Title: Wild and Crooked
Author: Leah Thomas
Publication Date: June 4, 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury
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Summary
For Kalyn Spence, the crimes of her father have always hung over her head. Everywhere she goes, she’s known as the murderer’s daughter. 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.
Gus Peake is on the other side of the coin. Kalyn’s dad murdered his dad before he was born. 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.”
When Gus and Kalyn meet, he’s glad she’s able to be frank with him, and they from a fast friendship. But the lies of the parents past quickly catch up to them. Will they be able to break form the mold?
Review: Wild and Crooked
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. And there’s a friendship between a girl and a boy that has no hint of romance at all. They’re just friends! How often do you see that in a young adult book?
Kalyn and Gus narrate the majority of the book, with Gus’s best friend Phil added in at the end. 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. Each character has different struggles with aspects of their identity. Their conversations about these struggles, with each other, helps them to grow.
The characters within the book also represent diverse families and situations. We also get discussions about social class and the discrimination against those at the bottom. Between the realistic portrayal of sexuality and disability, there is so much to love about this book. I could go on about it forever.
My only qualm about the book is that it felt like it dragged slightly in the middle. 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. But the end was worth it.
This book actually reminded me a bit of Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus, though not as suspenseful. Wild and Crooked is the perfect summer mystery to read when it’s released this June!
4.5/5 stars