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lujisa's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Chronic illness
cielosiluminado's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
no one talk to me, i’m still processing. i was so underwhelmed because xavier and sloane’s story had so potential. but the way it was written, it’s so obvious how quickly it was done. iirc she finished this in about 3 months?? i’m bring out the tomatoes... 🍅🍅🍅
don’t get me wrong, there were parts i liked: xavier and sloane were fun to read <i>individually</i>. their banter was hilarious. but once they started sleeping together… *yawn* and that makes me sad! they had so much potential, it’s really disappointing. and for the spice 🌶️ girlies: this won’t be for you. the smut was so badly written lmao like i had no idea ana could get worse at writing smut, but this just proved me she somehow can.
the overarching plot was alright, and takes place around a month after KoG epilogue. the classic third act breakup made no sense and their reconciliation was lowkey cute but really rushed.
it was intriguing seeing former playboy and renowned hedonist xavier castillo pick up his act and watch him work to earn his huge $7.9 billion inheritance. his backstory was sad and verified my feelings towards his father. i felt no sympathy for that man. fuck that guy!
sloane kensington’s backstory was just as tragic and it made me so sad and angry, no wonder she repressed her emotions for so long. she deserved to be loved the way xavier loved her, i’ll give ana that.
xavier being colombian made me really look forward to seeing latin representation in an ana book because it’s the first time any of her characters were latin. but then i read the small parts that were in spanish early on in the story and it was cringe and grammatically incorrect, which irked me more than i expected it would.
i had to take a second to continue reading, especially when we learn xavier’s childhood nickname was “pequeño toro”… yeah, it’s that bad(think about back when italians pointed out her using “mia cara” instead of “cara mia” in KoW).
it’s a bummer to see your language butchered like that lmao. did ana really have no latin and/or hispanic person on her beta team? or even a fluent spanish speaker??? and out of all the beautiful, unique, or sexy nicknames xavier could’ve called sloane in spanish, he calls her “luna”???? BORING!! he could’ve called her anything and ana chooses “moon”. bffr, that’s a dog’s name; particularly, my dog’s name.
but i still had some fun – and lowkey got whiplash – seeing so many people and easter eggs from the if love and twisted series be mentioned or appearing:
- farrah and blake ryan
- legends sports bar
- f&j creative
- crumble & bake
- alex volkov and ava and their twins (indirectly)
- the eldorran royals and it mentions the birth of princess camila
- jules and her being the youngest senior partner at silver & klein
- stella alonso brand
- christian harper
- harper security
and of course,
- the russos (four of them! viv, dante, their daughter josie, and luca)
- isabella and kai with their strange dino erotica fascination
- ále and dom (briefly)
- a mysterious green-eyed man (roman…? it was never confirmed if it was him, but i really think it was!)
we also saw sebastian laurent and a lot of his restaurants, asher donovan, vuk and his interest in ayana, and obviously ayana herself and news of her new mysterious engagement to vuk’s ex-college friend? and we may have even met a future king of sin: irish-greek ceo killian katrakis.
that being said, there’s nothing i hate more than when the book i’m currently reading makes me more excited for the next mcs’ book than the current mcs. it’s happened with this one. like the small teasers of vuk and ayana had me more captivated than whatever was happening with xavier and sloane!! 🍅🍅🍅
all in all, i’m now founding the “ana, slow down and stop pumping out books so fast, you’re not doing your characters and their stories justice” club. join me!
don’t get me wrong, there were parts i liked: xavier and sloane were fun to read <i>individually</i>. their banter was hilarious. but once they started sleeping together… *yawn* and that makes me sad! they had so much potential, it’s really disappointing. and for the spice 🌶️ girlies: this won’t be for you. the smut was so badly written lmao like i had no idea ana could get worse at writing smut, but this just proved me she somehow can.
the overarching plot was alright, and takes place around a month after KoG epilogue. the classic third act breakup made no sense and their reconciliation was lowkey cute but really rushed.
it was intriguing seeing former playboy and renowned hedonist xavier castillo pick up his act and watch him work to earn his huge $7.9 billion inheritance. his backstory was sad and verified my feelings towards his father. i felt no sympathy for that man. fuck that guy!
sloane kensington’s backstory was just as tragic and it made me so sad and angry, no wonder she repressed her emotions for so long. she deserved to be loved the way xavier loved her, i’ll give ana that.
xavier being colombian made me really look forward to seeing latin representation in an ana book because it’s the first time any of her characters were latin. but then i read the small parts that were in spanish early on in the story and it was cringe and grammatically incorrect, which irked me more than i expected it would.
i had to take a second to continue reading, especially when we learn xavier’s childhood nickname was “pequeño toro”… yeah, it’s that bad
it’s a bummer to see your language butchered like that lmao. did ana really have no latin and/or hispanic person on her beta team? or even a fluent spanish speaker??? and out of all the beautiful, unique, or sexy nicknames xavier could’ve called sloane in spanish, he calls her “luna”???? BORING!! he could’ve called her anything and ana chooses “moon”. bffr, that’s a dog’s name; particularly, my dog’s name.
but i still had some fun – and lowkey got whiplash – seeing so many people and easter eggs from the if love and twisted series be mentioned or appearing:
- farrah and blake ryan
- legends sports bar
- f&j creative
- crumble & bake
- alex volkov and ava and their twins (indirectly)
- the eldorran royals and it mentions the birth of princess camila
- jules and her being the youngest senior partner at silver & klein
- stella alonso brand
- christian harper
- harper security
and of course,
- the russos (four of them! viv, dante, their daughter josie, and luca)
- isabella and kai with their strange dino erotica fascination
- ále and dom (briefly)
- a mysterious green-eyed man (roman…? it was never confirmed if it was him, but i really think it was!)
we also saw sebastian laurent and a lot of his restaurants, asher donovan, vuk and his interest in ayana, and obviously ayana herself and news of her new mysterious engagement to vuk’s ex-college friend? and we may have even met a future king of sin: irish-greek ceo killian katrakis.
that being said, there’s nothing i hate more than when the book i’m currently reading makes me more excited for the next mcs’ book than the current mcs. it’s happened with this one. like the small teasers of vuk and ayana had me more captivated than whatever was happening with xavier and sloane!! 🍅🍅🍅
all in all, i’m now founding the “ana, slow down and stop pumping out books so fast, you’re not doing your characters and their stories justice” club. join me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse and Child abuse
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