Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - King of Wrath

It wasn't as horrible as everyone said. This is my first Anna Huang book that I didn't DNF.
I did enjoy the story, it has a slow beginning and slow end but it's was a nice, softer dark romance. (Does that make sense?)
Anyway, once Vivian and Dante were actually attempting to be a couple the banter! The jokes!! Omg loved it. Dante groveling and courting *chefs kiss*
Dark, quite brooding MMC with a quick witty fierce FMC who are both stubborn, hot, and funny when they want to be??? AAhh Sign me up 🫰🏾✨️

That being said... I do have one negative thing about the lovely Anna.
She's SUPER repetitive. There is so much telling of emotions and thoughts over and over rather than showing us or letting us infer. It could have been 50-100 pages shorter without the constant inner monologuing.
I feel like she killed her own banter with it.
The moments that didn't have monologuing I was kicking my little feet and in shocked with how these characters were just vibing

Lets see if KO Pride is better bc I will be continuing

Content Warnings

kyleethecatlady's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75

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lindseyathome's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense slow-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

3.75

It was pretty slow pace enemies to lovers, and it seemed to take forever to get there. Vivian is a lovable character who you are rooting for throughout the book and Dante is a man who has never been shown how to love. Vivian’s father is an asshat who blackmailed Dante into an arranged marriage with Vivian so that he could move up in society. Dante can’t look past the fact that even though Vivian doesn’t know about the blackmail she is her father’s daughter and follows his direction.

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hanreadssbooks's review against another edition

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emotional 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

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katharina90's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Boring/not a lot of plot, one dimensional characters, underdeveloped relationships, mediocre writing.

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karlapardo's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.5

Ok I really liked this book. In my opinion Ana Huang can do no wrong so I will probably like all her books. I don't LOVE this one but I really did like it. The marriage of convenience trope is one of my favorite tropes so that just had me hooked before even reading it. Let's start with the characters. Vivian is just such a good FMC. Now, don't get me wrong, it took me a little bit for me to like it, I would say 35-40% into the book is when I started liking her but by the end of the book I loved her. You can truly see her growth throughout the book but you just have to get to her actual back story and then it's easier to understand her and like her. She has this thing when she is trying so hard to be the perfect daughter but that consists of her faking her personality and she is so done with that and she just wants to be herself but that's not possible because that's not her "perfect" side. She was really against changing herself because she has it engrained in her brain that she has to be perfect so it is really hard for her to stand up for herself and be able to be just her and see that she is worth of love and attention. When she does come to the realization that she is worth love, attention and that she is able to be her true self without the unbelievable expectations put on her it's just beautiful to see. Also, I loved that she didn't give in to Dante immediately was amazing and very refreshing, especially with the arranged marriage trope. Dante! I really liked him, I think it was easier for me to like Dante at the beginning than Vivian. I loved his whole thing of "I won't ever get actually get married or fall in love" and then he just falls so head over heels in love for Vivian that it's just so fun. He is a mysterious, dark, icy man but when he has Vivian around he just turns into a loving man. He fought for Vivian when she wasn't even doing it for herself and I think that's one of the reasons why I love him. He became a better man because of Vivian and his evolution is fantastic to read. Also! This man is POSSESSIVE, the whole

"You" thrust "are" thrust "my" thrust "wife"

thing was so good. Their relationship was also so cute, their support for each other, the spice, the groveling, the rawness of the relationship, their chemistry, the denial and then the giving in to each other. Love this and will definitely be reading again at some point like every other Ana Huang book.

Memorable Quotes

“I love you, Vivian. More than I could ever hate your father. And more than I ever thought I was capable of.”
“How does he look at me?” Janis smiled. “Like he never wants to look away.”
“Somehow, somewhere along the way, I’d fallen in love … Not like or lust. Love, in all its terrifying, unpredictable, unwanted glory.”
“She was my wife, my partner, my guiding star. And I wouldn't have it any other way”
“Touch Stella again, and you’ll no longer have a fiancée.” (I HAD TO! IT'S CHRISTIAN HARPER!!!)
“You can’t see the stars in New York,” Dante said. “So I brought the stars to you.”
“You take the most ordinary or unexpected things and make them extraordinary.”
“You and me, sweetheart. That’s the destination. And I’m willing to take as many steps as I need to get there.”
“Tell me what you want, Vivian. Do you want me on my knees?”

Content Warnings

annadelreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? No

4.5

“You can’t see the stars in New York. So I brought the stars to you.”

Devoured this first book in just a few days, 3 days to be exact. That's how much I was hooked. Arranged marriage is really getting to me. There's just something about people being in closed proximity and being "forced" to act in a lovingly way that gets to me and I'm loving it a lot. I know we met these characters, well Dante and just vividly heard of Vivian, in Twisted Lies. So I was shocked to know that this was an arranged marriage - when this book was released. I thought they were simply couples that are getting married when they were introduced. Then there were the little hints such as Josh's painting. Ugh. Ana, you are such an amazing author. It made me miss Twisted series so much.

Dante and Vivian's love story is something that is just meant to be. It just so happen that they forced to be together by Vivian's dad. The blackmailing was for sure going to be the third act conflict so that was expected. I was just looking forward to the before and after that conflict because you can clearly see Dante falling in love with Vivian and he can't do anything about it. Then they started going on dates and I just died being so happy for the two of them.

Vivian's situation however was pretty understandable in Asian countries where you give up everything for your family - even your happiness. I'm sad for what happened to Vivian and her ex-boyfriend, but without that happening, she wouldn't have been with Dante and they are endgame.

What a great book to start the series. I'm in the middle of reading King of Pride and Kai's accent is just................. *drools*

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