Angels? Check! Vampires? Check! Angels as the "Good Guys"? Check! Vampires as the "Bad Guys"? Check! Angels Vs. Vampires? Wait...what?

Forget Angels Vs. Demons because Vampires are the Demons in this book. Cool right? Right!

Lailah isn't human. She doesn't age and she never stays dead. But she has no memory of her past except for visions that she gets. When she saves a second generation vampire she is introduced to Gabriel. Come to find out he is the guy she dreams about. And he knew her from the past. Together with the Vampire she saved, they set out to find out what she is all while running from the original vampires.

I think it was a great idea to use vampires as "demons" in this story. The back story of the Angels is not super religious yet they are still what you expect of Angels. And the vampires are from "hell" but they aren't "demons" in the normal sense.

The thing I enjoyed the most about Lailah was the unique mythology. The story felt familiar, but I liked the new ideas presented about vampires and angels. I also liked the idea of angels trying to help vampires fight against their darker nature.

The characters, including the title character, were likable enough. I enjoy books where the heroine has no clue about who she is and where she has come from. Lailah didn’t whine about her predicament, but instead actively tried to look into her origins.

The two love interests had their moments. I liked angel Gabriel, but Lailah’s relationship with him did feel a little over the top. But for a teen reader who loves an epic romance, the relationship may appeal more. I liked vampire Jonah better, but I have a feeling he’s Jacob from Twilight in the love triangle with little chance of getting the girl.

I liked Lailah, but something kept holding me back from totally loving it. I thought the end came together nicely and I liked the action-heavy plot. I probably would’ve loved it more with less emphasis on the romance.

Overall, Lailah is a fun YA novel with an ending that will leave readers eager to check out the next installment.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!

I absolutely adore this book! I can't wait for the next one!

'twas ok.

4.5 stars

This was an extremely engaging book. For the most part, at least. While the first half was a bit of an information overload, the second was much more interesting.

The whole both-angel-and-demon trope is pretty common in YA, but I still like reading about it in all its variances. In this saga, the "demons" are Vampires (for some reason it's capitalized). Francesca/Lailah was conceived as an Angel Descendant (pretty much just the offspring of two angels) but she was infected by a Vampire when she was still in her mother's womb. She's living a normal family-less, dreams-of-a-previous-life-having life until she rescues a Vampire, Jonah. Francesca has to flee with him to his group of saved Vampires and an Angel - Gabriel - who happens to be the boy in her dreams (wow, how very un-cliche!!). While she's with their group, Francesca - whose name Gabriel says is actually Lailah - struggles to discover what she is. She knows she's not human, and Gabriel says she's a "light soul," but Jonah couldn't have drunk her blood had she been anything but a "dark soul." She's attracted to both Jonah and Gabriel, which confuses her even more (I'm Team Jonah all the way!). Imagine the readers' surprise when she discovers that she's actually both!!

(It may sound like I'm one of those people that hates YA cliches, but I have to admit they're a guilty pleasure.)

Like I said before, this book is pretty interesting once you get past the abundance of information dropped on you in the beginning-middle (half of which you don't even really need to know). The ending was very plot-twisty, so I'm excited to pick up the second book.

...about this title.

I put this title down at 7%. Almost every title I read, no matter how bad it is, I try to finish it. But there were more than 10 things that bothered me right off the bat with this book (a record) and I just can't waste my time on something that is clearly mediocre. The cover KICKS ASS, and yet the story is badly written. If you would like some examples of why I did not continue reading this title please read my status updates.

If you would like to read a review that does a fantastic job of describing exactly what went wrong here is Mary's review.

DNF @7%. No stars.

There are some books that strictly meant to entertain with no deep plot or surprises.

This is one of those books only there was no entertainment at all. The plot was murky, hidden behind flat characters and cheesy romance.

I skimmed that hundred pages just to get to the end.

I understand this book was only meant to entertain but it was like the author used that as an excuse to not create inspiring or likable characters and provide with very little description of anything.

I had no connection with the characters and I was even mad at the treatment of the minor female characters.

This is not a book I would suggest reading out of fear you will be as mad as me.

Well hot damn. Nikki, this kicked all my expectations in the butt, out a window and in front of a speeding semi truck! Full review to come soon but y'all go pre-order it...NOW!

This book was sadly a disappointment. The protagonist is unlikable and uninspiring. Most of the story is unrelated to the mythology. This book did not live upp to my expectationes.

2.5 Stars!

I didn't hate it! But, I probably won't continue with the series. I have experienced the story and now I will move on.