Twisted Hate (Twisted, #3) by Ana Huang Review

This is a spoiler-free review! You can review my reviews of Twisted Love and Twisted Games on my blog, now!

Josh Chen... some may say he is rough around the edges and grows up as his relationship with Jules develops. I would say this man is an evil villain and committed levels of emotional terrorism that would land him on a FBI watch list. He is far too old to be acting like this, and his essential tormenting of Jules throughout this book had my skin crawling. There were so many moments throughout this book that had me questioning how Jules let Josh within ten feet of her, let alone inside of her. Truly body-shuddering choices were made.

Jules is one of the more complex characters of this series, with her backstory adding an entire hidden layer to the way she acts and how she chooses to move through life. I have to commemorate her in her efforts to put herself first and always know that she deserves more than she has been dealt. Her past, while tragic and full of struggle, was juicy in the sense that it really grabbed my attention and had me focused on the story. I wanted to see her grow and how she would handle being confronted by so much of her past while trying to figure out her future. She was really put through the ringer in this book and came out even more resilient.

Someone do the math on how old Josh is, quickly!! I swore he was just starting medical school at the beginning of Twisted Love, and it has been how many years since that book ending and all of the time jumps that occurred in Twisted Games?? I literally have no concept of time when I read these books. Either way, Josh needs to mature in order for me to like him - his concept of relationships was so incredibly surface-level, and it made it hard to root for him when his chapters were less than convincing of the readers that he was capable of change.

Josh is FREAKY in the sheets like I have to hand it to him, his character may be immature but my word that man has the stamina of a god. Jules, you are a lucky girl. Ana Huang has a true talent in writing spicy scenes, my jaw was on the floor several times. He was throwing Jules around like she was a lifeless doll, I truly could not believe my eyes. The enemies to friends with benefits to lovers in this book sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions that has sent me into a daze.

7,000 guests at a wedding, even for a royal wedding, is hard to believe. With how I picture the country in my head, I could have sworn that was the entire population. I loved how involved Ava, Bridget, and Stella were in this story - it goes to show that side characters that have already had their happy endings are still vital to the plot. Especially with how close they are all with one another, it would have been strange to not see them make any appearances - though Stella and Bridget did not have as big as a presence as Ava did, it did make the most sense.

"I lied." When I tell you I almost did something so drastic... I was calling for Josh to meet the electric chair. I do not have the words to express how insane of an emotional rollercoaster I went through after reading that, I was nauseous. With the amount of whiplash this man gives me, he is lucky that he is a doctor. I would not have blamed Jules if she killed him on the spot. I was begging for Alex to betray Josh again just to knock him down a peg, and honestly, he could have done it for fun and I would still root for Alex.

Alex Volkov I am sorry I ever doubted you and made fun of you throughout Twisted Love - maybe when you sang it was romantic... forgive me... He was constantly saving the day on multiple occasions throughout this book, and Josh was basically useless. I never thought I would see the day that I would be begging for more Alex - I thought he was fine, but after seeing Josh in action, Alex has bumped up in my ratings. Imagine your one of your best friends is dating a billionaire and another one is a queen engaged to a hot bodyguard, and you end up with... Josh.

Insane that this is Josh's book and yet he is being out mugged by every other male love interest, including Rhys, who I do not recall even having a single line of dialogue in the entire book. Big shout out for the Christian and Stella crumbs, I can already tell I am going to enjoy their book. Absolutely obsessed with Christian as a human being and his little contracts for every favor he does for everyone.

So much of the conflict in this book was so...cartoon character villain-like, sorry! I was literally laughing out loud at the situations they were finding themselves in. Was it top tier literature? Absolutely not. Did I think it fit the story? Nope! I could not take the last quarter of this book seriously, I truly had no idea how everything was being adding to the plot. That being said, I was entertained and even though it was absurd, I let it slide.

I feel bad for bashing Josh so much because in the end, he really did change and turn his whole perspective around, and I have to commend him for that. Especially because I did eat this book UP like it was my last meal on Earth. As well as finally giving Jules a relationship in her life -- outside of her friends -- that she will have someone to fall back on. She was put through so much in this book, and she deserves to have a happy ending. Truly had me cackling when Josh and Alex were living out their mafia boss fantasies, I needed that comedic relief.

I will be seeing this series through if it is the last thing I do. Thanks to TikTok, every single time Dante Russo was mentioned in this book, I now have another series by Huang to dive into and avoid my adult responsibilities. If you are looking for a quick read full of emotional whiplash, may I present to you the insanity that is Josh and Jules, enjoy!

You can add Twisted Hate on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!

Twisted Games (Twisted, #2) by Ana Huang Review

This review contains mild spoilers for Twisted Games - please read with discretion. You can read my review of Twisted Love on my blog, here.

Making my way back to this series and I have to say that I had the time of my life reading this book. I was constantly giggling and kicking my feet, and there were times where I had to put the book down and start walking laps around my apartment during certain scenes. I was not sure I was going to feel regarding the whole princess and bodyguard trope, and I am so happy to say that I was proven wrong in my skepticism. Bridget is a princess to what I essentially consider Genovia from The Princess Diaries, and Rhys Larson is her newly appointed bodyguard. Initially, I was not sure what their relationship struggle would be, but when Bridget literally says "I don't want to wear the crown," my immediate thought was that I fear she just jinxed herself.

Rhys Larson's first appearance is something a romance reader dreams of - "The biggest man I had ever seen in real life" - Bridget, girl, you and I both cheered and gave a standing ovation. Her immediate distain for him once he started speaking was a key indicator that I knew I would love their banter and relationship, and every chapter after that proved me right. Rhys is so incredibly grumpy and Bridget is essentially a walking ray of sunshine - they are a match made in heaven. The random Jules lore in chapter two had warning signs blaring in my mind, and with the knowledge that she takes the lead in the next installment makes me even more motivated to keep up with the series. Christian Harper popping up as well - I have heard this man's name so many times on TikTok but did not have a clue who he was until this moment.

I literally forgot that Bridget casually got kidnapped with Ava in Twisted Love, and this book backtracks in time, so when the kidnapping happened again, I was cackling that Rhys was more inconvenienced than concerned that the literal princess he was in charge of got kidnapped out of nowhere. I love a good grump, but why was he so dead set on not letting Bridget go to a single concert when she was in her final year at college? I felt so bad for her when all of her friends would go without her and she was basically forced to stay in her house, missing out on these last moments. Sure, Rhys setting up the at-home concert was thoughtful, but he would not have had to do it if he just went with her to the festival instead of making her stay home.

The Rhys perspective chapters had me cackling out loud - he gets mad at her because she has a personality instead of being one dimensional, he is so unserious. That being said, his backstory is so heartbreaking, and the author did a great job in expressing his inner turmoil and the conflicting feelings he has towards his family and his past in the Navy. However, I am a sucker for a tortured past trope, and throw in scars on his back, and I am basically the world's happiest romance reader - two top ten tropes in this book, I never lose.

"...and crawl to me," is CRAZY work and TikTok did not prepare me for the absolute insanity that is Rhys Larson when he is feral for Bridget. He is freaky and fun and such a delight to read about. He is so obsessed with Bridget, and the jealously trope was amazing this entire book - you could tell he was annoyed that he liked her so much, and with their ten year age gap, he was constantly trying to find a reason to not become even more infatuated with her. Everything he says to her is so wild it had me gagged - "You are leaving with a guy. Me." like sir, yes, sir.

Personally, and this is just me, if my brother, who had been training to take the throne for his entire life, abdicated and left me to be first in line knowing that I wanted to live a normal life and marry for love, I would smack him so hard. He would have flown off his horse and into another dimension - you could literally feel the dread fill Bridget up when she realized what his abdication meant for her. Bridget is also so funny, I genuinely enjoyed her personality and can see why everyone wanted to be friends with her. On the other hand, someone needs to get that girl to a therapist as soon as possible - she has so much weighing down on her and she blames herself for things out of her control.

Bridget's grandfather, the literal king, had me so annoyed on so many levels. There was a moment where I thought he was able to propose that Bridget marry her cousin and I was going to faint. The amount of misogyny that pours from his veins and the rest of the advisors was so off-putting and had me truly agitated - I cannot say I was not surprised, but it was so sad to see Bridget slowly become more drained as the days went on. I was actively preying on this man's downfall the entire book. She is literally first in line to the throne and everyone treats her like her only purpose is to become a wife.

"I wasn't a blackmailer," Bridget... you are actively being blackmailed, now is not the time for moral dilemmas and taking the high ground. I literally just completed my cyber security training for work the other day, and Bridget had me stressed to the max. Big shoutout to Alex Volkov for coming in clutch towards the end of this book - sorry for judging you in your own book, but in my defense I thought you were insane for half the things you did to Ava. But I have found it in my heart to forgive you, and when being compared to Rhys who literally never did anything wrong ever, it does not but you in the best light.

There are a ton of time jumps in this book, and at times it began to irritate me - weeks or months would go by and by the end of the book, I had no idea how much actually did pass - maybe three years? Honestly, this is one of the longer romance books I have read, and there were definitely some plot points that could have been resolved quicker - the book started to feel a little too long for my liking.

Imagine being so horny that you plan to overthrow one of parliament's oldest laws... Bridget truly is that girl. I know that Nikolai was happy for her, but do y'all think he was lowkey mad he did not think of it first before he abdicated? The man was trained for twenty-five years to be king and then said goodbye immediately. Maybe it is because I have not read a true romance book in over a month, but I ate this book up and truly enjoyed nearly every minute of it. Ana Huang, you have pulled me into this series and I will certainly be seeing these stories through, and cannot wait to see what is in store for Jules and Josh in Twisted Hate.

You can add Twisted Games on Goodreads now, and follow the author to stay up to date on releases and publications.

You can catch up with me and my current reads by friending me on Goodreads and following this blog, my Twitter, and my Instagram in order to stay up-to-date with any reviews, blog tours, and more!