Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Twisted Love

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

437 reviews

revolverreads's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

There is something so unsexy about a man who claims he would burn the world for her but can’t even use his fists when his uncle kidnaps and almost kills her. Men can be so unreliable these days.

This month, we dove headfirst into "Twisted Love" by Ana Huang. The vermilion red flags are bright and waving in your face as you open this book, because nothing screams Wattpad like a classic playlist for a novel.

However, to be fair, this book was fun to read. It hits all the tropes you'd expect from a romance novel, particularly one with an icy male lead. Alex Volkov is meant to be dangerous, he’s meant to be serving body and face, but the only thing he should really be serving is some jail time. Especially for giving Ava absolutely no warning before "unloading" himself all over his face.

Also, if you're going to promise a dangerous male lead, it's important to actually let them exhibit a bit of darkness and danger.

Ava carries obvious trauma, having survived a harrowing incident involving drowning. Much of the narrative revolves around Alex and Ava navigating her trauma together, both emotionally and physically. He has a knack for making her wet, whether it's in or out of the pool... if you catch our drift. However, their escapades extend to inappropriate public locations, like getting her all hot and bothered during dinner at a friend's house. At least Ava’s blessed with a fantastic group of friends who each possess distinct personalities that hint at their future successes in their own sequels.

Our protagonists initially have minimal issues with Ava’s brother, mainly because they whisked him off to South America as swiftly as Disney dispatches its princesses' mothers to their graves. Predictably, the villains and plot twists lack surprise, and the inevitable conflict between the main couple can be seen from a mile away.

What we didn’t expect was Alex's impromptu serenade with a guitar. That scene truly had us wondering if rich people need poor friends to remind them that they are not good at everything, and money can’t buy talent. Because the hill we will die on is that Alex is a bad singer, and an even worse boyfriend for upstaging Ava at her event.

This book serves as a cautionary tale on what not to do in a relationship. You'll either love it, hate it, or perhaps just DNF it, but we invite you to join us as we delve into more detail on our podcast, "Revolver Reads: A Bookclub Russian Roulette." Find us on your preferred podcast platform or simply @revolverreads on Instagram, and share your thoughts. If you have any future book suggestions for our roulette wheel, feel free to email us at [email protected].

Content Warnings

hanschub's review

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dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Content Warnings

krysttinne's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

yoghurtcrumbs's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

First of all, I was very entertained by this book and had a good time reading it. However, that doesn't mean that it's particularly good.

What makes me go 'meh' the most is the character Alex.

For a so called 'genius' he really makes some dumb ass decisions throughout the book. Like oh noo who could've expected that Ava would get drawn into this? Yea.

The spicy scenes are good in my opinion, as they are rough but 100% consensual. Some other things don't reflect that consent though,

as he straight up turns into a stalker to get her forgiveness in the end. He doesn't take a no for an answer and takes every chance of getting away from him away from her.

I usually like the grumpy x sunshine trope and yea, the posessiveness is kinda hot but

not taking a no for an answer and turning into a stalker...?

...Nah.
Also... Ana Huang said in an interview that she likes 'morally grey characters' like Alex. And I get it. But yoo that might be... a bit much...?

He seeks justice himself and violently kills two people in the process and then turns the damn house to ashes to hide it all (Men would do anything instead of going to therapy lmao). And Ava just kind of... ignores that and is only hurt because she thinks his feelings for her are a lie. Everything else is just kind of overlooked.

The girl friend group are likeble though, as is her brother Josh. The plot was thrilling, though a little bit predictable. I'd say it's an easy read, and, as I said, still entertaining. Maybe a good entry into darker romance.
I will keep reading the series and I'm looking forward to the other characters, couples and tropes.

Content Warnings

tarlie_12_xoxo's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

rae_meadows's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.75

Content Warnings

kalefactory's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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suzelarson's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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amandaevans's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

this book is genuinely concerning lol - for those of you out there that have read it and LOVED it like gave it 5 stars, are you ok? like actually, are you ok?

overall the plot was interesting and I liked the supporting characters (Ava’s friends Bridget and Stella seem interesting to me, Jules or otherwise oddly referred to as Jessica Rabbit in the book — eh, she kinda fell flat for me). HOWEVER, Ava (female main character) seems far to sunshiny and rainbows following her every move for the literal world shattering trauma she has experienced. Like girl… let’s maybe take a second to go to THERAPY and feel our feelings instead of never having a problem with anyone or anything that should be a problem. Otherwise she had the potential to be a great main character, troubled home life, artsy, confident, kind, etc. But it felt like the author was trying way to hard to make her this happy-go-lucky character for the experiences Ava has had. Like miss girl literally had no memories of her childhood before age nine and is just okay with that? Seems a little odd.

Don’t even get me started on Alex. Our male main character is a walking red flag. He should legally be required to carry one because holy ****. And I’m CONCERNED because we are supposed to like this man? PASS. Everything about him gave me the ICK a hundred times over, and the spicy scenes that should’ve been interesting and well.. entertaining, made me giggle and made me actually uncomfortable. Like this man who Ava is supposed to be in love with should actually be committed. And I can get behind a dark romance with spicy scenes if they contribute to the story line but this guys only personality trait is that he is dark and brooding and incredibly violent? The sex scenes all felt very random and unnecessary and I still don’t really know how Ava and Alex ended up together in the first place.

I think this book had the potential to be great but yikes… if you genuinely love this book and this male main character, do everyone a favor and 1) go to therapy, and 2) value and love yourself and do not let a man walk all over you like this. Thank you, I love u bye

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Look, I knew what I wanted when I picked this book up. This is epic, soap opera, levels of drama. And I was *living* for it. I was thoroughly entertained. There was page-turning revenge and years-long cons and lies and (though it took longer than I had expected to get there, based on reviews/lists featuring this book) some very spicy scenes. It was so, deeply, unhealthy, as relationships go. And yet, like I said, I knew that going in and sometimes reading about an over-protective/possessive ass that I wouldn't touch with a 39.5-foot pole (grinch-style, you know?) IRL, is exactly the kind of escapist shit I want to read. So, in summary, this novel was unbelievably *stupid* good for my current reading mood. I shall be reading the next in the series post-haste.

Very small side note: not my fav third act breakup (like, honestly, I never like those - UGH least fav romance trope - so take this commentary with that grain of salt), but I *particularly* didn't like this one. Too much/long “time passing” to get back together - it just feels like, he should have caved sooner…but at least the friends/fam are holding the grudge still.

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