In Leanne Hockley's Something About Alexa, Jayden awoke in anguish, his fingertips scorched with fractured skin and coated in blood. Jayden walked to the mansion where he hid whenever he needed some alone time because he could not recall anything. At the mansion, he felt the intensity of a girl's stare and her loneliness as he observed her gazing at him. The following day, when Jayden saw Alexa at school, he was drawn to her immediately because of a peculiar bond between them. Jayden started to doubt everyone, even himself, after a girl was found dead with her insides removed and he had been seen nearby. He began to wonder if werewolves and vampires did exist; as they say, sometimes reality is stranger than fiction.

Something About Alexa has an engrossing and intriguing plot. This compelling story gripped me from beginning to end because it was so captivating. I was always on the edge of my seat because of the suspense and the twists and turns that had me wondering what would happen next. The way the characters were developed was excellent. Jayden showed amazing development throughout the story, and Leanne Hockley did a fantastic job of capturing his feelings. I could feel his confusion, anger, rage, and fear. At first, I did not trust Alexa since I could not relate to her, but I began to sympathize with her as the story went on and I began to understand her. The story was thoughtfully constructed and well-written. I was surprised by the unexpected turn of events and the devastating conclusion.

With an alcoholic mother, a father whose identity he had never known, relentless bullying at school, and several somnambulistic episodes, Jayden’s life was quite traumatic. He started doubting his sanity after waking up blood-drenched on the forest floor the same night a teenager was found dead. Believing in supernatural phenomena was all too easy when you lived in Forks, the town famous for the Twilight franchise. However, a rising body count, some seemingly devoured by wolves and others devoid of blood, rekindled the folklore of vampires and werewolves. The mysteries surrounding Alexa, the new girl in town to whom Jayden felt an instant and inexplicable attraction, made the situation even more confounding. Is there some truth in the myths surrounding Forks? Find out in Something About Alexa, Leanne Hockley’s debut novel.

A curious mix between psychological thriller, paranormal romance, and science fiction, the novel follows a fine, almost invisible line between ordinary and extraordinary. Confused readers will grapple for the truth, unsure of whom to believe, including the narrator himself. In a town where imagination frequently invaded reality, it was almost impossible to predict which way the story would go, despite the liberal foreshadowing on Hockley’s part. As soon as I felt I was reaching a definitive answer, the next scene would throw me off balance, questioning my beliefs and even my disbelief. The familiar rain-drenched, foggy setting of Forks provided a chilling backdrop. Twilight fans like me will get a kick out of the numerous references to the acclaimed book and movie series. We can feel Jayden’s abject loneliness, desperate struggles to fit in, and heart-wrenching ache for love. Jayden and Alexa’s blossoming relationship makes us want to believe in impossible love stories, not unlike Edward and Bella’s. I recommend Something About Alexa to anyone who loves Twilight or enjoys a mystery novel with generous hints of the supernatural.

A beautiful story of first love, doubting yourself, and ultimately finding yourself is explored through the pages of Something About Alexa by Leanne Hockley. Written in the first person from the perspective of Jayden James, this is the tale of Jayden finding his first love with a new girl at school called Alexa. The famous town of Forks, better known through the Twilight series, is revived in this novel. It brings to life the ordinary people of Forks and how the franchise impacted their daily lives. Something About Alexa looks at the true meaning of our existence, love, and the sacrifices we are willing to make for those we love. When Jayden starts waking up in the woods, full of unexplainable blood and injuries every night after a murder occurs, he starts questioning his sanity. But he will soon learn that truth is far stranger than fiction, which may not be what he wanted to know.

Something About Alexa by Leanne Hockley will be a great source of enjoyment for everybody who loved the Twilight series and the story of Frankenstein. Leanne perfectly merged two famous stories into an excellent novel of her own. As a lover of the young adult romance genre, I enjoyed Jayden and Alexa’s story immensely. The ending caught me completely off guard until the final reveal. I believe readers will also experience this if they do not pay attention from the first page. I have to applaud Leanne on her unique ability to throw so many curve balls readers won’t be able to guess who the killer is and why until the great reveal. The first-person narration was excellently done to ensure readers feel all of Jayden’s confusion and inner turmoil until his surprise after realization. Readers will also experience his heartbreak with complete understanding. I must mention the beautifully written scenery that ensures readers will feel like they are there themselves. This novel is truly worth the read. Wow! What a story!

In the fantasy thriller Something About Alexa by Leanne Hockley, Jayden does his best to hold it together under an avalanche of happenings that coincide with his birthday celebration: a high-school bully named Kam, a mysteriously magnetic new girl named Alexa, and a missing local girl near a mansion. Jayden's energy and attraction to Alexa deepen as they bond over shared experiences and vulnerabilities. However, as the death toll in the small Washington town of Twilight fame, Forks, rises, so do fear and uncertainty surrounding the mysterious deaths. Jayden finds himself increasingly entangled in suspicion and inner turmoil. Conflicted by his feelings for Alexa and his own dark secrets, Jayden is torn between facing his fears and protecting those he cares about, none of which can be resolved without first confronting those who are bent on hurting him and some deeply unsettling revelations about himself.

Ah, back in good old Forks, Washington! Something About Alexa by Leanne Hockley revives the town in a new supernatural thriller that plays into the teenage angst and myth that made it famous to begin with. I think that Hockley's ability to do this successfully is increased by the skill she has in creating an immersive atmosphere, which is where other books in the genre fall flat. There is an incredible scene in the forest where sensory details can be really felt, like the sound of rain, the crack of lightning, and the sensation of wetness. A real claustrophobia came over me when she wrote of the "woods encircling like a prison, heavy trunks on every side." The characters are well-developed, particularly Jayden, whom we meet in the first person. Ancillary characters get equal treatment, and even the ones who could be considered inconsequential are not at all. The writing is clean, the pace is fast, and the mystery is immersive. Very highly recommended.