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dcnireads 's review for:
King of Envy
by Ana Huang
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i'm used to the slightly predictable blueprint that ana huang likes to follow with her books. i've never minded it before, but this time around im afraid it just really wasn't wroking in my favor. im not blaming the book entirely, but i was already headed to slump territory anyway, and this taking a while to kick off pretty much just sealed the deal. i was struggling through it. the first half was a bit boring, and i had trouble connecting with the lead characters even though their chemistry was believable enough and they were both written well individually (well, mostly ayana imo).
they did win me over in the second half though, and ana made up for it by kicking things off solidly enough to hold my attention for the rest of the book. i also liked that she leaned into dark romance aspect of her writing more than she usually did in her other works. it gave ayana and vuk's story an oomph that they needed and it made the final act quite entertaining, though the real credit for that goes to our boy shadow, who is an absolute boss kitty that saved the day and is singlehandedly the best part of this whole thing. that fourth star is for him by the way. i may have had fun with this and am satisfied with what i got, but if it werent for him i would happily label this just above mid. everyone say thank you for the solid 4 stars, shadow.
they did win me over in the second half though, and ana made up for it by kicking things off solidly enough to hold my attention for the rest of the book. i also liked that she leaned into dark romance aspect of her writing more than she usually did in her other works. it gave ayana and vuk's story an oomph that they needed and it made the final act quite entertaining, though the real credit for that goes to our boy shadow, who is an absolute boss kitty that saved the day and is singlehandedly the best part of this whole thing. that fourth star is for him by the way. i may have had fun with this and am satisfied with what i got, but if it werent for him i would happily label this just above mid. everyone say thank you for the solid 4 stars, shadow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Murder
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent