Reviews

Twisted Hate by Ana Huang

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mana015's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

kthardyy's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.25

breesteiger's review against another edition

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2.0

This is a crazy enemies to lovers book. However, there was a scene or two that I thought was actually fucked up, but I moved past it since they were so sappy and cute at the end.

isbn13_00006222022's review against another edition

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5.0

***All ratings are out of 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

Main Character(s): 5 for both leads (Jules Ambrose (FL), Josh Chen (ML))
Plot: 5
Likes: sarcastic, snappy, witty banter; well-paced writing
Dislikes: n/a
Smut: 5
POV: Dual POV
Format: Paperback
Memorable Scene(s):

Spoiler

Josh massaged Jules's stomach when she had period cramps, he didn't go to New Zealand and met up with her instead for her mother's funeral, he beat up Max for what he did to Jules, Alex's proposal to the Chens.

Memorable Quote(s):

Spoiler

Michael tried to kill my sister and framed my mother, and I was still holding on to a remnant of the man he used to be. The one who taught me how to ride a bike and brought me to my first basketball game when I was seven. Not a felon, but my father. - Josh, pg. 154

I think I just unlocked a new kink, because I suddenly couldn't imagine anything sexier than watching a man cook bare-chested. - Jules, pg. 195

I maintained my stoic mask until I ran out of useless words and left the family to their grief. I had a dozen other patients to treat, but I needed a minute, just one minute, to myself. - Josh, pg. 202

It felt weird saying the words out loud. I LOST SOMEONE. It sounded so generic. People lost toys and house keys; they didn't lose lives. They had lives wretched from them, stolen by the cruel hands of an unforgiving god. - Josh, pg. 207

But there were times, like now when I yearned to experience that kind of unconditional love. To have someone care for me through the good, the bad, and the inevitable mistakes I made. - Jules, pg. 251

Thiswas what I was comfortable with.
Not deep conversations or friendship or hope for some type of future. Just sex. It was all I'd ever given and all anyone wanted from me. - Jules, pg. 258

"Because you're mine," I said against her mouth. "Let another man touch you, Jules, and you'll find out I can take a man's life just as easily as I can save one." - Josh, pg. 272

Our first impressions stick with us the longest, but contrary to popular opinion, some people do change. The only problem is they change faster than our prejudices do. - Josh, pg. 296

"The monsters in our imagination are often worse than those in reality." - Josh to Jules, pg. 301

At some point, we had to let go of who a person used to be or who they could be and see them for who they really were. - Josh, pg. 334

When someone trusted you, you didn't have to work that hard to slip past their defenses. - Jules, pg. 356

Max's words still poked at old insecurities, but I refused to let him shame me for enjoying sex, dammit. - Jules, pg. 378

That was the thing about someone who'd seen the best and worst of you--they knew exactly which buttons to push, which words would string the hardest. - Jules, pg. 427

"But somehow, I went from wanting to kill you...to willing to kill for you." - Josh to Jules, pg. 428

"Because you're it for me. Whether it's today, tomorrow, a year, or decades from now, that'll never change. Josh's lips brushed against my skin before he pulled back, his face taut with emotion. "I'm human, Red. I've made mistakes in the past, and I'll make many more in the future. But one mistake I'll never make is letting you go, not when there's even a sliver of a chance left for us. Because the possibility of you is better than the reality of anyone else." - Josh to Jules, pg. 432

Relationships were built on small moments, not grand gestures. - Jules, pg. 497

Overall Enjoyment: 5

Review:

Spoiler

I've always liked Josh since book one, and unfortunately, because book one's focused on Ava, his sister, what he went through wasn't fully fleshed out until now. And I've loved him more in this book. Author Ana did a great job at establishing Josh's relationshhip with Jules and fixing his relationship with Alex, and we'll start with the latter first.

After the events in book one, Josh has been indifferent to Christian for three years (or just tolerating his existence because of Christian's relationship with Ava), and I actually agreed with Josh on this one. To Josh, he had seen Christian as a best friend whilist the so-called best friend had a motive to use them for revenge, which I find funny because the later chapters have Christian reveal that the Chens were the only people who didn't view him as a bank account or some rich person to use, yet he, himself, had the nerve to see the siblings as people to use (if that makes any sense).

Josh's strained relationship with Christian isn't just about their friendship but also about Josh's obligation to Ava. He's the big brother and had seen how Ava was like after her breakup with Christian, and like what any family or friend would do, they would never want that person to go back to someone who had hurt them. But Josh's obligation to Ava is more than just making sure that Christian wouldn't hurt her again. It's that he blamed himself for her drowning, for having not been a good brother. He had always felt like he let her down and couldn't trust anyone to protect his only family. At the same time, over the years, Christian had proved himself to be a man deserving of Ava.

All of this is told to Jules when they get into their enemies-with-benefits situation, and it helped that both of them didn't get along at the start and were always blunt with each other. His letting Jules know about Michael, his father, writing letters to him from jail was a step in him trusting someone again.

Until Jules broke it with what she did. I don't blame her because she didn't really have a choice. We readers know that Josh would've done anything and everything for her, and like he had said, he would've given the painting to her, but it wasn't about whether he would've. It was out of fear that he would know about her past, something she wanted to avoid. We all have that--a history we don't want even our loved ones to know. Because we shame ourselves over it.

What I also love is that although both our leads have fiery talkbacks whether when they're sleeping together or not, the book also provides us moments of their sensitive, soft sides. Like when Josh had to give himself a minute after informing a couple that their teen driver had died after a drunk driving freak accident even though as a doctor, there were many more patients needing his care. It really touched up on reality that doctors also need time to grieve.

Both Josh and Jules were characters with broken history--his being having his trust broken repeatedly and hers being having never been enough for her mother, which made her sought "approval" in other means--and it was beautiful to see that they both were the reason they learned how to gain trust and become secure in their insecurities. Because of this, their love story was more realistic compared to the other two even though I love Bridget and Rhys, and their love story was just as great.