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A review by abigailnoack
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-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? No
5.0
I'm unable to put into words what this book made me feel. I could have finished reading it 3 days ago but clearly put off reading because I didn't want it to end. Maybe it's a duology thing, I really would have loved to read another book about these characters and their adventures.
I don't even know how to attempt to describe Leigh Bardugo's incredibly compelling writing style. The changing perspectives, the plot that never stands still and is always, always twisting into something you don't expect. It completely sucked me in! I was a little hesitant at the beginning because the plot unravels in a really different way than Six of Crows and for a while it had me scratching my head wondering what was going to happen for the next 400 pages. I really liked staying in Ketterdam this time and getting to know the city better. It was less lock picking than Six of Crows and more mind games and I loved all of it. We can all agree that Leigh's plotting skills are beyond brilliant. Kaz has the most wicked schemes and the twisty, interwoven details of the plot is so well done! Realizing that Kaz had been planning something different the whole time is the best kind of satisfaction.
I admittedly had trouble following some of the action scenes. Both books do this thing where something happens off page and then a character describes how the plan went to catch you up to the current happenings and that can get a little hard to follow (not to mention repetitive), the jumping back and forth and it’s definitely not as exciting as reading all the action itself. I also noticed that you get a lot of chapters that are one characters perspective but the chapter is more about another character... like Inej narrating what is happening to Kaz. It was kind of weird at first but then it also grew on me.
I didn't expect these characters to find a spot in my heart the way that they did. Even with the whirlwind plot, the characters only got better in this book. We got more backstory for Jesper, Wylan, and a big exploration of Kaz and Inej's past traumas. They are all so precious and deserve the world. I love that what the dregs do isn't romanticized and it's messy and painful. But the dregs have literally gone to hell and back and they keep fighting and that means a lot. They still have hope and love in them, and even with every cruel thing they do, they still somehow have morals??
I also want to commend Leigh Bardugo for giving both the romantic and platonic relationships equal amounts of attention and complexity.
I really liked Wylan a lot more in Crooked Kingdom, naturally because he gets a bigger role and you get to know his character in a deeper way. But honestly I feel like I could have gone without his perspective again... going from 5 perspectives to 6 just felt like A LOT and it stressed me out.
I think this book could have benefited from a *little* more romantic pay off, just a tiny little bit more. Romance is obviously not the focus of these books, even though they have a lot of love in them, and yet they also have so much romantic tension. I would have liked to see more of Jesper and Wylan at the end. Somehow I am actually quite satisfied by Kaz and Inej but it really caught me off guard that Matthias died! After he got shot, I legit closed my book and went on with my life, trusting Leigh to save him somehow... oh how naive I was. So yeah I'm really sad about Matthias and Nina because out of all of the dregs, I feel that they worked on their relationship the most and deserved it. My personal feelings for Matthias aside, I think it was well done and it wasn't just a throwaway death.
Even though a duology felt too short (merely because I'm too attached to the characters and Ketterdam) I haven't been this satisfied by an ending in a while. It wrapped up everything perfectly, while also leaving me wanting more and my head is left with lots to think about and I am already looking forward to rereading these books!
I don't even know how to attempt to describe Leigh Bardugo's incredibly compelling writing style. The changing perspectives, the plot that never stands still and is always, always twisting into something you don't expect. It completely sucked me in! I was a little hesitant at the beginning because the plot unravels in a really different way than Six of Crows and for a while it had me scratching my head wondering what was going to happen for the next 400 pages. I really liked staying in Ketterdam this time and getting to know the city better. It was less lock picking than Six of Crows and more mind games and I loved all of it. We can all agree that Leigh's plotting skills are beyond brilliant. Kaz has the most wicked schemes and the twisty, interwoven details of the plot is so well done! Realizing that Kaz had been planning something different the whole time is the best kind of satisfaction.
I admittedly had trouble following some of the action scenes. Both books do this thing where something happens off page and then a character describes how the plan went to catch you up to the current happenings and that can get a little hard to follow (not to mention repetitive), the jumping back and forth and it’s definitely not as exciting as reading all the action itself. I also noticed that you get a lot of chapters that are one characters perspective but the chapter is more about another character... like Inej narrating what is happening to Kaz. It was kind of weird at first but then it also grew on me.
I didn't expect these characters to find a spot in my heart the way that they did. Even with the whirlwind plot, the characters only got better in this book. We got more backstory for Jesper, Wylan, and a big exploration of Kaz and Inej's past traumas. They are all so precious and deserve the world. I love that what the dregs do isn't romanticized and it's messy and painful. But the dregs have literally gone to hell and back and they keep fighting and that means a lot. They still have hope and love in them, and even with every cruel thing they do, they still somehow have morals??
I also want to commend Leigh Bardugo for giving both the romantic and platonic relationships equal amounts of attention and complexity.
I really liked Wylan a lot more in Crooked Kingdom, naturally because he gets a bigger role and you get to know his character in a deeper way. But honestly I feel like I could have gone without his perspective again... going from 5 perspectives to 6 just felt like A LOT and it stressed me out.
I think this book could have benefited from a *little* more romantic pay off, just a tiny little bit more. Romance is obviously not the focus of these books, even though they have a lot of love in them, and yet they also have so much romantic tension. I would have liked to see more of Jesper and Wylan at the end. Somehow I am actually quite satisfied by Kaz and Inej
Even though a duology felt too short (merely because I'm too attached to the characters and Ketterdam) I haven't been this satisfied by an ending in a while. It wrapped up everything perfectly, while also leaving me wanting more and my head is left with lots to think about and I am already looking forward to rereading these books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Trafficking, and Death
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Torture, Cursing, and Grief