A review by fireinherveinzz
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

5.0

Wow a denser read than six of crows but STILL A WOW finale to six of crows . felt it could’ve been shortened . You don’t really expect a band of teenagers to pull off a heist like that on not only one extremely wealthy dangerous man but two and come out the other side . Also loved how they had more wins than losses , and just the absolute satisfaction in beating their abusers in the end as teenagers who’ve experienced extreme traumatic abuse at the hands of predatory adults was so god damn satisfying to see . And not a single “adult “ as in like older middle aged or at least 30 plus year old person expected anything of them and they played that to their best interest . They were survivors without any specials powers save Jesper who didn’t rely on his knowingly to best their enemies . However losing Matthias was so random ?? Like what the hell . just senseless violence that made his loss all the more heartbreaking and real and ached for Nina and the gang. Loved Wylan and Jespers moments . And Inej confronting Jesper about healing his wound and confronting his problem with gambling and suppressing his Fabrikator powers and her and Kaz bonding over their shared traumas over having their bodies violated by touch and how deeply she empathizes with him . She’s such a beautiful soul . I love their found badass found family dynamic . I’ll miss them I feel like they are good friends I’ve gotten to know . As a child abuse survivor this duology was so satisfying to read seeing other child abuse survivors beat their abusers and win and get justice/revenge for their abuse and then get to go on to heal finally and gain some power for themselves finally and try to be happy. It was so cathartic to experience that. Leigh never once patronized their story or dialogue besides leaving swearing out she made their story feel genuine and raw and accurate to an adult world while it being suited for a younger audience to read .

This duology definitely trumped shadow and bone for me .