Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Twisted Lies by Ana Huang

114 reviews

lynnegweeny's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I did it - I read the whole series. I was ready to give up with the Twisted Hate, but since I'd already read 3/4, the completist in me couldn't let this go. I figured I could also encapsulate what I thought of the series as a whole. 

But first things first, this book seemed to be the best of the lot - or at least on par with Twisted Hate. I'm absolutely not sold on the morally grey character of the MMC though - the men in these series (except for Josh) are all supposed to just be casual murderers and somehow their supremely kind and compassionate girlfriends are just okay being with men who have no connection to their humanity. It's all fine if they're killing for the sake of possessiveness and protection. "I knew he was vengeful and it's just something I had to expect from him." (not quoted verbatim). Girl, you can absolutely do better. Are we glorifying men getting away with shit just because they're hot?

There were things that worked with this book. The FMC Stella had a mostly rounded out character story, made up of the other relationships she has in her life (her family, her nanny Maura, her followers as an influencer, her friends, her agent), her character's arc about finding self-confidence, and the parallels about
her stalker and Christian
. There were some layers - like Stella's kink when it comes to being pursued by someone she loves versus someone she doesn't. There's nothing attractive about being stalked and someone hiding their true feelings for you whether they're positive or not - this is not that kind of book, but it was of course not at all explored.

Of course, it would not be a Twisted series book without some shades of a scooby-doo plot with an art heist. Ugh, felt like set dressing just for the MMC Christian to kill and destroy people's lives for fun. (It's really written as a way for him to "let off steam", wtf.) Am I to believe that this super gentle, kind and compassionate woman loves this about her man? There's also a bit of a sensationalist backstory to explain his behaviour that feels way too unrealistic.

This has decided it for me. BookTok recs are not for me - no offense to those who have, but I never used to get my recommendations from social media, and this is how it will remain. Mildly regretting it, but I'm also glad I gave it a shot, and know that this is an informed decision. But truly, never again.

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spatterson7's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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jayandthehive's review against another edition

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

4.0


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krosebooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious tense 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

3.5

Firrst off I am biased because I don't love Ana Huang's writing, but they always seem to hook me just like Twisted Lies. This book is chessy and unrealistic. There were many parts of the plot that didn't add up to me and those unrealistoc parts dampned the book for me. 

Out of the whole series I would say this book is 3rd and the 1st book is last. To be fair even in the book Ana Huang states that it is cheesy so I don't really fault her. I just didn't particularly get entranced by this book because of that, but her writing intruged me enough to rread thhe whole series so. 

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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

4.0

This one took a little bit to get into but once I did, I really enjoyed the love story peppered with violence and crime and mystery. I adore all of the female characters in this book and their slightly less than moral men. This book kept me up far later than I should’ve been because it was addictive and interesting. The spice takes awhile to show up and is only moderate but I still enjoyed it. 

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emmy_janex's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense fast-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

3.25


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ritaj_space's review against another edition

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fast-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

3.75


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michaelat21's review against another edition

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dark fast-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

5.0

Holy hotness the main character is perfectly morally grey. The book itself was so fun to read and had characters that I feel are not typically romance book characters. The plot was also totally different than most romance books. This was my favorite main character males in a realistic romance book ever. 

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frankiereadstoomuch's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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doey_zoe's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

5.0


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