Reviews with content warning for Murder - Twisted Love

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

657 reviews

yoghurtcrumbs's review against another edition

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

3.5

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.

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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

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plantz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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anavae's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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sky2024's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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i_ashby's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

Twisted Love is a fun, quick read for anyone who loves a dark romance.
The book has the grumpy/sunshine trope and a morally grey MMC (though I think he is far beyond morally grey which made it hard for me to root for him to be with Ava (FMC) at times, since she is so lovable and bright). The plot was outlandish at times, but it was fun to read. I loved the dual POV to get insight into Alex's (MMC) true thoughts, and there were scenes that made me laugh out loud, whilst other scenes gave me all the feels.
A fun read for anyone into dark romance and typical romance tropes. Anyone looking for an innocent romance, this is most likely NOT for you. The book contains a lot of sexual content not suitable for younger readers, as well as scenes containing violence and murder.

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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

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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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ellydearmond's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

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kesbooks's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.75

Ava Chen is the epitome of sunshine while Alex Volkov is the epitome of anything but. However, after her brother enlists the help of Alex to keep an eye on his sister while he’s away for a year, Ava finds broody yet gorgeous Alex as her new neighbor. The two of them are struggling with their own inner demons and dark pasts. Ava can’t remember any of her childhood after a traumatic event. Alex remembers everything about his life. As they start to get to know each other, the more the lines between best friend’s brother/brother’s best friend, blur.

This book is hard to rate. I didn’t hate it. It was an easy read, and I was never bored. Even though it was predictable, I found the mystery behind Alex and Ava’s parent's death interesting to read about.

I don’t see the chemistry between Alex and Ava. Alex is just awful. I normally don’t mind the “touch her and you die” trope. However, I found Alex’s possessiveness concerning. By the end of the book, I wanted Ava to move on and have her chapter with Alex be a lesson learned. The relationship kind of reminded me of the YA romances I read as a teen but with spice. To Ana Huang's credit, she does warn the reader that if you want a sweet hero, this book isn’t for you.

Overall, I can see the appeal, but I just wasn’t a huge fan. I still would like to read the next book since I’ve heard the first book is the weakest in the series. Plus, I loved Bridget so I think that one will be fun.

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