Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong Language


When you can't beat the odds, change the game. 

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

Crooked Kingdom starts off not long after Six of Crows ends. It was a bit different from Six of Crows because the team is not working on a heist, but I liked it just as much. There was so much danger and I never knew who was going to come out of it alive. It kept me on the edge of my seat most of the time. I did feel like it got off to a slow start, but once it got going it was filled with plot twists, some that I saw coming, but a lot I didn't.

Like Six of Crows this book devotes chapters to different character's points of view. I liked it here just as much as I did there. Once again each point of view brought something essential to the plot. I really can't say that any of them were less enjoyable than others either, which is rare. Of course I still had my favorite characters, Inej, Matthias, and Nina. I never warmed up to Kaz as much as I wanted to, and Jesper and Wylan were ok as characters, but nothing special even though I still liked them.

I've said before that the best fantasies always end up breaking my heart a little bit and this one was no exception. I waited a while to read this book and I'm sort of glad I did, because after reading a lot of reviews I felt prepared for the ending that everyone has talked so much about. I didn't read the spoilers but I was prepared even though I still did not know what was going to happen; only that something bad was going to happen. It helped to soften the blow but it still hurt. This thing that happens, I could have lived with happening to almost any other character in the book. What made it even worse was that it really didn't even have to happen. It did nothing to move the plot along. It was just there to break our hearts for no good reason other than to break our hearts.

Despite that this was an incredibly enjoyable book. I found it to be a really engaging read and a great conclusion to the duology. There is also room to write more in the world if the author decides to which I kind of like. I could see several threads that she could pick up that wouldn't be direct sequels and others that could be.



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