Book Review: Lailah by Nikki Kelly

AUTHOR: Nikki Kelly
PUBLISHER: Fewiel and Friends

SERIES/STANDALONE: Series
PAGES: 352

SOURCE: Netgalley via publisher

Outline:
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

Quick Thought (or not)

I'm going to start off by saying that while this review may not be long and in depth that does not take away from how much I loved it. It's occurred to me recently (or maybe I've known all along) that the books I love the most are pretty much the ones that I absolutely have no words for. I have been trying to write this review for about a week or two, and I feel like I won't be able to do it justice. So with that being said if it sounds ridiculous and like I'm just rambling remember that it's because I love it that much!

If you've read one vampire book, you've read them all right? My answer would usually be a yes, but Lailah is different in my eyes. The thought surrounding the story was built and crafted just right for my taste. The imagery and words that the author used to build this first dimension is one of the many things I fell in love with.

I can't complain either way about the pacing of the story. At times it did feel a bit slow, but it wasn't that stand in one place, move in one motion kinda slow. Does that even make sense? It felt like they were constantly on the go, moving from one safe house to another yet, the story took it's time to show us who these characters really were, and who they were becoming

.Cessie/Lailah as stubborn as you were girl I could understand you completely because for someone who was on their own for a while I would have a hard time with someone telling me what to do and where I'm going. I definitely don't envy you having to choose between Jonah and Gabriel since they appeal to both sides of you. As Nikki said I'm on the fence on which side I want. :)

I will admit at times I wanted to slap Gabriel in the face. (You know like the girls do in movies to guys when they've been a jackass) but in the end he was trying to help her. He was trying to figure out who/what she was.

I kinda loved this vampire. No sparkles here, but he was all vampire, and though he liked his humans his was on the wagon to being good-ish.

Brooke reminded me of Rosalie in a way, being that she cared about her appearance. I think I enjoyed Brooke more than Rosalie though because while she didn't care for Lailah all that much she put up with her, and she took her shopping and acted decent towards her. 

Sidenote:
I got to meet Nikki at the Fierce Reads Tour in Irving this past Wed, and she was adorable. This was her first time being on tour, and I think she did an awesome job. She's from England so she has the accent which just made it that much better. Oh and she remembered the name of my site from the tour I did. Nikki if you read this You did a fantastic job Wed. :)

Quotes

"He wrapped me up tightly inside and I turned my back to him, hurt. He nestled in next to me, under the quilt, and placed his sturdy arms around my body, nudging his nose into the dip of my neck. Pushing my tangled hair from my face, he grazed his fingers over the lacerations scratched into my cheeks. I curled in embarrassment; I was a mess."

"You loved me once before..." I sniffed. "Yes." His answer was swift. "I'm not the same person you knew," I said. "I have changed; I haven't even the slightest clue who Lailah is. She's a stranger to me. I don't know who I am, I never have." He didn't reply immediately but pulled me closer, kissing the top of my forehead. "You're wrong. When I look at you, I'm met with the same person. Your smile may have weakened and your eyes may have grown weary, but you are no different from the beautiful girl I fell in live with. And somehow, if it is even possible, I feel more connected to you now than ever before."

"It's an extraordinary, inexplicable yet inevitable force that I can't deny. I may not know what I am, but one thing I am certain of is that whatever it is I may be and whatever it is I may want, none of it matter without you."