Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Grade: A
Just a warning since this is the second book in the series there’s going to be spoilers for Six of Crows (book one). I try to stay away from spoilers for this one but if you haven’t read Six of Crows- and you should- you’ve been warned…
So I’ve been looking forward to Crooked Kingdom and the adventures of Kaz and company for quite a while and it didn’t disappoint. (Okay, after reading some not so great books I was jumping up and down that this one didn’t disappoint!) I don’t want to get into too much of the plot because I don’t want to give out spoilers but Kaz basically has three goals:
1. Get the Waif back.
2. Get even.
3. Get his money.
Nitpick- there were a couple of times when I thought the plot itself was a bit rambling. Too many coincidences and hail Mary passes. It didn’t feel as solid as the first book’s plot to break into the palace and that was pretty outrageous itself but the fact of the matter is I love the characters. Leigh Bardugo does such a great job of bringing all of them to life and all of their relationships and messiness that I could overlook that one nitpick.
They feel like real friends. They feel like real relationships and in a couple of cases where family and old acquaintances come back into the picture it always feels so true with those interactions as well.
And you do really get to spend time in everyone’s head. Dialogue and character interactions are top notch. I’m such a fan of Wylan and Jesper and man learning more about Wylan’s father and what he did to him…
This is just one of those books where I can read it and so easily see it playing out as a movie or a television show. Fingers crossed.
I won’t say much about the ending except that I was happy with how it was wrapped up and sad that it was wrapping up. My heart both broke for them all and was somehow also left with the hope they would be okay. So it’s a rare book in which I wasn’t quite ready to let go of the characters.
Recommend: Yes, absolutely.