emilyreadstoomuch's Reviews (787)

my poor vibrator

i was putting off reading emily henry’s YA magical realism books bc it just didn’t really seem like my vibe. i’m not religious or spiritual and i love my books with a little bit of sex, so i wasn’t sold on the idea of a book about ghosts where the MCs only kiss.

WOW OH WOW i was wrong. i should’ve trusted that my mother would once again deliver!!!!!! such beautiful narration and metaphors for grief. i seriously don’t have a single bad thing to say about this book. the world building was incredible. jack/junior/june and saul were such perfect characters. the arcs were impeccable.

EMILY HENRY I WORSHIP YOU

adorable

”Jules,” he said softly.
“Yeah?” The word stuck in my throat before it came out all wrong. Weird and raspy and not at all like my normal voice.
“On a scale of one to ten, how badly do you want to fuck me right now?”

Synopsis
Jules Ambrose is a law student at Thayer University. She works hard, but she parties even harder. Josh Chen is Jules’ best friend’s older brother. He’s a med student with an ego the size of Jupiter. The only thing they have in common is that they can’t stand one another. Well, that and the fact that they both want to rip each other’s clothes off. They don’t have to see each other very often, and when they do, they can tolerate each other well enough to appease their friend group.

Most men were blinded by all those curves and big hazel eyes, but not me. I knew better than to fall for her trap.

When Jules starts her new job at the Legal Health Alliance Clinic (LHAC), she finds out that Josh volunteers there after his residency shifts at the ER. It quickly becomes clear that they have to call a truce for their incessant bickering, but that does nothing to stave off the palpable sexual tension.

"You're my personal hell, Red." He gave my hair another sharp tug. "And God help me, I don't want to fucking leave."

They decide that the best way to resolve their issue is to bang one out. Too bad their one bang turns out to be the most mind-blowing sex either of them has ever had. Josh proposes that they be enemies-with-benefits to ride this wave of attraction out until it eventually dissipates. But the more they learn about each other, the less they want their tryst to end. Can Jules and Josh overcome their differences? Or are they more similar than they think?

The Good:
- I’ve said it in every review, and I’ll say it again. ANA HUANG HAS A WAY WITH WORDS. I mean the woman knows how to write a damn book. This was as equally well written as Twisted Games:.
- This exact quote: “Stupid describes whatever poor schmuck ends up marrying you.” I was laughing and teheing and kicking my feet I really was.
- The non-endometriosis-painful-ass-period ladies stand up!!

The Bad:
- I’m sorry but……

Spoiler

that was a fucking rape scene, and you know I’m right…

- Some of the things that Josh said are legit unforgivable in my opinion. Like I was jaw on the floor gobsmacked reading some of that shit.

The Playlist
I do not know why, but I got major 80s rock power ballad vibes from this whole series
♪ Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi
♪ You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
♪ No One Like You - Scorpions
♪ Lay It on the Line - Triumph
♪ Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone) - Cinderella
♪ Faithfully - Journey

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THE SERIES
Ava Chen, Princess Bridget von Ascheberg of Eldorra, Jules Ambrose, and Stella Alonso are four best friends that met their freshman year at Thayer University when they were assigned to live in the same dorm. The series takes place over several years during which the girls fall in love with Alex Volkov, Rhys Larson, Josh Chen, and Christian Harper, respectively. All books involve morally gray heroes and pseudo-fantasy-level conflict. I would consider all of these books dark romances due to some of the graphic nature of certain plot points. Read all trigger and content warnings here.

Twisted Love: ☆☆☆
Twisted Games: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Hate: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Lies: ☆☆☆☆☆

“It’s me. And you. Together. It won’t work.” Alex’s glare intensified. “Whatever fantasies you have of us swirling in that pretty head of yours, kill them. That kiss was a one-time mistake. It’ll never happen again.”

Synopsis
Ava Chen is a college student at Thayer University in Washington D.C. and a part-time freelance photographer. She and her best friend Jules live next door to her older brother Josh. Josh is very protective of Ava because of the severe trauma she endured as a child. She wakes up from terrifying nightmares nearly every morning at 4:44 AM but can’t remember what memory these dreams stem from.
When Josh leaves the US for the summer to volunteer in South America, he leaves his best friend, Alex Volkov, to look after Ava in his absence. Alex is a powerful, ruthless man with a heart made of stone driven by the need to avenge his family’s deaths. He has a condition called hyperthymesia or Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) that makes him remember every painstaking detail about every moment of his life, whether he wants to or not.
To help his friend, Alex reluctantly moves out of his lavish apartment and into Josh’s house to be closer to Ava. He can’t stand her sunny optimism and she can’t stand how he never shows emotion. Like ever. But, when Alex starts to act possessive of Ava, her friends are convinced that she is the only person that can evoke any kind of emotion from him. Thus begins Operation Emotion. What happens when the line blurs between their acquaintanceship?

The Good
- Ana Huang has a way with words fr.
- He calls her SUNSHINE
- This was downright addicting. I could not stop reading this if I wanted to. It has that same bingeable quality as a shitty soapy TV show.

The Bad
- It felt very insta-lovey which isn’t my favorite.
- I personally was not attracted to Alex. I need my men to show at least a modicum of emotion around me. The mouth twitches, jaw ticks, and flaming eyes got annoying.
- I wasn’t Ava’s biggest fan either. I feel like the author infantilized her at points and her optimism often bordered on naivety.
- The conflict near the end was so contrived and ridiculous and that’s why I consider this to be an almost fantasy-level scenario. It just doesn’t work in a contemporary setting and that’s what I perceived this to be. But I do honestly think it would translate well to a series or movie if these ever got adapted.
- Don’t even get me started on the actual ending because I will spoil everything in a blind rage.

The Playlist
I do not know why, but I got major 80s rock power ballad vibes from this whole series
♪ More Than a Feeling - Boston
♪ Sunshine of Your Love - Santana feat. Rob Thomas
♪ Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
♪ Cryin' - Vixen
♪ Lost Without Your Love - LOUDNESS.
♪ Without You - Motley Crue

—————————————————————————

THE SERIES
Ava Chen, Princess Bridget von Ascheberg of Eldorra, Jules Ambrose, and Stella Alonso are four best friends that met their freshman year at Thayer University when they were assigned to live in the same dorm. The series takes place over several years during which the girls fall in love with Alex Volkov, Rhys Larson, Josh Chen, and Christian Harper, respectively. All books involve morally gray heroes and pseudo-fantasy-level conflict. I would consider all of these books dark romances due to some of the graphic nature of certain plot points. Read all trigger and content warnings here.

Twisted Love: ☆☆☆
Twisted Games: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Hate: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Lies: ☆☆☆☆☆

”I’m not a jealous man, Stella. I have never envied someone for what they have or who they’re with, and yet…” My fingers glided down to her wrist. “I’m jealous of every person you smile at…” A brush over her fingers. “Every laugh I don’t hear…” My touch dipped to her knee and made a slow, languorous journey up her thigh. “Every breeze that touches your skin and every sound that pours through your lips. It. Is. Maddening.”

Stella Alonso is an assistant at a fashion magazine, D.C. Style, and a social media influencer with a dream of one day designing her own fashion line. Delamonte, the luxury brand she’s been dying to work with since she started her blog, invites her to a dinner that’s a pseudo-tryout to be their new influencer ambassador. When Stella is fired from her job, and is therefore unable to pay her former nanny’s rent for an assisted living facility, she knows that she has to land that deal with Delamonte to stay afloat. Her agent tells her that she needs to increase her audience in order to compete with the other influencers up for the job. She’s sooo close to hitting one million followers and will do anything to reach it. Even getting a fake boyfriend.

I would throw myself into her flame and let it burn me alive if it meant her warmth was the last thing I felt before I died.

Christian Harper is the CEO of Harper Security and the landlord of The Mirage, the apartment complex in which Stella lives. He needs someone to join him at the numerous events he’s obligated to attend and agrees to help Stella in exchange for her company. He’ll also use this time together to figure out why he can’t get his downstairs neighbor out of his mind. Stella is his biggest distraction and weakness, which could prove fatal for both of them.

”I’ve never wanted someone more, and I’ve never hated myself more for it.”

Christian has many secrets and soon finds out that Stella has secrets of her own, namely a stalker that has resurfaced after two long years of silence. Can the security buff help the social media star find her stalker? Or is the call coming from inside the house?

♡The Good♡
- Ana Huang my god.
- The angst in this book was GOD TIER.
- HE CALLS HER BUTTERFLY. I actually have never heard anything cuter in my life. My jaw dropped when he said it for the first time. I’m so going to make my next boyfriend call me Butterfly.
- Christian is so much better at describing his feelings for Stella than the other boys were. I honestly think Ana Huang just wrote Christian better.
- I need a Dante/Vivian story ASAP
- I loved loved LOVED how the epilogue tied all four stories together.

♡The Bad♡
- I wasn’t a huge, huge fan of the conflict
- Also I thought I knew who the stalker was the WHOLE BOOK and I was wrong, but I fr think my idea was better than who it actually ended up being lol.

♡The Playlist♡
I do not know why, but I got major 80s rock power ballad vibes from this whole series
♪ Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen
♪ Animal (Fuck Like A Beast) - W.A.S.P.
♪ Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen
♪ Is This Love - Whitesnake
♪ Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
♪ Home Sweet Home - Motley Crue

—————————————————————————

♡THE SERIES♡
Ava Chen, Princess Bridget von Ascheberg of Eldorra, Jules Ambrose, and Stella Alonso are four best friends that met their freshman year at Thayer University when they were assigned to live in the same dorm. The series takes place over several years during which the girls fall in love with Alex Volkov, Rhys Larson, Josh Chen, and Christian Harper, respectively. All books involve morally gray heroes and pseudo-fantasy-level conflict. I would consider all of these books dark romances due to some of the graphic nature of certain plot points. Read all trigger and content warnings here.

Twisted Love: ☆☆☆
Twisted Games: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Hate: ☆☆☆☆.5
Twisted Lies: ☆☆☆☆☆

what the actual fuck did i just read that was the most fun series omfg this was the best book of the 3 by far bc there was one thread she kept pulling throughout that kept frustrating me (in a good way) if that makes sense idk. ugh this was just perfect

so good. the second book in a trilogy is usually weakest imo but this was just as strong if not stronger than the first. it had more of an expansion of the romance than the first as well which i loved

god this book was good. it was just fun almost like reading a puzzle