Publication Date: June 4 2019
Genre: YA, Contemporary, LGBTQ
Synopsis:
In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence’s name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro’s citizens, who refuse to forget the crime.
Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he’s either known as the “disabled kid” because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself.
When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families’ pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward?
Thought to be destined as the sidekick, outcast and disabled kid, Gus never envisioned himself to be anything more. In this heartwarming book about accepting yourself and not letting anyone make you feel like you aren’t good enough or capable of more, Wild and Crooked focuses on those kids on the outer edges of the high school crowd. Thomas created a book that highlighted the underrated characters with some great representation and platonic relationships!
” I struggle to empathize with people who aren’t fictional.”
I can see this book not being for everyone and also a lot of people not giving it the chance it deserves. It is very character driven with multiple POVs where you really get to dive into the characters internal thoughts, feelings etc. It has sexuality and disability representation as well as takes a widely different approach then many high school contemporary books (in my opinion). Aside from heavily relying on the characters to drive the plot, there is a mystery that the characters are trying to solve.
This story plays with your emotions and pulls at your heartstrings in so many ways. I could feel for the characters especially in those moments of awkward embarrassment. Thomas does a great job at taking the characters through all of their emotions, developing those high and lows and really highlighting the main characters and creating a beautifully unexpected relationship and the love that can come even through the hardest situations.
” I wasn’t wrong to think our lives the story. I was simply wrong about which genre we belong to.”
I adored Kayln’s fiesty no holds personality. To the core of herself she did not really care what people thought, but she accepted those for who there are and expects nothing from them. I hated how hard Gus was on himself, but that Kayln brought out a side of him that allowed him to be more confident and believe in himself. I enjoyed the array of other characters that made an appearance in this small town in Kentucky.
I did find it a little odd that a POV go added like 2/3rds in the book and felt like it was something we could have gone without or should have been included the whole way through. The focus being Kayln and Gus would have been just fine, but I understand what it added to the story to add in Phillip.I am always in search for more books about platonic relationships because they are just as needed as family and romantic.
Overall I might be a little bias because I grew up with the author. There is a point in the story that she had to have pulled from our own small town and how the parades in town work. It definitely took me back to being in the marching band and performing in parades in high school. But in all honesty I thought that the representation and message that this story presents was beautiful.
11 comments
Great review. I haven’t seen this before so thanks for putting it on my radar
This was a lovely review and it sounds like a beautiful and important story!! I will have to check it out!! And it is so cool that you knew the author growing up!! 😊
It’s always fun reading her books because there are always small references to the town we grew up in!
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