Twisted Love (Twisted Series #1) By Ana Huang

4.5 out of 5 stars (the single book I have reread)

Ok so. This book is the definition of “I know it’s toxic, but I can’t deny the attraction.” It’s one of the few books I have reread, which says a lot since I’m always hunting for new books. The cold, morally questionable billionaire and a sunshine artsy girl with unresolved trauma, I eat it up. Finished this book in one sitting. Both times.

Yes, it is toxic. If a man like this showed up in real life, I would walk in the opposite direction and not look back. But because it’s fiction, my standards evaporate. It’s not a mentally taxing read, which is nice since I can read it without overthinking anything. The drama, angst, high chemistry, and emotional payoff without needing to highlight and write a thesis were awesome. It is cringy and cliché. Nevertheless, I giggled, kicked my feet, and paused only to question my taste in men.

What I loved (minor spoilers):

• The grumpy sunshine stands out a lot. Alex Volkov is cold to everyone but melts when Ava Chen walks in. I love that he has a soft spot for her, and I think that is so sweet. I love that they found ways to ground each other and were able to find purpose in life through each other. He is still a menace, but he’s her menace, which I adore.

• The whole setup with the brother’s best friend, forced proximity, is typical but so addicting to read. They try so hard to resist each other, both knowing the consequences (especially with Josh Chen as an over-protective beast), and failing miserably to avoid each other. I felt the tension in my BONES.

• Ava and her friends making Operation Emotion was kind of adorable, and something I probably would find my friends and I doing ourselves, being little menaces to get reactions. But them poking fun at an emotionally constipated man, that is Alex, was really fun, and it made all the characters feel more alive and relatable.

• When they help each other overcome their traumas and fears. It was so emotionally intimate, and I was so engrossed. It reveals a more emotional side to their physical relationship. I adore how it reveals the gentle and vulnerable aspects of their dynamic.

• Ava doesn’t fold when Alex grovels. Thank goodness. If she took him back, no questions, I probably would have lost it. Like girl. Please stand up. But she chooses herself and works on her dream, making him work for it as they go at her pace, which was so much better. The realism and self-respect make getting back together way more satisfying.

• Alex’s shift from a revenge-robot to “oh wait, I want this life,” was so crucial in my opinion. Ava being able to move from people pleasing and choosing herself, while Alex finds focus and purpose in another aspect of his life, made the book so easy to binge.

Things that drove me insane (in a bad way with spoilers):

• The violence in Alex’s revenge scenes. It was a lot. Like, I admit to signing up for the Twisted Series (Twisted Love, Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, Twisted Lies), I did expect it to be dark and messed up. But some scenes were just so unnecessarily morbid and over-the-top for a romance. 

• How Alex got his job back after leaving. A relatively minor thing that rubbed me the wrong way. He walked away and then just came back a year later. No consequences, way too convenient. It just broke the realism of contemporary romance, and it could have been anything else. 

• The worst of it all. The singing. From Alex Volkov. Just no, absolutely not. It was so random and just the most diabolical thing to add. I will pretend this did not happen. 

Final verdict: it's unhinged, cringy, and honestly kind of ridiculous. But it’s still one of my top books and something I think about when book boyfriends become a topic of conversation. If you can ignore the red flags (as many of us do when we read romance), it’s an addictive, quick read that was still satisfying to finish.

Tropes include:

• Brothers best friend

• Grumpy x sunshine

• Billionaire romance

• Forced proximity

• Dual POV