Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

128 reviews

_alyssar_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

anilourengo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

Wonderful way to finished a duology full of comming of age, friendship & deadly action.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, and Pregnancy

renewed_reader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Pandemic/Epidemic

iseefirede's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Always kept me on the edge of my seat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Stalking, and Abandonment

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

glund_01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

garrettcz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

I wish there was more in this series because I couldn’t possibly get enough of these characters. 

I didn’t super love the Shadow and Bone trilogy but this duology is incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment