In this case, I felt like a lot of the word choices were really deliberate. Like, there are other ways to get that point across.

Lots of times I feel like authors use language like that to show that a character is a bad kid or is cool, and it gets redundant and feels lazy to me. And that was definitely a struggle for me. I tend to struggle with characters who use crude language or gratuitous swearing. I’m always drawn in and fascinated by the way she gets me to love people that at first I’m not sure if I can like. This book actually reminded me a bit of Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus, though not as suspenseful.I’m a huge fan of Leah Thomas, specifically the way she writes these deep, complex, unusual characters. There’s a lot of buildup to what actually happened the night of Gus’s dad’s murder, and it felt like it took a little too long to get there. My only qualm about the book is that it felt like it dragged slightly in the middle. Between the realistic portrayal of sexuality and disability, there is so much to love about this book.

We also get discussions about social class and the discrimination against those at the bottom. The characters within the book also represent diverse families and situations. Their conversations about these struggles, with each other, helps them to grow. Each character has different struggles with aspects of their identity. Between the three of them, we get the larger picture of what’s going on within the town, and we get to see different perspectives of the world. Kalyn and Gus narrate the majority of the book, with Gus’s best friend Phil added in at the end. They’re just friends! How often do you see that in a young adult book? And there’s a friendship between a girl and a boy that has no hint of romance at all. I received an advanced copy of this to review from Bloomsbury, and it was so much more than I was expecting! There is so much representation in this book, from disability to sexuality. Will they be able to break form the mold? Review: Wild and Crooked But the lies of the parents past quickly catch up to them. When Gus and Kalyn meet, he’s glad she’s able to be frank with him, and they from a fast friendship. Since he was born and raised in Sansboro, and he’s never had the chance to get away from his identity as the “disabled kid.” Kalyn’s dad murdered his dad before he was born. Gus Peake is on the other side of the coin. When her and her mother move back to the small town in Kentucky where the crime happened, Kalyn dons a new identity to keep the bullies at bay. Everywhere she goes, she’s known as the murderer’s daughter. Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads Summaryįor Kalyn Spence, the crimes of her father have always hung over her head.

Wild and crooked by leah thomas