A review by outsidestar
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Holy shit. This duology is everything.

I absolutely adore this bunch of misfits to infinity and beyond. And I still can’t get my head around how extremely well written this is. As great as it is to read, I would have gone crazy trying to write it. The different POVs, the constant flashbacks, the depth and arcs of all the characters… This book is like a cup of hot chocolate in the middle of winter when it’s freezing cold outside. Or, to put it in Leigh Bardugo’s words, it’s like the first sight of land after a shipwreck, if you know what I mean.

I laughed, cried my eyes out and just really enjoyed this book. I have a soft spot for Jesper so
I couldn't be happier that everything turned out okay for him and he found someone like you know who to put up with his crazy, although that was obvious since the very beginning of the first book
. And then there's Nina.
You know what had to happen to you know who for her to be able to go to Ravka and hopefully show up in King of Scars but I still cried with her all along.


What I found incredibly shocking was that when
Zoya, Genya and even the love of my life Nikolai show up
I couldn’t care less. I just wanted to go back to my 6 new best friends. They're my babies.

Also, has the thought that this could be lightly based on Peter Pan ever cross your mind? I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s Kaz and his crew of lost boys fighting the pirates. Obviously, Kaz would be Peter Pan and Inej would be Tink. Nina would be Tiger Lily. Wylan would be John Darling. Jesper would be one of the lost boys, probably the one that wants to shoot the Wendy bird. And Matthias would probably be the lost boy dressed like a bear who looks like he would be the bully (because he’s the biggest of them all) but then he’s really a sweetie. And Pekka Rollins would be Captain Hook. Although that might make Kaz the crocodile.
Maybe Nikolai can be Peter Pan then, just for the fun of it. It does kinda suit him. Although Nikolai is more like the result of mixing Kaz and Jesper. Think about it.
I’m just going on a roll again, I’m gonna stop now.

The short version is that I loved this and don't know what to do now that it's finished. Maybe see if I can get my hands on King of Scars