Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

4 reviews

litliz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Slavery, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

entityj'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Classism, Death, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Addiction, Drug use, Trafficking, Torture, and Alcohol

Minor: Grief, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Vomit

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.0

I received this book as a gift years ago, and I have finally made the time to finish this duology.
"Crooked Kingdom" picks up right at the end of "Six of Crows". Kaz and his crew have just wrapped up the most dangerous heist of his career. They should be celebrating, but unfortunately, they have been betrayed, and now they must gather what little resources they have to continue on a new adventure.
This book was very high stakes, and I was on the edge of my seat trying to anticipate what would happen next. I loved how much of an adventure this felt like, without being too cheesy and cliche.
This duology is first and foremost about friendship, which I think is such an important theme to be prevalent in the Young Adult genre. People need to have solid relationships in their life or else they will not get very far, which is really highlighted in this duology. I love that these misfits have all bonded together, and they are so willing to do anything for one another. It is beautiful, heartwarming, and encouraging that we all can find our people.
My one criticism with this story was that some of the scenes felt a little long to me. I ended up falling out of the story quite a few times. I think this would have worked a little better for me if it were 100 pages shorter, but I still enjoyed this book, nonetheless.
I will definitely be continuing to read from Leigh Bardugo more in the future, and I highly recommend this duology to anyone looking for a YA fantasy with some loveable misfits. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, and Toxic friendship

seren's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child abuse, Murder, Drug use, Violence, Death, Drug abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Trafficking, Slavery, Racism, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Ableism

Minor: Child death and Alcohol