Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Lailah by Nikki Kelly


Series: The Styclar Saga #1
352 p.
Published: 11/7/14
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Source: From NetGalley and publisher for review
The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel. 
On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely ally – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel. 
In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?
Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.
My thoughts:
The book starts with a prologue that sets up what we believe Lailah's parentage and what happened to her. It's an interesting beginning and I was looking forward to a great story. Right away I saw the resemblance to the Twilight series. There were other resemblances but this one really stood out for me. I kept thinking that perhaps I was seeing similarities where there was none, but when Gabriel actually sparkled I could not think that it wasn't purposeful in some way.

It is a very readable book, but the problems for me started when the worldbuilding took a sharp turn. Usually that is something that is consistent in a book but this one wasn't. It starts out with angels/ demons (vampires) within the Judeo-Christian mythos. Suddenly there was an extra terrestrial element thrown it. If this was at least hinted at in the beginning I wouldn't be bothered by it. I will give the author props for really being able to weave this element well into the worldbuilding, but because it seemed like such a departure for me I had problems with it.

My second big problem was with Cessie/Lailah and her "romances". First, I felt this was an very unsuccessful attempt at a triangle. I didn't see the appeal to Jonah at all. In fact he was anything but a demonic bully and he put her in direct harm more than once. Because of the danger she would be so fearful of the vampires she "befriended" but one instance on extreme jealousy with Gabriel had her running back into the arms of Jonah, no fear at all. This is the point I had to stop. The inconsistencies of her behavior was just too much for me so I decided to dnf.

I will however recommend it to those that enjoy a YA PNR. Checking the goodreads reviews it seems that you will either love this one or hate it. Might be one to try at the library for the first book.

21 comments:

  1. Sparkling ... really? Ye Gods, Noooooo! This is the first review I've read and I must admit, I did want to read this book. A DNF for you means one thing for me ... don't waste my money on it! Another thing, I really don't like poorly written love triangles. I don't mind a well written one, occasionally ...
    Thanks for the heads up, chica!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the second review I've read today that was less than enthused with the romance in this one. I'm not loving the sound of it at all, it's all very standard YA paranormal romance with lots of drama and unnecessary angst, so I think I'm going to steer clear. Hopefully the second book improves upon this one and brings something new to the table!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This book wasn't really on my radar at all but then I met Nikki Kelly and she was lovely and adorable and her talking about the book actually got me excited to read it. Then I started to see a bunch of negative reviews. So my expectations aren't high, but I guess we'll see what I think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You might be one that loves it. I would read something else she wrote.

      Delete
  4. I have yet to read a good review for this one. It seems to really be striking the wrong chord with readers. I am avoiding it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen a few and I really do think the vote is split. :)

      Delete
  5. He sparkles!? *backs away, runs as fast as I can*

    ReplyDelete
  6. Melissa, you don't DNF to many books. Sorry to hear you did this one. Bummer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not sure I could handle the world building issues Melissa.Thanks for sharing:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I actually met Nikki on the Fierce Reads tour and found her absolutely hilarious, so I am really interested in reading her book; and it sounds like she's written a solid debut despite the minor flaws. :) Thanks for sharing, and fantastic review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haha - yikes. Honestly, I don't think I would've gone for this anyway. So it's only relief on my tbr. Sucks it wasn't better though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't think I saw a good review about this book so I'm finally glad they denied me for a copy... I'm sorry it wasn't for you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I didn't really think of any resemblance to twilight. What annoyed me was her going back and forth a lot. She would not make up her mind. Still, I really liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've read a few reviews for this book that make me think it's just not for me.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yeah I really couldn't connect with this book. I really tried to like it and I even finished it but I had so many issues with it. Especailly the romance. Like you, I didn't see the appeal in Jonah at all (or Gabriel for that matter) but that the whole love triangle plot shouldn't have even made it into the book since it was so messy. *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  14. I looked at this one, was curious if I was missing anything but then I saw the reviews and it seemed to be you either really enjoyed the book or did not like it at all. I was like *sigh* oh one of those...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Man, sorry to hear about the turn down in regards to the world building

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love the kick-ass cover for this one but it's such a shame that the novel itself doesn't live up. This definitely isn't for me so thanks for your honest review, Melissa!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sparkles and aliens that could out of the woodworks?! Yikes, yeah definitely not for me but I do like the cover for it.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I ❤ comments!