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A review by ishreadsss
Twisted Love by Ana Huang
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
This book honestly surprised the shit out of me. I didn't know about this story in that much depth except it's a brother's best friend trope and grump/sunshine, but there was so much more when I read it.
1. I LOVE the writing so much. I don't know how Ana Huang did it, but I feel like she managed to find just the word for everything? There were no gaps left to fill and even if the chapter was a cliffhanger, it was perfectly crafted and written in such a nice way. Every thought written from Alex's perspective especially, was so flowery and amazing even though he kept calling her the sunshine to his dark.
2. While I didn't love the fast pace of the romance, I did see why it had to play out faster and I liked the plot and twists. They made the story and characters have much more depth and intrigue to them and even though I can't say I enjoyed either character that much, I was still rooting for them and liked the overall story.
3. Alex was over-the-top, but he fit the trope of the morally grey love interest, which I don't think I've ever read before this, so that was fun! I did get a little annoyed at him in the end when he threatened Jack, but otherwise, I didn't really care much and I genuinely enjoyed Ava as a character.
4. The trauma was crafted really well. Sorry, I know that sounds bad.But I think it went perfectly with each other with her fear of pools, her father's betrayal, and his uncle's betrayal all pooling together(pun intended I guess) to form a nice puzzle of mystery.
5. I didn't so much enjoy the lack of emotional love between the two and while I know it was there, I'm more of a slow-burn sucker and live for the tiny moments and I would have liked to see the emotional part develop alongside the physical. I love smut, but I was hoping for more scenes of love-making rather than fucking especially with Alex battling his emotions for her; I had hoped he would get a little too passionate about it and while he did break his rules for her, I wanted to see more of that type of interaction before they were official.
6. Overall, sososososo beautiful!!!! Although the plot and characters weren't exactly my cup of tea, I enjoyed reading about them and I literally cannot believe how much I loved the writing in this book, it just felt so nice to read such a flowy book and I loved it. The amount of times I just stared at a paragraph because it just made sense is way too many to count tbh.
I'm super excited to read about Rhys and Bridget!
1. I LOVE the writing so much. I don't know how Ana Huang did it, but I feel like she managed to find just the word for everything? There were no gaps left to fill and even if the chapter was a cliffhanger, it was perfectly crafted and written in such a nice way. Every thought written from Alex's perspective especially, was so flowery and amazing even though he kept calling her the sunshine to his dark.
2. While I didn't love the fast pace of the romance, I did see why it had to play out faster and I liked the plot and twists. They made the story and characters have much more depth and intrigue to them and even though I can't say I enjoyed either character that much, I was still rooting for them and liked the overall story.
3. Alex was over-the-top, but he fit the trope of the morally grey love interest, which I don't think I've ever read before this, so that was fun! I did get a little annoyed at him in the end when he threatened Jack, but otherwise, I didn't really care much and I genuinely enjoyed Ava as a character.
4. The trauma was crafted really well. Sorry, I know that sounds bad.
5. I didn't so much enjoy the lack of emotional love between the two and while I know it was there, I'm more of a slow-burn sucker and live for the tiny moments and I would have liked to see the emotional part develop alongside the physical. I love smut, but I was hoping for more scenes of love-making rather than fucking especially with Alex battling his emotions for her; I had hoped he would get a little too passionate about it and while he did break his rules for her, I wanted to see more of that type of interaction before they were official.
6. Overall, sososososo beautiful!!!! Although the plot and characters weren't exactly my cup of tea, I enjoyed reading about them and I literally cannot believe how much I loved the writing in this book, it just felt so nice to read such a flowy book and I loved it. The amount of times I just stared at a paragraph because it just made sense is way too many to count tbh.
I'm super excited to read about Rhys and Bridget!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Sexual assault