Twisted Games by Ana Huang | Review

Paperback: 438

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Published: 2021

Language: English

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

The story was going so well...and then Rhys showed up..🤦‍♀️

You'd think I learned my lesson when it comes to starting a book with sky high expectations, right?

Wrong.

I've seen this particular book everywhere on Instagram, on TikTok, even on Pinterest. Everyone was gushing about it and how superior the love story is compared to the rest, how Rhys is the perfect fictional man and how much of a green flag he proved himself to be. What more could a reader want?

More spark, apparently.

I don't know if it was me expecting some sort of Bodyguard or James Bond story - with a whole lot more action, I beg - or if the book was truly as exciting as plain rice, but I was counting the pages until the end. I've always said I hate descriptions because there is nothing worse than endless details going on and on for pages on end. Well, this book felt like a never ending descriptive passage. 

I'm not sure if the lack of...everything, I guess, has anything to do with the spice being the center of attention, but even so, I was not impressed. 

Ana Huang is known for her morally gray men and their rough tendencies. Normally I have no issue whatsoever with that trope, but this time it was rather tough to digest it. I definitely see the appeal of Rhys, his appearance and his demeanor, his overbearing tendencies and his fool in love actions later in the book. I would love a man like that...but I draw the line at the degradation part. I am still appalled she didn't slap him across the face for half the things he said to her, but I guess the twisted nature of their relationship was on purpose. 

Alas.

Another thing I am not the biggest fan of is how little personality he was given, the story focusing instead on the physical part and their 'compatibility' in that department, leaving everything else to try and fit in order to round out the story. Rhys couldn't look more like an accessory if he tried, to be completely honest. As unproblematic as he may be from a romantic point of view, I have never had to endure the perspective of a more dull character - well, maybe Ava could compete for that spot, but even so, it was torturous.

Bridget on the other hand is a force of nature and perhaps the only character blessed with some growth in this book. We watch her mature and step into her power, taking every challenge in stride and refusing to let others control her life. She is determined to cling onto what remnants of freedom she has left and live the way she wants to - and I really admire that about her. 

There were moments when even she felt like a cliche though, the whole not wanting the crown but making the sacrifice of accepting it anyway for the benefit of the family seems a bit overrated.

But then again, that might just be me.

And speaking of the might just be me category - I cannot, for the life of me, see the appeal of the couple. I don't see any balance, I don't see them completing each other - hell, they don't even compliment each other. If they were not fictional, I don't think they would have lasted long after the sexual frenzy wore off. Sure, the initial banter was funny and witty, but it got so sentimental all of a sudden and I was not even halfway through the book? Safe to say, it got really boring really fast.

At this point I feel like I should mention that Christian Harper did not write this review - if you know, you know 😂

Romance and twisted dynamics aside, the political intricacies and the family element - and drama, let's not forget that 👀 - really saved the story. I found myself skipping entire pages of smut in order to move on to the next Parliament meeting or history book reference.

The author has a tendency to lean towards more talk, less show. However, I very much appreciated that she put said tendency aside when it came to constructing Bridget's character - specifically her role in the family and the monarchy. As a princess, it was of course expected that she grew up sheltered and encouraged to see the good, unblemished side of the world and the people around her, but when it came to royal endeavors and political matters, she was not as fortunate. Bridget faced plenty conservative views and betrayals along the way, hitting wall after wall and having her words and ideas fall on deaf ears. 

As frustrating as it was to see her dismissed because of her gender, I think it did help in some way because it fueled the fire that was dormant inside her, kept like that out of fear. I really enjoyed seeing her push past the insecurities and guilt, persevere and fight for what was right. When I read the synopsis I was expecting an ignorant airhead instead of a queen, vain and careless about her people and her country.

I have never been happier to be mistaken.

Was I hoping for more royal scandal? Definitely. Was I expecting more pages of Bridget just girl bossing around? Certainly. But at this point I'll take what I can get because I'm afraid if I complain, it might get worse 👀

I really wish I had more good things to say about this book.

All in all, I'd say we made some progress since Twisted Love, but it could have been better. I can't seem to shake the feeling that the first two books of this series belong on Wattpad and Wattpad alone, but I also know that every author grows and matures with their books, so I'm holding on to some hope that the rest will be better 🤞🏻 I'm actually very excited for Twisted Hate and if that one turns out to be a disappointment too, then I'm giving up. 

Let me know in the comments below what you think about this book and which of the Twisted Men is your favourite. 

Oceanul în Flăcări de Theodora Savuli | Recenzie

Număr de pagini: 242

Editură: Siono

An de apariție: 2023

Limbă: Română

Rating: 5 / 5 steluțe

Șiiiii am revenit în forță cu o nouă recenzie pe care sunt foarte entuziasmată să o citiți 🥰
Theo a publicat la finalul anului 2023 o antologie de povestiri scurte pe care m-a făcut să o aștept luni de zile 👀 dar care a meritat din plin fiecare minut 🥰

Nu știu dacă am mai menționat acest lucru înainte, însă în perioada liceului am dezvoltat o aversiune față de literatura română și, implicit, autorii români. Am detestat romanele obligatorii pentru bac și mi-aș dori să pot recupera zilele pierdute citindu-le. Din păcate însă, nu pot.
Acum, ca un fel de side effect de la această...aventură, să îi spunem așa, am început să evit autorii români contemporani, considerând că la fel ca Rebreanu sau Slavici, nici ei nu merită efortul sau timpul.

Boy, was I wrong.

După liceu, am reușit să mă strecor printre recomandările de pe Booktok și Bookstagram și să mă axez pe autori cu care eram deja familiarizată - rareori adăugând câte un debut author pe listă.

Și apoi am cunoscut-o pe Theo care, ajutată de cărțile publicate până în acel moment, mi-a dat un reality check de zile mari 😳 M-am grăbit și am judecat prea aspru când ar fi trebuit să am răbdare și să cercetez mai amănunțit înainte să mă pronunț. 

Mi-am spălat păcatele de atunci, să știți! Pinky promise 😇

Acum, să intrăm în pită, cum s-ar spune 😌 Oceanul în flăcări blindsided me.

Am citit acum câteva luni bune primele două volume publicate de autoare, ambele aparținând aceleiași serii. Blocată între Cadavre a avut și are în continuare un loc special pe lista mea de preferate, însă trebuie să recunosc - Oceanul a detronat-o.

Atât conținutul, cât și stilul de scriere au sărit în evidență pe parcursul lecturii. Am avut prilejul de a urmări geniul creator în acțiune și (partea mea preferată), am avut ocazia să analizez și să compar.

Povestirile sunt așezate în ordine cronologică a scrierii, fapt care facilitează urmărirea evoluției artistei - dar și a artei. De la primul short story și până la ultimul suntem martorii unei transformări, lucru atât de rar întâlnit între paginile unei singure cărți.
Sunt de părere că a-ți fi permis să trăiești această schimbare, acest moment intim dintre creator și creație este de-a dreptul poetic.

Stilul de scriere, așa cum am menționat anterior, se numără de asemenea printre lucrurile de care nu mă mai satur când vine vorba de această antologie. Un început stângaci, o tranziție lină, o colecție de descrieri unice, magice, reale - topindu-se și contopindu-se într-un moment de euforie.

Neînțeles, Bătăile inimii, Inelul de logodnă și Oceanul în flăcări. Patru titluri care m-au marcat și care mi-au schimbat radical perspectiva asupra literaturii române. Patru titluri pentru care am nevoie simultan de niciun cuvânt și de toate cuvintele din lume pentru a le descrie. Patru titluri pe care trebuie să le simți pentru a le putea înțelege.

Fiecare povestire este specială în felul său, fiecare are ”acel ceva” în care să ne refugiem, să ne simțim văzuți, auziți, înțeleși.

Tot ce pot spune este citiți-o, recitiți-o și nu o lăsați să se prăfuiască în bibliotecă.

Concluzia? Nu judeca o carte după copertă - sau după autor, cum a fost în cazul meu, pentru că vei avea parte de o surpriză - mai devreme sau mai târziu.

Cartea poate fi achiziționată de pe site-ul editurii Siono, link aici.

Lectură plăcută!

Twisted Love by Ana Huang | Review

Paperback: 343

Publisher: Piatkus Books

Published: 2021

Language: English

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

I don't make a habit of reading romance books. To be completely honest, I tend to avoid them at all costs because they're insanely predictable and more often than not, cheesier than all the Hallmark movies combined.

But Ana Huang is not just another romance writer. She seems to enjoy the dark side a little bit, as all her male characters dabble in threats, violence and willingness to burn the world down for the woman they love.

The last one was sort of what convinced me to start the series in the first place 🤭

However, Twisted Love was not what I expected at all.

I had higher expectations regarding the characters, but most of them let me down as they were built on cliches and nothing else.
Ava was borderline annoying and in the first half of the novel I was under the impression that she did not have a personality if she wasn't associated with another character, be that Alex, Josh or Jules.
Alex, on the other hand, was a tad more intriguing, but I blame that on my weakness for morally gray characters 👀 because at the end of the day he was but a younger version of Christian Grey, dark and brooding with no intention of falling in love.

Oh and let's not forget about the almost identical bedroom preferences.

And while we're on that - I recommend this book wholeheartedly, but not under the age of...20. Just to be safe 😅

The characters started to grow on me after page 100-ish though. Ava seemed to grow a backbone and Alex gained a soul. He might have stolen it...but at least he had one. It's all that matters... 

Right? 😬

I'm joking, of course. Although there was that one scene... 🤔

"That's the taste of you signing your life away. Because from now on, I own you. Body, mind, and soul."

👀👀👀

I roasted this book so much up until this point that I'm sure you might be wondering why I gave it such a high rating or why I said I'm recommending it. 

Well here's the thing: with so many new authors and recycled ideas, especially in the fantasy world, the search for originality becomes exhausting and in those moments all I want is an easy read that I can finish in one sitting.
And that is where romance comes into play.

Twisted Love was the break I needed after the craziest semester of my life.
While the characters took some adjusting to, the plot was catchy from the start. I found the tension between them quite entertaining and look, judge me all you want, but all the little things he did for her and how overprotective he got and especially the nickname - Sunshine? 

I. 

Melted. 

And squealed all happy and giggled and blushed. It was damn right adorable and sweet and made me slightly jealous because now I want an Alex Volkov too 😭

In all seriousness though, this book taught me quite a few lessons that I don't think I was ready to learn before.

First would be that romance novels are not black or white, cheesy or dark. They can be grey, somewhere in the middle.
Second, they can have a good plot and an impressive character development without having to barge in on another genre.
Third, the story may be fictional, but this is the only type of fiction that can actually become reality. That is a huge "if", but you get my point.

Last, but certainly not least, the most important lesson comes from Alex himself: if you truly want something, fight for it. Fight until your last breath. Because as long as you're alive, nothing is out of reach. So don't give up.

We create our own reality and our own stories. We also create our love stories.

I'm happy Alex never gave up, because it showed me that hope never really dies. It may pass out, but it always comes back.

I'm very curious about your thoughts on the book, so leave a comment below and if you've read the whole series, who's your favourite Twisted man?