1.23k reviews for:

Twisted Love

L.J. Shen

3.96 AVERAGE


4.5 ⭐️

I loved both of these characters. I loved that the heroine wasn’t annoying and shallow. I loved that the main couple really communicated as adults. I felt the connection, and I adored Dean.
dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

This is like a 2.5. I feel like sometime between writing Vicious and this, LJ Shen came down with amnesia. A major plot point of Vicious was that Emilia broke Dean's heart. Now in this, the way Dean talks about her is so crass and condescending. It was "always" Rosie (who was mostly awesome and largely deserves better). I wanted to tear my hair out in Vicious because literally all of their problems would have been prevented if Vicious had...actually..talked to Emilia. It worked for me because he's so damaged that it made sense to me in a way. Man alive, Dean and Rosie never talk, and it really doesn't make sense. I get too that Rosie's illness is a huge source of anxiety for Dean, but he's so hugely dismissive of the fact that it's very real. I get that he's an addict, but his neglect nearly killed her.

Then there's Rosie. Man, I loved and sympathized for her so hard for 65% of the book. I admired the heck out of her and felt for her with her parents trying to control her. I hated that Millie didn't stand up for her more. But I especially hated when everything that was cool about her crumbled in the face of Dean's love.

I have to give, I guess, a little bit of credit to the drama reveal. The whole time I thought it was going to be that
SpoilerNina had mothered a child with Dean, whom he didn't want,
and that would have lowkey been perfect,
Spoilerbecause Rosie can't have kids. Except that she apparently can, which...holy crap, I have some issues with that.

“It’s not my fault you fell in love with a dying girl.”
“It’s not my fault you made it fucking impossible not to.”

- Billionaire
- Sister's ex-boyfriend
- Past & present
- Dual POV

Angsty, messy, complicated, and a little traumatic 😅.

I've 100% read this series out of order... but I think this might be my favourite so far. Definitely better than their kids's books (sorry not sorry).

Dean had his issues, but he also had some banging one-liners >>> “I don’t want to make you forget. I want to make you remember. And I’m about to, Rosie. I’m about to rewrite the pages of our fucking history, baby.”

I enjoyed it

I really did like Dean, I think I was just hoping for more from him. I was the most excited to read his story of them all but this one kind of left me wanting more but not in the good way. There were times that I got too bored to continue on for a few days which ultimately felt longer that it should have. I still did enjoy the book and love the series though.

☆ 3.5/5 ☆

Lu en VO, et je le précise parce que dans le bouquin original, le surnom de Dean n'est pas 'Devious' mais Ruckus, et même si je suppose que c'est pour faire des rimes en -ous sur l'ensemble de ce qui est annoncé comme une trilogie (en fait le tome sort en VO bientôt), je trouve quand même ça curieux d'avoir modifié comme ça le surnom d'un perso.

Je dois déjà avouer que ma mémoire me fait terriblement défaut, et que je ne garde aucun souvenir de la relation entre Dean et Millie dans le tome 1, du coup je me suis parfois sentie un peu larguée lors des passages où le récit revient en arrière. Bref.

L'histoire de Dean et de Rosie, c'est le genre d'histoire à la Roméo et Juliette, le genre d'histoire tragique où on se demande quelle fin connaîtront les héros. Les choses sont claires dès le début, Rosie aime Dean, Dean aime Rosie. Passionnément. Seulement, rien n'est simple et, à la fois poussé par Rosie et par son sens de l'honneur, Dean entame une relation avec la 'mauvaise' sœur, avec Millie donc, pour la sauver des griffes de Vicious.

Onze ans passent, mais Dean et Rosie s'aiment toujours. Dean est désormais le voisin de Rosie, il brûle la vie par les deux bouts, consommant femmes, drogues et alcool au quotidien. À chaque fois qu'ils se croisent, Dean ne peut s'empêcher de la provoquer. Il lui lance des propositions salaces (franchement parfois c'est vraiment un porc !), il ne peut pas communiquer avec elle autrement que par ces mots pas très charmants (et c'est l'euphémisme de l'année ).

Rosie et Dean vont finalement se lancer dans une histoire, et ce ne sera pas une banale coucherie sans lendemain. Leurs sentiments l'un pour l'autre sont très forts, c'est très beau de les voir exprimer cet amour, notamment au travers des étoiles (vous comprendrez en lisant). Outre leur romance, le livre se penche également sur un pan de l'histoire personnelle de Dean, le suspense est plutôt bien entretenu, même si j'ai deviné facilement l'identité d'une certaine personne. C'est ce pan de son histoire personnelle qui explique l'addiction de Dean, une addiction que l'auteur n'a pas cherché à minimiser ou édulcorer. La maladie de Rosie est également mentionnée, mais pas tant que cela, finalement.

Je n'ai pas aimé ce roman autant que le premier tome, l'histoire en soi est déjà plus classique et les personnages assez habituels, mais j'ai quand même été touchée par Rosie et Dean, par leur amour, et j'ai beaucoup aimé le parallèle avec Rachel et Jacob.
Une histoire intense et parfois poignante, avec un héros en pleine auto-destruction et une héroïne en sursis, en somme, un combo gagnant !

RTC---short version this book is freaking fantastic! It's the best kind of emotional and I loved it!
relaxing 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

I am genuinely shocked by how much I actually enjoyed this book! after reading the first book in the series and hating it, I wasn't expecting much from book two, but I was pleasantly surprised. this book packed an emotional punch, I loved the characters, and the romance was super sweet and convincing. overall, an enjoyable read.
dark emotional hopeful 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

The premise o this book was good but I felt like some parts dragged on while others were rushed. I definitely had to push myself to finish this book as the urge to DNF toward the end was strong.