Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

24 reviews

themoonshoes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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

4.5

the crows my babies…… kanej makes me want to pull my hair out and run into the ocean <3

also i knew matthias was getting axed and it still hurted </3

anyways a little more drawn out than the first book but it needed to seem like the crows were at the end of their rope so i get it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Murder, Grief, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Body horror, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Xenophobia, and Sexism

definitely read these before the shadow and bone books

chelsea_schultz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Drug use, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Trafficking

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

troisha's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Ableism, Trafficking, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, War, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Death of parent

helpme71's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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: Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content

pat26's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.75

So many mixed feelings about this book. Feel like it contained both some of the best and worst things I've ever read somehow? The first book, 'Six of Crows', is one of my all time favourites - so I had a lot of anticipation for the sequel.


The truly wonderful:
. when the full gang is together, it's always so beautiful!
. any of the deep character scenes, from Wylan and Kaz together to Matthias and Nina - it was so comforting to read
. the character development of Matthias Helvar - just brilliant, and subtle, but profound

The decent:
. the overall comfort and joy I felt from these characters, despite the plot being a bit of a mess at times

The WTF?!:
. the Shu metal birds???
. the number of villains and unnecessary twists by the end - some of the pacing of this was just so weird and out of place?

The painfully "I want to throw this across the room" bad:
. Dunyasha wasting my time, what was the point of her character? And she was just so annoying too??
. Kaz and Inej at the end - just no, they are terrible together as a couple (Inej made so much progress in the first book, and then she just backtracks because a boy shows her the tiniest sliver of kindness and personal growth?? seriously???!)


Overall, still good, and I'd read it again (if just for my wonderful cosy characters and to see Matthias again), but not as good as I was hoping for and not as good as the first.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

Minor: Xenophobia

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, and Chronic illness

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, War, Slavery, Colonisation, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.5

As with Six of Crows, I loved the characters and all the twists and turns the story took. This one was maybe a bit more confusing—there was a lot going on—but I was a bit more prepared for that style having read Six of Crows. I loved how each of the couples was developed throughout this book, especially Kanej (I'm a sucker for two broken people helping put each other back together).

The ending though... I was honestly shocked by Matthias' death, especially because it happened after what felt like the dangerous parts of the story were over. It felt very rushed and a little pointless, which maybe was the point? But I still didn't like it (although I respect that Bardugo only killed off the single straight white able-bodied male character).

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe):

I wouldn't say it's entirely happy per se, but it's hopeful (and that might be even better imo).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Torture

explorer_of_legends_and_ink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Addiction, and Ableism

Moderate: Blood, Death, Sexism, Trafficking, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Bullying

readingadventures's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Xenophobia and Sexual violence

confusedmuse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Trafficking, and Xenophobia