And I think the story really nailed it on the lesson that even when people use profanity and crude language, they still have the same value as anyone else. I got invested in solving the mystery of what really happened to Gus’s dad and why. (Which doesn’t make it right.)Īnyway, WILD AND CROOKED gave me a lot to think about. It’s kind of one of those growing up moments, right? We want the world to be a place where we don’t get judged based on the way we dress or talk, but the truth is it doesn’t work that way most of the time. But it created an interesting moment when she stopped to realize that. It’s a bit of a mixed message, because she feels like she’s not being true to herself when she acts all sugar and no spice. She also does learn that people will treat her differently when she acts differently. It called sharp attention to the difference in the way her family and Gus’s family were treated by the town.

They were meant to make us uncomfortable and remind us that Kalyn and Gus live in entirely different worlds, even though they’re in the same small town. 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. I’m a huge fan of Leah Thomas, specifically the way she writes these deep, complex, unusual characters.

All things left wild review