A review by justabookishreader
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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

5.0

Kaz: *gets Inej a ship and finds her parents*

Inej: "I didn't know we were getting each other gifts brb"

Ch. 44: Pekka

Pekka: *nearly shits himself from fear of Inej in the middle of the night*

Inej: "ta daaaaa"

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As long as that literal paragraph long chapter in Matthias' literal dying point of view is literally on the next page, then I will always cry at that. (apparently if you give me a quick death pov of the dying character dreaming about the love of their life you can make me sob). I would also like to note that this is the owlcrate version - the one with the inside artwork. The second scene they decided to commission was the remaining crows around Matthias' dead body. Which was a gut punch.

Love that it is officially canon for Nina to have not known that Sturmhond = Nikolai, but almost recognize him but not quite. I feel like the writers of season two of the Shadow and Bone tv show just tried to (incorrectly - which likely didn't help the depleted viewership that got the show and spin off canceled) throw Crooked Kingdom at the wall to keep the Six of Crows fans sated until a spinoff/season 3.

Absolutely loved every single second, scene, interaction, and piece of dialogue between Genya, Zoya, and Nina, and even more so them as what I like to call "honorary crows". Also, this is my first time rereading adn honestly while Kaz was brilliant in the first book, he is even more so in this one. I mean the "outbreak" hitting the Menagerie? the "Alby" scene being pure Pekka humiliation, since Kaz had already paid of Inej's contract like 75% of the way through the book? I aspire.