Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

114 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

---

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

_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

---

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

fiolud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse

Minor: Colonisation and Pandemic/Epidemic

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. 

---

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

amypalmer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.25

I think this is the best grishaverse book, I feel like it slightly exceeded six of crows as the character development was a lot more rich. There are many sad moments.  

The crows are all lovable in their own way. I particularly looked forward to Nina, Jester, Matthias, and Inej's chapters. Though Kaz and Wylan are great I much preferred the others. Though towards the end all of the crows have some truly jaw dropping moments.

I did have a few minor issues with the book - I did slightly feel that the crows get fumbled too many times and none of their plans seem to ever really go to plan. That was however till the final section (the last 100 pages) where everything starts to come together. 

I wonder if the crows appear in the second duopoly as some of their plot points still feel unfinished. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Inej, my queen, I love you. I also feel for Nina. I loved the arcs for both of them in this book, as we got to see new sides of them. Kaz and his great schemes where also the highlight of all. I love his mind and I am happy we got a glimpse of a possible happy future in which Kaz and Inej are able to overcome their traumas. As well as how his actions scream about his love for Inej. Either way, the angst and slow burn were detectable, such as the action scenes. I get why they are so beloved. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

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

---

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

aerialthief's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

adalina_xox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

---

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