A review by booksabrewin
Crooked Crows by Elena Lawson

4.0

Ava Jade has one clear goal in her attendance of Briar Hall: to ride it out for her final year so she can get her fat payday from her rich aunt for doing so. She thought it'd be a cake walk. Just attend classes and avoid the other students as best as possible, easy right? How wrong she was. She seems to have stepped right into the line of sight of the Crows: Rook, Corvus, and Grey. They see her as a problem. An outsider that only brings trouble with her. She is not one to be cowed like the rest of the sheep at the school and that is a problem for them when they are the kings of the school. When senseless bullying doesn't work and Ava Jade's instinct to hit first and ask questions later lands her in hot water the boys take that opportunity to give her an ultimatum. She either falls in line with the rest and does what she's told or they will make her life unbearable. Unwilling to be anyone's indentured servant, Ava Jade only takes this as a challenge and she will do anything to get the boys who wish to own her under her thumb.

I absolutely love a strong heroine. Someone who doesn't fold under pressure but pushes back just as hard if not harder. That is Ava Jade in a nutshell. She is one of those that come from the wrong side of the track but who owns her previous hard life. She doesn't apologize for it nor does she feel shame for being a survivor. She does what she needs to to get by and that is what she will do even in ritzy Briar Hall. I loved watching the boys scramble to try to keep a handle on her while she just strolled along like she wasn't turning their world upside down.

As with any reverse harem, there is always a favorite. Grey was mine. He seems so genuine. He doesn't have a perpetual chip on his shoulder like Corvus nor is he as batshit crazy as Rook. Usually I like the crazy ones but Rook seems a little more out there then I am used to. Which is saying something when I found Diesel from Den of Vipers endearing. I liked that Grey was the first to seem to genuinely like Ava Jade without warring too hard with himself over it.

The plot of the book was good and it kept me guessing. The first book leaves off on a cliffhanger and the characters' backstories aren't completely realized yet so there are so many different ways this series could play out. I am anxious to dive into the next one which is what I will do the minute I press 'publish' on this post. While the book wasn't one I could see myself re-reading over and over, I am curious to see if that feeling changes as the series goes on.