Series ✦ Penny’s Take
Crooked Castle
A. J. Vanderhorst · 2021
68/100
👎 Skip It
Fast-paced and clever enough to keep middle-grade readers turning pages, with the survival-plus-mystery setup playing to the series' strengths. The orphan trauma thread and survival darkness are real considerations for younger readers, and the companion-novel format means new readers may feel slightly unmoored. Strong for existing Casey Grimes fans; a harder sell as a first pick.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety78
Substance / usefulness66
Craft & writing70
Originality62
Evidence & accuracy70
Hype vs delivers72
Age-fit75
👁 Human-eye gut-check68
Penny’s verdict68
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