Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Layla, by Colleen Hoover

11 reviews

skygray's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

What is this goofy-ass book LMAOOO

Despite being advertised as a “paranormal thriller,” there is nothing remotely thrilling or scary about Layla.  Thanks to Hoover’s bare-bone descriptions, the setting and mood lack any sort of character that might lend itself to a spooky atmosphere.  And speaking of character...our “hero,” Leeds Gabriel is flat, uninteresting, and unsympathetic.  Leeds did so many horrible things in this book, and despite the fact that he recognized what he was doing was wrong (in many repetitive internal monologues), he never took action or changed his ways.  All his bad decisions are brushed away at the end by cop-out plot twists that “justify” him.  Meanwhile, our titular character, Layla, is a superficially-written manic pixie dream girl.  None of the other side characters were remotely interesting, and the plot twists were predictable and quite frankly laughable.  I only read this book because I challenged myself to read the lowest and highest-rated Colleen Hoover books on Goodreads; if not for that, I wouldn’t have finished it.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but It Ends With Us was an infinitely better novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Eating disorder

texas_reznikoff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, and Mental illness

layla_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

layla is too good for leeds. #ihateleeds

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Sexual content, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

anniehendricks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Torture, Eating disorder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Murder, Medical trauma, Death, Mental illness, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

oravkinovasara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book isn’t what I expected it to be. I hated Leeds so much at first, well not at first, after like 100 pages and I wanted to kick him in the ass and spit in his face. I was like what the hell is this?? It was really good though. I loved the plot twist, duh, it’s Colleen Hoover. This isn’t my favorite book of hers, but it is still very good, different, but good. Colleen’s mind is just so fantastic, I don’t know how she comes up with this stuff. Overall, I think it was amazing, the ending, the plot was good too, I liked the past to present chapters and Layla was amazing too, well all things considered… 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, Violence, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Alcohol, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

vinnyvee's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

pengi's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Minor: Eating disorder, Alcohol, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, and Gun violence

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

This was a unique take on a romance novel. I know that some people are put off by the paranormal themes explored in this book, however, I actually didn’t mind the concept and overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read. As usual, Colleen Hoover's writing style is great and easy to read - I binged it quite quickly as I was very keen to see how things unfolded. 

 

Although I enjoyed the mystery of this book, I found that the character development wasn’t up Colleen Hoover's usual standards. It is primarily focused on the present happenings; however, I feel as though a little more back story on Leeds and Layla would have helped me to be more invested in them. I also felt disappointed by the ending, which just didn’t sit right with me.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Torture

Moderate: Stalking, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol

danirayne's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Alcohol, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

cbbyles07's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Physical abuse