Editors Reads Verdict
Hoover's most unsettling book: the supernatural element is used to explore questions of identity and what we actually love in another person, and the thriller undertones give the second half a genuinely disturbing quality that distinguishes it from her other work.
What We Loved
- The ghost premise is used to ask genuinely interesting questions about identity and love
- The thriller pacing of the second half is executed with real craft
- Hoover resists the temptation to resolve the moral complexity neatly
- The B&B setting creates an effective claustrophobic atmosphere
Minor Drawbacks
- The first act romance moves quickly enough to feel underdeveloped
- Some readers will find the supernatural premise at odds with Hoover's usual register
- Willow's backstory requires a suspension of disbelief the setup doesn't fully earn
Key Takeaways
- → What we love in a person is not always separable from who that person is
- → Identity is not fixed — personality can be changed by trauma
- → Love that demands moral compromise is still a moral problem
- → Genre constraints can be a creative limitation worth refusing
| Author | Colleen Hoover |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Montlake |
| Pages | 320 |
| Published | December 8, 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Thriller |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Colleen Hoover fans who want her emotional intensity paired with supernatural elements and genuine thriller tension. |
Layla Review
Layla is the novel that tests whether readers will follow Colleen Hoover entirely off the map of contemporary romance. Published in 2020, it begins in her established register — Leeds falls fast and genuinely for Layla during a chance encounter, and the early chapters have the warmth of her best work. Then a violent incident at the bed and breakfast where they are staying changes Layla at a neurological level, and the novel becomes something considerably stranger.
Leeds returns to the B&B alone, trying to understand what happened. He meets Willow, a ghost whose situation raises questions he cannot answer honestly without implicating himself. The supernatural machinery is not used for fantasy escapism; Hoover deploys it to ask what it actually means to love a person. Is it the body? The personality? The specific combination of both that existed before trauma rewrote one of them?
The second half tips into thriller territory, and Hoover handles the tonal shift better than expected. The B&B becomes genuinely claustrophobic, the stakes feel real rather than melodramatic, and the final act delivers revelations that reframe earlier scenes in ways that hold up to scrutiny. This is more carefully plotted than most of her work.
The weaknesses are those of ambition. The opening romance is established quickly enough to feel thin, and when the novel needs readers to feel the weight of what Leeds is risking for Layla, the emotional foundation could be deeper. Willow’s backstory also demands a degree of credulity that the atmospheric setup doesn’t fully earn.
But Layla is Hoover working outside her comfort zone with evident intent, and the questions it raises about identity and love are more interesting than the questions posed by most genre fiction.
Our rating: 4.3/5 — Hoover’s most genre-defying novel: a ghost story that uses its supernatural premise to ask serious questions about identity, love, and moral accountability.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Layla" about?
Leeds and Layla fall in love, but after a violent incident at a bed and breakfast leaves Layla with a changed personality, Leeds returns to the B&B alone. There he meets a ghost named Willow — and the situation becomes stranger and more morally complicated than he anticipated. Hoover's most genre-defying novel.
Who should read "Layla"?
Colleen Hoover fans who want her emotional intensity paired with supernatural elements and genuine thriller tension.
What are the key takeaways from "Layla"?
What we love in a person is not always separable from who that person is Identity is not fixed — personality can be changed by trauma Love that demands moral compromise is still a moral problem Genre constraints can be a creative limitation worth refusing
Is "Layla" worth reading?
Hoover's most unsettling book: the supernatural element is used to explore questions of identity and what we actually love in another person, and the thriller undertones give the second half a genuinely disturbing quality that distinguishes it from her other work.
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