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A review by thebookwhale
Twisted Lies by Ana Huang
3.5
WHOOHOOO FINALLY FINSISHED
Before we get into this, I just want to say a few things:
1. this will probably contain spoilers.
2. this is actually 2 reviews, one of the book and one of the series as a whole
Twisted Lies Review
Ok so in this book, Ana Huang proved to me that she can, in fact, write. At least a bit. This was the best book of the series by far. Especially with the romance. This time, the protagonists Stella and Christian had chemistry AND they were a good match, which I found surprising considering how one of the above was always lacking in the other books.
STELLA
Stella Alonso is my fav Twisted girlie. I can relate to her so so much and she was authentic and it felt like the writing stayed true to her character throughout the book. I didn't like how she suddenly became this helpless woman after she and Christian started dating. She was such a girl boss, and then all gone.
CHRISTIAN
Christian Harper is great, I just think that he thinks too high of himself. The dude thinks he is this monster and I feel like he didn't act like how his inner monologue made him present.
PLOT
This is actually the point where I have to take away the most stars. The plot felt so so so slow, and then, at the ending, it was utterly rushed. There was the stalker, and he was mentioned every once in a while, but no suspense or angst was created, which I found quite sad as there was so much foundation and opportunity to build on. Also, the revelation? So so badly done.Julian being the stalker just didn't do it for me. The explanation was so weird and so underwhelming, when you could have done so much more. I didn't even remember who he was when I first read his name.
Overall, I'd give this a 3.5/5.
Now, for the series:
I like the concept. A friend group with their own stories, each story being intertwined, is a really good idea. A few things I didn't like:
1. THE LANGUAGE
literally. So many examples, but I'll make this short. HOW IS AIR SUPPOSED TO SHIFT? Literally. Just say something like "the atmosphere shifted". So many icks, istg. Also, the vocabulary of Ana Huang doesn't seem to be really big. All of the men described their woman the same. "Lush lips", "silky hair", "soft skin", "intoxicating smell"... please Ana just think of some more creative adjectives to describe a woman.
2. THE STEREOTYPES
While I live on romances with more dominant male characters, this was a little too much sometimes. Why does the girl have to have long legs, "lush lips", a curved body,...? Can we get some more diversity please?
Also, Christian only having male employees do his "dirty jobs". Why can't a woman clean up a dead body?
Why can't we have a man crying? Why do the girls all wear fucking dresses all the time?? IT'S 2024 FOR GODS SAKE PUT SOME DIVERSITY IN YOUR WRITING.
Also, why is everyone successful and rich? Life isn't like that. We have a lawyer, a doctor, a bodyguard, a fucking queen, a high end designer, a security CEO, a billionaire, and a top notch photographer? It doesn't really make sense. Why can't some of them fail? And why are the men already successful why the women have to earn it? Maybe write a man who has to pray he passed his exam and a woman who doesn't give a shit about money bc she's rich as hell. SWITCH. IT. UP.
3. REPETITIONS
No bc this whole series felt so so repetitive. She meets a guy, doesn't like him, has a business arrangement with him, she falls in love, he doesn't like to admit but he loves her too, then, a betrayal or something that breaks them apart for a while, makeup sex, they marry. The end.
I also don't really know the difference between the guys. They are all supposed to be cold, but have a soft spot for their woman, they smell masculine, they radiate "raw" masculinity (whatever the hell that's supposed to be), they are all dominant in bed, and so on. As I said, give us some variation please. Maybe write a guy who is also fine with being submissive. Maybe write a character who is bi. Really. Writing has no limits, and still you decide to fill FOUR BOOKS with the same content just in different fonts.
Overall, it was fine. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary, but I did expect that. I won't read it again, but I guess it was nice to make time pass.
I'd give this series as a whole 2/5 stars.
Also thank you for reading this because this is probably the longest review I've ever written. Love y'all and keep reading<3
Before we get into this, I just want to say a few things:
1. this will probably contain spoilers.
2. this is actually 2 reviews, one of the book and one of the series as a whole
Twisted Lies Review
Ok so in this book, Ana Huang proved to me that she can, in fact, write. At least a bit. This was the best book of the series by far. Especially with the romance. This time, the protagonists Stella and Christian had chemistry AND they were a good match, which I found surprising considering how one of the above was always lacking in the other books.
STELLA
Stella Alonso is my fav Twisted girlie. I can relate to her so so much and she was authentic and it felt like the writing stayed true to her character throughout the book. I didn't like how she suddenly became this helpless woman after she and Christian started dating. She was such a girl boss, and then all gone.
CHRISTIAN
Christian Harper is great, I just think that he thinks too high of himself. The dude thinks he is this monster and I feel like he didn't act like how his inner monologue made him present.
PLOT
This is actually the point where I have to take away the most stars. The plot felt so so so slow, and then, at the ending, it was utterly rushed. There was the stalker, and he was mentioned every once in a while, but no suspense or angst was created, which I found quite sad as there was so much foundation and opportunity to build on. Also, the revelation? So so badly done.
Overall, I'd give this a 3.5/5.
Now, for the series:
I like the concept. A friend group with their own stories, each story being intertwined, is a really good idea. A few things I didn't like:
1. THE LANGUAGE
literally. So many examples, but I'll make this short. HOW IS AIR SUPPOSED TO SHIFT? Literally. Just say something like "the atmosphere shifted". So many icks, istg. Also, the vocabulary of Ana Huang doesn't seem to be really big. All of the men described their woman the same. "Lush lips", "silky hair", "soft skin", "intoxicating smell"... please Ana just think of some more creative adjectives to describe a woman.
2. THE STEREOTYPES
While I live on romances with more dominant male characters, this was a little too much sometimes. Why does the girl have to have long legs, "lush lips", a curved body,...? Can we get some more diversity please?
Also, Christian only having male employees do his "dirty jobs". Why can't a woman clean up a dead body?
Why can't we have a man crying? Why do the girls all wear fucking dresses all the time?? IT'S 2024 FOR GODS SAKE PUT SOME DIVERSITY IN YOUR WRITING.
Also, why is everyone successful and rich? Life isn't like that. We have a lawyer, a doctor, a bodyguard, a fucking queen, a high end designer, a security CEO, a billionaire, and a top notch photographer? It doesn't really make sense. Why can't some of them fail? And why are the men already successful why the women have to earn it? Maybe write a man who has to pray he passed his exam and a woman who doesn't give a shit about money bc she's rich as hell. SWITCH. IT. UP.
3. REPETITIONS
No bc this whole series felt so so repetitive. She meets a guy, doesn't like him, has a business arrangement with him, she falls in love, he doesn't like to admit but he loves her too, then, a betrayal or something that breaks them apart for a while, makeup sex, they marry. The end.
I also don't really know the difference between the guys. They are all supposed to be cold, but have a soft spot for their woman, they smell masculine, they radiate "raw" masculinity (whatever the hell that's supposed to be), they are all dominant in bed, and so on. As I said, give us some variation please. Maybe write a guy who is also fine with being submissive. Maybe write a character who is bi. Really. Writing has no limits, and still you decide to fill FOUR BOOKS with the same content just in different fonts.
Overall, it was fine. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary, but I did expect that. I won't read it again, but I guess it was nice to make time pass.
I'd give this series as a whole 2/5 stars.
Also thank you for reading this because this is probably the longest review I've ever written. Love y'all and keep reading<3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Stalking
Moderate: Gun violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy