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A review by selfmythologies
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
long story short: this was a solid sequel & conclusion to the series and a great way to start my new reading year!
while SOC was focused on the heist on the Ice Court, in this book Ketterdam is the main star. i love how its not just the location but it represents almost all of the thematic background of the novel - money, social standing, reputation, greed, disillusionment, political conflicts ... all the stories of the different characters came to my mind when i read a description of the city or parts of it. its so lively in my mind that its almost like Ketterdam and its citizens are their own character. the setting is definitely one of my favorite things about this series.
what i liked most was getting even deeper into the (heartbreaking) backstories of some characters (jesper, wylan), and seeing each of their personal conflicts get resolved - with each other's help! the first book saw these kids coming together to try to accomplish an impossible mission but in this book you really saw the EFFECTS of their friendship on their character development and the way they eventually grew as people - like an antidote to the consumerism and greed that characterizes Ketterdam.
i loved both wylan and jesper even more now. and their relationship, too. jesper's arc was resolved in a surprisingly touching way. and i love how the whole 'learning to see oddities as a gift instead of something to be ashamed of or hide' theme applies to both wylan and jesper and made it possible for them to help each other grow bc they understood each other's struggle. <3
i felt like kaz didnt take center stage as much as he did in the first book, and maybe i wouldve liked a little more exploration of his moral code (like, what are the edges of what he is willing to do? im still not sure. i know that the last scene with pekka was probably supposed to clarify this but truth is there isnt a simple distinction between 'doing ugly things but its ok because theyre necessary or can be excused' and 'doing bad things that are irredeemably bad'. like that area is so murky and...idk i think maybe i wouldve thought inej would want to dig a little deeper with that, but i dont mind that much.) i did like his schemes as usual, especially the last twist that i didnt see coming at all!
speaking of inej!! i adored her in the first book but by now she is truly....ok, i can say it: my favorite fictional character, of all time, ever. *round of cheers and applause* i love her so so much. i had read the quote about 'what about us, the nobodies, the ordinary girls?' before but seeing it in context was so much more powerful. beside the fact that i just love her for her personality, i feel like inej's arc was the most interesting and also the most meta in the entire book - first she's captured by van eck and he makes clear that he doesnt actually hate her (he does hate kaz), but simply sees her as a means to an end and doesnt give two shits about her positively OR negatively and thats kinda how the entire world sees inej and 'invisible' girls like her. but instead of letting it be, inej 'when the world gives you nothing you demand something of it anyway' ghafa fought back and goddamn DEMANDED her autonomy from the world and refused to stay a victim and kept her kindness and her wisdom and her dignity and didnt let anyone take it from her I WOULD DIE FOR HER.
anyway then there's also dunyasha and!!! i wondered about the point of this character at first but then of course!! dunyasha is the contrast to inej, the girl with royal blood in her veins and a glorious destiny SHE LITERALLY IS A REPRESENTATION OF THE CHOSEN ONE TROPE YALL
AND BY BEATING DUNYASHA INEJ SYMBOLICALLY KILLS THE CHOSEN ONE TROPE: AND SAYS NOPE. THE REAL HEROES IN LIFE ARE THE GIRLS LIKE ME. THE GIRLS THAT COME FROM NOTHING. THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT. THAT DONT HAVE A BIGGER PURPOSE. THE GIRLS THAT REFUSE TO BE NO ONE AND DEMAND IMPORTANCE FROM THE WORLD ANYWAY EVEN IF NO ONE CARES TO GIVE IT TO THEM.
I LOVE INEJ GHAFA AND I LOVE LEIGH BARDUGO FOR CREATING HER AND GIVING HER THIS AMAZING CHARACTER ARC
..anyway
Nina was wonderful as always, of course. the battle with her addiction was written in such a realistic and affecting way, especially the shame around it and the way she learns to deal with it. i LOVED the idea of her new power. i love her friendship with inej so much too.
and even though I had been spoiled for the main character death it still affected me a lot, but i feel like it was necessary to make the stakes of the story seem realistic (thats the reason for pretty much every character death), but also, of course, to make the ending a bit less perfect. because everything else worked out so well that its almost a bit too idealistic, and especially matthias getting shot by a boy who represented everything he overcame...is tragic, of course,
but it shows how hate isnt as easy to extinguish as we would like it to be. but we just have to continue fighting. overall i think it was necessary for the story. it also set this bittersweet mood of the last few chapters that i loved (yall know well written bittersweet endings are my cup of tea but i think that kind of tone is actually really hard to get right without making it overly dramatic,
but bardugo did it exactly right)
i loved getting more insight into the motivations of the 'villains' in this book!! it really gave the story another dimension and made the 'real' friendship between our main crew more special and important, as i said before.
overall the book was a tad bit less suspenseful as the first because there wasnt one big goal to work towards, but it was still intriguing. the characters really made this story shine though. i love them all so much - as in the first book, i love the diversity, the focus on social issues (leigh bardugo even left a note on how to help stop real human trafficking, like...wow), but mostly i love how original the characters seemed to me and how closely attached i got to them. this series will stay in my heart for so long.
while SOC was focused on the heist on the Ice Court, in this book Ketterdam is the main star. i love how its not just the location but it represents almost all of the thematic background of the novel - money, social standing, reputation, greed, disillusionment, political conflicts ... all the stories of the different characters came to my mind when i read a description of the city or parts of it. its so lively in my mind that its almost like Ketterdam and its citizens are their own character. the setting is definitely one of my favorite things about this series.
what i liked most was getting even deeper into the (heartbreaking) backstories of some characters (jesper, wylan), and seeing each of their personal conflicts get resolved - with each other's help! the first book saw these kids coming together to try to accomplish an impossible mission but in this book you really saw the EFFECTS of their friendship on their character development and the way they eventually grew as people - like an antidote to the consumerism and greed that characterizes Ketterdam.
i loved both wylan and jesper even more now. and their relationship, too. jesper's arc was resolved in a surprisingly touching way. and i love how the whole 'learning to see oddities as a gift instead of something to be ashamed of or hide' theme applies to both wylan and jesper and made it possible for them to help each other grow bc they understood each other's struggle. <3
i felt like kaz didnt take center stage as much as he did in the first book, and maybe i wouldve liked a little more exploration of his moral code (like, what are the edges of what he is willing to do? im still not sure. i know that the last scene with pekka was probably supposed to clarify this but truth is there isnt a simple distinction between 'doing ugly things but its ok because theyre necessary or can be excused' and 'doing bad things that are irredeemably bad'. like that area is so murky and...idk i think maybe i wouldve thought inej would want to dig a little deeper with that, but i dont mind that much.) i did like his schemes as usual, especially the last twist that i didnt see coming at all!
speaking of inej!! i adored her in the first book but by now she is truly....ok, i can say it: my favorite fictional character, of all time, ever. *round of cheers and applause* i love her so so much. i had read the quote about 'what about us, the nobodies, the ordinary girls?' before but seeing it in context was so much more powerful. beside the fact that i just love her for her personality, i feel like inej's arc was the most interesting and also the most meta in the entire book - first she's captured by van eck and he makes clear that he doesnt actually hate her (he does hate kaz), but simply sees her as a means to an end and doesnt give two shits about her positively OR negatively and thats kinda how the entire world sees inej and 'invisible' girls like her. but instead of letting it be, inej 'when the world gives you nothing you demand something of it anyway' ghafa fought back and goddamn DEMANDED her autonomy from the world and refused to stay a victim and kept her kindness and her wisdom and her dignity and didnt let anyone take it from her I WOULD DIE FOR HER.
anyway then there's also dunyasha and!!! i wondered about the point of this character at first but then of course!! dunyasha is the contrast to inej, the girl with royal blood in her veins and a glorious destiny SHE LITERALLY IS A REPRESENTATION OF THE CHOSEN ONE TROPE YALL
AND BY BEATING DUNYASHA INEJ SYMBOLICALLY KILLS THE CHOSEN ONE TROPE: AND SAYS NOPE. THE REAL HEROES IN LIFE ARE THE GIRLS LIKE ME. THE GIRLS THAT COME FROM NOTHING. THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT. THAT DONT HAVE A BIGGER PURPOSE. THE GIRLS THAT REFUSE TO BE NO ONE AND DEMAND IMPORTANCE FROM THE WORLD ANYWAY EVEN IF NO ONE CARES TO GIVE IT TO THEM.
I LOVE INEJ GHAFA AND I LOVE LEIGH BARDUGO FOR CREATING HER AND GIVING HER THIS AMAZING CHARACTER ARC
..anyway
Nina was wonderful as always, of course. the battle with her addiction was written in such a realistic and affecting way, especially the shame around it and the way she learns to deal with it. i LOVED the idea of her new power. i love her friendship with inej so much too.
but it shows how hate isnt as easy to extinguish as we would like it to be. but we just have to continue fighting. overall i think it was necessary for the story. it also set this bittersweet mood of the last few chapters that i loved (yall know well written bittersweet endings are my cup of tea but i think that kind of tone is actually really hard to get right without making it overly dramatic,
but bardugo did it exactly right)
i loved getting more insight into the motivations of the 'villains' in this book!! it really gave the story another dimension and made the 'real' friendship between our main crew more special and important, as i said before.
overall the book was a tad bit less suspenseful as the first because there wasnt one big goal to work towards, but it was still intriguing. the characters really made this story shine though. i love them all so much - as in the first book, i love the diversity, the focus on social issues (leigh bardugo even left a note on how to help stop real human trafficking, like...wow), but mostly i love how original the characters seemed to me and how closely attached i got to them. this series will stay in my heart for so long.