCH UGH.

I can totally picture the teenage girl who would LOVE this book (think Twilight fan, looking for a little more danger), but I certainly will never recommend it to anyone.