A review by alexreviewsit
King of Pride by Ana Huang

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? Yes

3.25

I just didn’t like the core conflicts of the story. If the plot went anywhere else or had higher stakes, I would have loved this one. 

I did catch a few times near the start of the book where interactions between Kai and Isabella were mentioned that happened in King of Wrath. I’d recommend reading the series in order just for that. While the get slightly recapped, it’s mostly in italicized text repeating conversations without all the background context. 

For the plot, not much happened other than external struggles with their jobs due to the fallout of trying to be together. The stakes didn’t seem that high once Isabella’s “secret” came out. It truly just felt like first world problems which was a shame due to how much I loved Isabella and Kai’s characters. The absolute first world privilege that is the core of Isabella’s conflict is actually insane. Like girl, I’d suck it up and buckle down in that situation. It just seems so ridiculous. I felt no sympathy for her feelings of insecurity about her writing/career when she’s in that situation. 

Kai’s core conflict of the book just felt pointless when a solution was basically given to Kai with no extra work for it. Just hop on a call with Christian and solve every problem. 🙄 The conclusion of the book just didn’t make sense for a rationale for Isabella’s actions. The end of the book just felt like so much work talk that I ended up a little bored especially with their simple solutions. 

Even though Kai plays it cool at the start, I love that he is basically immediately obsessed with Isabella. it really didn’t feel like there was any emotional conflict between them during the book and all issues were external to their relationship.

Why do I kind of love Kai and Dante’s relationship almost as much as Kai and Isabella??

I really liked how the book used both Kai and Isabella’s inner monologue to show their conflicted thoughts about giving into their crush. It really helped to show both were similar and felt hesitant about liking each other and mirrored each other well. I did get a little frustrated by how long it went on and how they just wouldn’t talk about it or communicate with each other for so long. 

I will say I HATED the rave scene because what art studio with one other person inside has a rave on a different floor at midnight. There are so many things wrong with writing that sentence. Plus they left their coats in the studio?!?!? None of this is realistic at all!!! Why did this frustrate me so much when it realistically doesn’t matter at all??? They could have literally just had a cute art studio date and end the night at a different bar.