Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

80 reviews

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, and Kidnapping

Minor: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, and Stalking

sierraclimbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75

Unfortunately didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. Something about it did not resonate the same way. 
I read Six of Crows thinking this duology was a prequel to The Shadow & Bone Trilogy, but in Crooked Kingdom I found myself confused about characters being brought up as if I should know who they are. Upon asking a friend, they informed me those were characters from the trilogy… that’s when I googled it & discovered that it is a sequel duology, not a prequel. 
I also found a lot of the story telling to be heavy handed in this book. There was an attempt to shove a bunch of backstory for characters by having them tell you a story about a memory wherein the character also had a dream in which there is a story. It really took me out of the actual plot of this book. 
The overarching plot was actually interesting. But with all these backstory side quests I found myself loosing interest & not picking the book back up for long periods of time. 
I do overall recommend this series. But I think you’d be just fine reading only the first in the duology. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

the child death is a fake out, but the description is pretty disturbing

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A satisfying conclusion to the Grishaverse and the Six of Crows duology!
A super fun, fast paced, keep you on the edge of your seat type read. I love complicated heroes and morally ambiguous characters, so this series really worked for me. You never knew what hairbrained scheme Kaz was going to come up with next, and the deepening and changing of the relationships between the characters made this book somehow even better than the first. While long, this book was definitely a page turner for me - compelling and very well written. This duology was a real win for me and goes to show that you don't need a super long series to write a detailed and complex story. Kaz and his crew will live rent free in my brain for quite some time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book is SO GOOD! I can’t believe I didn’t read it before now! I laughed and cried and screamed and that’s all you need to know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism and Sexual content

sunnyscholar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I have no words. Which honestly seems a shame since Leigh Bardugo seems not to be at a loss for them, meticulously weaving poetry on the page. A masterpiece that kept me guessing -- taunting me with new perils and rewarding me with flawless twists that further carved a place in my heart for this remarkable story and its beloved characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

This book goes just a little more in depth with Inej's trauma and experience slaving at a workhouse.

thestarsaresad's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I am in awe. This book was so so so beautifully written. I cannot believe how many DETAILS went into this book. How can one person think of all these plot twists and manage to tie it all up as well?

Unlike other books, I genuinely looked forward to each person's point of view -- I'm glad we got to see Wylan's as well. So many things happened, but most of all, I loved seeing each character's development. Even though the hopeless romantic in me would've loved to see Kaz and Inej get together, deep down I commend Inej for following what she knows she wants and not settling for a life where she wouldn't be happy. Seeing Jesper's progress on himself was extremely satisfying as well. As for Nina and Matthias? I BAWLED. Absolutely unnecessary and necessary at the same time.

Bardugo portrays each of the characters so well. Truly and truly, I want to read this series again just to pick up on all the details I missed the first time around. Perfection in a series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Murder

mckiheather's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

marysunburn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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

4.25

This book was  fun, very tense, full of beautiful vivid descriptions and breath-taking fight scenes. It created a world that twists the flaws of our own, yet mirrors them closely, and a lovable cast. 
However, I refuse to engage further with Leigh Bardugo after her shifty declarations about the genocide of the Palestinian people, so this is my send-off message to her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

both the female leads are survivors of sex work, one of them – Romani-coded – was kidnapped and trafficked by "slavers" and exotified at her former brothel. One of the male leads is murdered by a fanatical ex-brother-in-arms. One of the plot points involves fabricating a deadly and contagious disease. One of the male leads is dyslexic and hated by his father for it; his mother was institutionalized in an isolated institution and presumably drugged. One of the male leads is a gunslinger and he prominently displays this ability. The main plot of the story involves members of a street gang organizing a heist against rich merchants. One of the female leads has taken a powerful drug in the previous novel, and is seen fighting addiction and withdrawal. One of the male leads is triggered by close skin-to-skin contact due to a traumatic event in his past involving a pandemic and the death of his brother, and there's a lot of vivid descriptions of it.

evelynnnn33333's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful sad 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: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Torture, Blood, and Trafficking

Minor: Confinement, Sexual content, and Grief

tiana_king'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? It's complicated

5.0

Somehow this book is even better than the first without a daring heist being the center. I laughed, cried, and hung onto my seat for dear life. A great end to the series though I hope more will come.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Slavery, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry

Minor: War