Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Twisted Games by Ana Huang

43 reviews

b_addie_readsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

4.25

Overall: 4.25 ⭐️
Romance: 4.25 🩷
Spice: 3.75 🌶️
Characters: 4.25 👤
Plot: 4.00 💥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

chels984's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

omg i love rhys he’s so cutsie and protective they were made for each other🥰🥰🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

smartcookiesca's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

boba_nbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5

I enjoyed Twisted Games SO much more than Twisted Love, and I think that had a lot to do with Rhys Larsen.

Bridget von Ascheberg is a princess who needs a new bodyguard, but when she meets him, Bridget doesn't think there's any way she could ever get along with this brooding, overprotective man named Rhys Larsen. As the years go on, Bridget and Rhys grow closer. But when Bridget suddenly has to go back to her country to fulfill her new role as the queen, Rhys isn't sure if their newfound love will survive the taboo it would be in court.

Bridget and Rhys are such a sweet couple. I love chemistry and the forbidden love they have (I Can See You by Taylor Swift was playing on repeat in my head as I read this book). Both characters have a lot of baggage, but they truly had so much emotional maturity and were able to work through their trauma together.

There were a few times I felt the plot was rushed and others where I felt it dragged on. But overall, I really enjoyed the character arcs and the way Bridget and Rhys worked together to bring their country into the 21st century.

I highly recommend Twisted Games to lovers of spicy contemporary romance novels with forbidden love, bodyguard x princess romance, forced proximity, and rivals to lovers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, and Car accident

plantz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder

mmontemurro's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

This book is my first 5-star read this year! Incredible story and characters. This one was much better than the first book, even though I really liked the first book (and wouldn't have read this one without it!). Handsome bodyguard Rhys Larsen is taking over for Princess Bridget's previous bodyguard, Booth. She defies his rules at every turn and he is attracted to her (she is also attracted to him). It does take them a while to admit it though, and there is a lot of delicious sexual tension along the way! Bridget eventually has to go back to Eldorra to see her aging King grandfather. Her brother has also abdicated the throne for love (they are unable to marry commoners). This book very much reminds me of Princess Diaries 2, except with a lot more drama and sexual content. Rhys eventually follows Bridget to her home country, becoming her bodyguard once again, and they secretly begin a relationship. They fall in love (or are already in love) and have lots of amazing, possessive, approaches-on-dom/sub-sex. I loved the scene where Rhys sits Bridget on the throne and they have sex. Also in the gazebo the first time they met secretly - that was amazing. Bridget begins to look for a suitor and finds Steffan, who is also in love with someone else. Rhys is, of course, absolutely possessive. They both look for loopholes in the law. Rhys finds out that Bridget's cousin Andreas is his half-brother and that Rhys is actually a royal (but unacknowledged as the son of a prince) and Andreas wants to help them. They essentially blackmail the speaker of the house (Rhys' long-lost, dead-beat father) to repeal the law of royal marriages, and they succeed. The story absolutely captivated me and there were lots of twists and turns, emotion, and true romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

paigec0p's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

5⭐️
Absolutely loved this book with all of my heart, Rhys and Bridget were perfect for eachother. This book is perfect if you love grumpy/sunshine, age gaps, and more. It was so hard to put down and was amazingly written. I loved the characters and there were so many cute moments between Rhys and Bridget that I absolutely loved. Seeing Bridget evolve was amazing because she was already so strong but she grew so much with Rhys and they both came a very long way. Lots of tears, laughs, and excitement was brought out with this book and I loved it so much! I can not wait to read the next books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

erwikka's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I love Rhys and Bridget. I’m a sucker for a bodyguard/royalty trope. Again I would like to say I love how Ana writes trauma and the way it completely changes a person. For better or worse what happens to you shapes you and I think she does a great job with that. I really enjoy her writing style and will definitely finish the series. Just not sure when since the next book is about people I don’t particularly care about. The banter in this book is top notch and they are like a drug that you just can’t put down. I will say I think they are a little too long this one especially since it had to explain all the stuff they were doing during the event of book one. Definitely check your trigger warnings for this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Sexism, Death of parent, and Classism

sea_vid123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

The "stuff" is gone for a while so gets boring

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

ayvah36's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Abandonment, and War