Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

King of Pride by Ana Huang

6 reviews

witcheep's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This book surprised me with how much it focused on the slowly evolving relationship (everything else in the plot is mostly just on the background) and the actually good communication between the MCs Kai Young and Isabella Valencia. I love seeing the good communication throughout their interactions with each other!

Magical pockets of time and space that belonged only to us.

↑ This is what the book mostly offers: glances at how a relationship blossoms, faces hardships, and evolves.

I had a good time with this book, and reading it as my first buddy read with an amazing reading buddy made it even better. I think this is my favorite of Ana Huang's books so far; I haven't read many yet, though. This is going to be a lengthy review, so here's a short list of my likes and dislikes before the full-on review (slight spoilers!):

✔️ good communication
✔️ forbidden relationship
✔️ opposites attract
✔️ unexpected reveals / plot twists / slight mystery
❌ (✔️) possessive thoughts, but they are not acted on (the possessiveness goes to red flag territory, but in fiction you can let it slide; therefore I won't elaborate on this in my review)
❌(✔️) strained family dynamics

The main characters

The main characters Isabella (a chaotic bartender) and Kai (an introverted millionaire businessman) are familiar to Huang's readers from the first book in the series. At the beginning of the book, they have been acquaintances for a year through common friends, but one more-ore-less impulsive meeting alone and some piano playing makes them want to interact with each other more. Slowly they begin to become more than just acquaintances, but they have to keep it a secret. What I loved most about the relationship between these two is that they both demand good and clear communication from the other one about where they are standing in their relationship and what they see in the future. They deliver, time and time again!

Our relationship was too complicated to let things linger without clearing the air.
"So what happens next?" My heart pounded so hard it almost bruised.

Kai' and Isabella's relationship is forbidden mostly because Isabella works at the Valhalla club where Kai is a member, and the club has a strict no fraternization policy. There are also differences in their social statuses acting as obstacles for them and showing another side of forbidden romance. I like how the forbiddenness has multiple sides to it in this book and complicates things further. It is why they must keep the relationship a secret. The forbidden element makes both parties initially hesitant to show interest in the other one, but they slowly accumulate insightful inside jokes, begin to know the other one behind their facade, and quickly lust after them.

"Come on. Live a little, Young. I promise it won't kill you."
"No, but you might," he muttered.

They keep mentally reminding themselves that the other one is not their type and they should not be attracted to them. Of course the opposite personalities and attributes just add to their attraction; Kai could be described as a very closed and organized introvert, whereas Isabella is a wild child who thrives in chaos. With time, the lust gets accompanied by feelings as well –

and then they are already too far gone to deny wanting a relationship of some kind with the other one

"Don't you have somewhere else to be instead of bothering an innocent bystander?"
"I have many other places to be." A brief light illuminated the shadows in his eyes. "But I chose to be here."

Quite early on in the book both Kai and Isabella begin to value their time with each other highly, which shows how much they care about each other even if they keep thinking they shouldn't. Time, after all, is one of the love languages, and also the most elusive of currencies: once spent, you can't earn it back. Both of the protagonists would have a lot of things to spend their time on, but they tend to spend it with each other.

I'd abandoned an evening with my books for a nightclub, for Christ's sake. If that wasn't a sign of an irreversible spiral, nothing was.

– Kai

Family dynamics andside characters

Besides the forbidden relationship, the plot involves strict deadlines and strained family dynamics /familial pressure on both the main characters: in the next four months, Kai must win a vote for the CEO position of the family company by creating a carefully curated public image of himself, and Isabella must finish her book to present it to her family. Both the families are trying to force the protagonists to fit into a mold the family sees fit for them, no matter if the person themself thinks that.

"It's funny," Isabella said. "You want Kai to run a Fortune 500 company, yet you treat him like a child who can't make his own decisions. How do you reconcile those two things?"

– Isabella to Kai's mother, the current CEO of the Young company

A lot of Asian families push their children into law, medicine, or engineering, but my parents
were big on us doing what we wanted as long as it's not illegal or unethical. Habulin mo ang iyong mga pangarap. Chase your dreams. Our family motto."
I left out the part about us having to achieve said dreams by age thirty due to a certain written clause.

– Isabella

I'm a little sad and disappointed to see that the one of the main stressors or strains for the main characters is their family or their expectations for them. I'd love to see a supportive family, whose support isn't conditional on the MC's accomplishments or how well they fit the family's idea of a successful life. I'm glad that these issues

are addressed by the end of the book, though.

The story mentions side character Allessandra' and Dominic's strained marriage multiple times, so it's not a surprise that the next book will focus on them. However, I'm more interested in seeing how Isabella's friend Sloane will deal with her troublesome client Xavier. He is mentioned frequently enough and Sloane is adequately frustrated with him to call for a book for just them; and that will be the fourth book.

"Don't worry. I can handle Xavier Castillo. His stupid smile and dimples and joke gifts will not"—she jabbed at her keyboard—"deter me from my duties."

I'll be continuing to read this series, and I have already put holds on the next two books at my local library. Now I just have to wait for them to be available.

//Review written 8th of July 2024

Content Warnings

amre23's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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? Yes

4.0

A .25 star comes off for Ch 37. UGH. It got better though and I got over it, the situation was redeemed but at the time I was annoyed.

This was a good next installment in the Kings of Sin series. I enjoyed the opposites of these two very much. Their relationship for the most part was easy going, had a nice flow, and sweet development.

Content Warnings