Reviews with content warning for Grief - King of Sloth

I seem to be a sucker for a good rom-com, because this Ana Huang's love letter to those kept me in it's hold completely. I love the slow burn of Sloane' and Xavier's romance, them slowly peeling off layers of facade to let the other one know the real person behind. I also love that Xavier is

the first one to acknowledge his feelings and act on them

; this just makes their chemistry all the more juicier.

"I promise, there are better places to live than in delusion."
"Better? Maybe. More fun? I doubt it."

Even though there are cliché rom-com tropes throughout the book, the characters themselves feel original and whole persons with their own, complete lives and thoughts. They both process through their personal struggles and fight their demons, and they take into account what the other one needs or wants. They both have their own life goals outside of a relationship, and they put effort into achieving them. This makes, simply put, the characters and their relationship feel real: the new relationship isn't the only meaningful thing in their lives.

Sloane and Xavier might just be my favorite couple of Ana Huang's, from the books of hers I've read so far. They seem equal to each other in their standing in the relationship, and even in the spiteful beginnings of their professional relationship to the more personal one as of late, they just build each other up when it really counts.

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maxinesf's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.5

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maryp20's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Hands down, this is my favorite Ana Huang book this far. I absolutely loved the character development for Sloan and Xavier. I almost wished we had seen their work relationship a bit more in the beginning but I can’t resist the way they slowly opened up to each other and learned everything about the other. I loved that we also saw each of them go through very realistic problems,

with Xavier’s dad passing and Sloan’s fish passing

, all while still having to go about life was so refreshing honestly.

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raegandrust's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-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

5.0

i fear ana huang ate with this one

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julianacosta_01's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-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

5.0

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hanreadssbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

honestly, i didn’t think that i’d like this one as much as i did. in fact, i usually tab and annotate my books but i couldn’t stop reading that i forgot to tab and annotate in several areas of the book. i really enjoyed sloane and xavier’s love story, even if i thought i’d dislike it because of xavier’s attitude in other books and sloane’s “cold-heartedness”. i understand her reasons for being so closed off and careful with her heart a little too well.

i have two guesses as to who started the fire at the vault and i want my suspicions confirmed!!!

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jelkebooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

5.0

Sloane has been present in this series since the very start, and Xavier has been mentioned since book two. On top of that they also got teased as a couple quite a bit in book three, and I was just so hyped for this release. I can now say, with the most glee in the world, that I fucking loved this book. It did get me a little to get into but before I know it I was super invested in it, and just so in love with this book.
Sloane and Xavier are just incredible main characters. Their personal storylines are so great. I feel like they are a bit more emotional. Xavier's deals a lot with grief, dissapointing your parents, and finding your own path. I thought it was all really well executed. Sloane's deals with difficult family situations, as well as just a shitty ex kind of influencing the way you see relationships. I truly think her emotional arc throughout this book was absolutely incredible. I also just adored how they opened up to each other throughout the book, and ended up being each others biggest rocks.
Overall I also just loved how Sloane and Xavier's relationship develops throughout the book. Xavier is definitely down bad, and he's such a sweetiepie. I also just think their relationship was just so incredibly wholesome and cute, because there just is an emotional heaviness to get through as well. Despite that this book is also incredibly funny, as Xavier and Sloane just have top notch banter. There's also quite a few steamy scenes, so there truly is a little bit of everything in their relationship. I also like how their third act break-up and its resolution felt like it came straight out of a romcom. Considering Sloane's love/hate for romcoms have been a well discussed thing throughout the series, and also throughout this book I felt like it was just really appropiate for them.
So yeah, I thought this book was incredible. It definitely feels more like a warm hug, rather than a burning love. If that makes sense. Like, King of Pride is my favourite in this series and that book genuinely makes me squee and kick my fit. This book is second in the ranking of the series for me, but it didn't do any of that for me. However, it left me with such a full heart, and a massive smile on my face.

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