Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

19 reviews

kingcrookback's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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

I...wasn't expecting this to make me cry the way it did. The character all still being teenagers is still a sticking point for me--although, props to Leigh Bardugo, she did turn that into a little tongue-in-cheek joke in the book. But Bardugo handles both plot and character tension so well and balances them with each other so evenly that I could hardly bear to put the book down sometimes. My only, relatively minor issue is that, as an Asian person, I found the handling of the Shu (particularly events

Spoiler

around Wylan wearing Kuwei's face

) characters uncomfortable. But overall, Bardugo really stuck the landing with this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Trafficking, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

poodily's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Slavery

Minor: Xenophobia and Trafficking

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

 I fell in love with this book from the start.It was briliant to see what "brick by brick" looked like. All the couples, descriptions of falling in love and getting closer, the scheme, is so well writen. Reading about these character slowly dealing with their trauma and being more themselves, its the best feeling. (The moderate TW's are not super explicit and are brief. Only blood and injury are current events the rest are flashbacks or memories.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Confinement, Body horror, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Confinement, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, and Cursing

deerlybeloved's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

If I could rate it any higher, I would.

Crooked Kingdom is a phenomenal sequel to Six of Crows, leaving the reader antsy and waiting, on the edge of their seat with every new twist and turn. Every revealed detail, paid off foreshadowing, character interaction, and planned event leaves you in a new bout of stunned silence as you listen, tense and wanting to know more.

Each character is unique, and fleshed out, meaning every chapter (each written from a different perspective) leaves you excited to learn more about that individual, and has its own personal bit of characterized flair that makes you excited to turn the page and learn who the next point-of-view is fore-- Matthias, Inej, Wylan? You just have to find out, sleep be damned.

So much weaves together to form a plot where just as one issue is resolved, you remember that ah, that's right, three chapters earlier that other plot point was introduced, and all of a sudden it's coming back-- You can't believe you forgot, but how could you not when the fate of the world was being handled first?!

The end will break your heart, as much as it heals it, giving you as many tears as it does grins as you flip through the ending chapters and realize just how much has been lost...and how much is being rebuilt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Confinement, Chronic illness, Torture, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Drug use, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Grief, Blood, Addiction, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Murder, Hate crime, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Ableism, and Forced institutionalization

Inej, one of the main characters, has a backstory HEAVILY rooted in discussion of pedophilia, child trafficking, sex trafficking, slavery, sexual slavery, rape, sexual abuse, kidnapping, and so much more. While handled with beautiful tact and insight, the depictions of flashbacks and Inej's feelings of these things can comfort survivors of similar things as much as it destroys us. Go with caution. As well, religious bigotry, ableism, trauma, emotional neglect, horrid things happening to children, war, racial fetishization, and so much more is dealt with in tactful ways, but ever presently used as reminders that the world is as imperfect and dark as it is beautiful.

emilyelysian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

be gay, do crime

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Ableism, Blood, Kidnapping, Death, Abandonment, Classism, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Trafficking, Slavery, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Racism, and Gun violence

Minor: Cursing and Child abuse

themoonshoes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

the crows my babies…… kanej makes me want to pull my hair out and run into the ocean <3

Spoiler

also i knew matthias was getting axed and it still hurted </3

anyways a little more drawn out than the first book but it needed to seem like the crows were at the end of their rope so i get it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Murder, Grief, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Xenophobia, and Sexism

definitely read these before the shadow and bone books

chelsea_schultz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Drug use, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

troisha's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Ableism, Trafficking, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, War, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Death of parent

helpme71's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content

pat26's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

So many mixed feelings about this book. Feel like it contained both some of the best and worst things I've ever read somehow? The first book, 'Six of Crows', is one of my all time favourites - so I had a lot of anticipation for the sequel.


The truly wonderful:
. when the full gang is together, it's always so beautiful!
. any of the deep character scenes, from Wylan and Kaz together to Matthias and Nina - it was so comforting to read
. the character development of Matthias Helvar - just brilliant, and subtle, but profound

The decent:
. the overall comfort and joy I felt from these characters, despite the plot being a bit of a mess at times

The WTF?!:
. the Shu metal birds???
. the number of villains and unnecessary twists by the end - some of the pacing of this was just so weird and out of place?

The painfully "I want to throw this across the room" bad:
. Dunyasha wasting my time, what was the point of her character? And she was just so annoying too??
. Kaz and Inej at the end - just no, they are terrible together as a couple (Inej made so much progress in the first book, and then she just backtracks because a boy shows her the tiniest sliver of kindness and personal growth?? seriously???!)


Overall, still good, and I'd read it again (if just for my wonderful cosy characters and to see Matthias again), but not as good as I was hoping for and not as good as the first.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

Minor: Xenophobia