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A review by maayaner29
King of Wrath by Ana Huang
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Oh god, there were so many things wrong with this book, I don't even know where to begin.
The guy is one of the most toxic male mc I've ever seen, he's extremely possessive, before they even started liking each other he was already like "she's mine so no one touches her", and he threatens to kill a guy just because he talks with her, that is not hot, it's not sexy, it's not romantic, it's disgusting and I can't believe people romanticize such toxic behaviors.
The guy is a walking, talking, living, breathing red flag and vivian should have run from the beginning and the fact that she was so oblivious and ignored all those red flags is a red flag in and of itself. I know it's supposed to be fiction but let's be honest irl a relationship like theirs with such a toxic and violent man either ends up being a miserable marrige where the husband emotionally (and probably physically too) abuses her or it ends up in a messy divorce.
Also the guy prides himself in the fact that he takes part in the police corruption at some point, that is nothing to be proud of but he's all like "I called some people in the police so that I can beat up this guy until he's almost dead, hey, at least it saves them time am I right"
The way the author adressed trauma was also done really badly, the girl was literally held at gunpoint and would have been killed if it wasn't for the guy being arrested by security, and all it takes is a few therapy sessions and now she's completly fine again, that's not how it works. With the way things happened she shouldn't just be crying one day, have a few nightmares for a few weeks, go to therapy a bit and then poof! She's fine again, it takes years to mentally recover from something like that. I know that obviously the book is not supposed to focus on that but on their relationship, but you can't just write about such a heavy topic and then just completely ignore it after a few chapters for the rest of the book.
Moreover, 90% percent of the sex they had was really toxic too, the sex itself wasn't toxic (sometimes it was), it was the reason and the time that was toxic. The first time they had sex they hadn't even figured out their feelings yet, and I'm not saying it's bad, a lot of books do it, but it's the fact that until now they were at best maybe friends and he got all possesive because her ex tried to get back to her, and then during the sex he was like "you're mine, you're my wife (she still wasn't btw) and no one touches you" while holding her throat the entire time. I'm not even going to talk about when they were in valhalla, that was so toxic it was clearly sexual harassment, I couldn't believe it. And every time they had an issue or something they fought and then had sex and then they were fine and in love again, that's not the way to a healthy relationship, they need good communication not makeup sex.
Lastly, a lot of characters were extremely cringe, like, his parents??? I cringed every single time one of them opened their mouths, especially the mom, I will never understand why authors always write a super cringe parent at some point in their book. The mom is a fifty something year old, she's so immature, she acts like a 13 year old, and she's like "stop calling me mother, call me janis your grandfather liked tradition too much" umm no? He was a normal person that calls his parents mom and dad like every person in the world, the fact that she wanted her own son to call her by her first name was really weird. And when she talked about them having sex all the time, and she bought them a lot of condoms, that was so cringe, no parent acts like that, that's disgusting, why would you write such a cringe and unrealistic character? The only characters I like were Greta and Agnes.
The guy is one of the most toxic male mc I've ever seen, he's extremely possessive,
The guy is a walking, talking, living, breathing red flag and vivian should have run from the beginning and the fact that she was so oblivious and ignored all those red flags is a red flag in and of itself. I know it's supposed to be fiction but let's be honest irl a relationship like theirs with such a toxic and violent man either ends up being a miserable marrige where the husband emotionally (and probably physically too) abuses her or it ends up in a messy divorce.
Also the guy prides himself in the fact that he takes part in the police corruption at some point, that is nothing to be proud of but he's all like "I called some people in the police so that I can beat up this guy until he's almost dead, hey, at least it saves them time am I right"
The way the author adressed trauma was also done really badly,
Moreover, 90% percent of the sex they had was really toxic too, the sex itself wasn't toxic (sometimes it was), it was the reason and the time that was toxic.
Lastly, a lot of characters were extremely cringe, like, his parents??? I cringed every single time one of them opened their mouths, especially the mom, I will never understand why authors always write a super cringe parent at some point in their book. The mom is a fifty something year old, she's so immature, she acts like a 13 year old, and she's like "stop calling me mother, call me janis your grandfather liked tradition too much" umm no? He was a normal person that calls his parents mom and dad like every person in the world, the fact that she wanted her own son to call her by her first name was really weird. And when she talked about them having sex all the time, and she bought them a lot of condoms, that was so cringe, no parent acts like that, that's disgusting, why would you write such a cringe and unrealistic character? The only characters I like were Greta and Agnes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Sexism