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A review by finding_novel_land
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
4.9* for leaving me an emotional wreck and taking a long time to process the feels (it took me 3 days to write this review) but lacking in Kaz.
Some ground keeping:
- If you haven’t already, please read my review of Six of Crows for some context about how I felt going into the second half of this duology here and even more Crazy Ex-GirlFriend GIFs.
- Spoilers will be in spoiler brackets, but there may be minor spoilers for SoC.
Right enough of the pretext and on with the show!
Things that annoyed me, that no longer do:
Kaz’s perfection
Urgh, so it annoyed me in book one and it still annoyed me now. Kaz just came up with the answers too easily and everything was tired up too neatly. This is because THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH KAZ CHAPTERS. We didn’t see, and therefore could not fully appreciate, the set up for half of the ways he was able to tie everything up in a neat little bow. I for one would have loved to have seen some dog training with no context half way through the book. We also never got to see his thought process when plotting, only his ‘scheming face’, which would have been sooooo interesting. Finally, it would have been great to see him properly doubt himself – all good character arcs have a worrysome, doubt-yourself moment.
HAVING SAID THAT
The way Bardugo wrote his chilling backstory and his inner turmoil when he couldn’t touch people, or tried to touch Inej , was so heart breaking that I will happily forget everything I just said.
Kaz and Inej’s ending
Putting in spoiler brackets so I can speak freely and without judgement.
Right, so I would like to first state two facts:
1) I am a romance reader who loves a proper, fireworks moment, or, as Rebecca in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would sing, “One Indescribable Instant!” (Google it), where the couple FINALLY get together.
2) As far as I was concerned, the underlying plot of the whole duology was these two recovering from the past demons, overcoming their issues and getting together.
So imagine my disappointment when I get to the last three pages of the second to last chapter, having already been teased with Kaz trying to kiss Inej’s neck (which shattered my heart – I really wish Kaz had been able to tell Inej about the corpses that haunt him, it would have helped his recovery so much!), for them to hold hands. Three weeks I have devoted to this duology, and we couldn’t even get a kiss.
HOWEVER, before you all come at me, I would like to say that I am not a horny teenager, I just felt like it was leading to much more. This was the slow burns to end all slow burns.
And, for all my disappointment, it was perfect.
They were not at the stage to be that intimate, and this moment was huge in its own way. I suppose it’s just a shame they were not given more space in the book to heal, but, then again, they were trying to save the world. All I can say is: Kaz-Inej spin off defeating slavers please! I need to know my babies are ok.
Jesper & Wylan and Bardugo’s confusing portrayal of age
So I said in my first review that I felt that all the Crows were in their early twenties, not late teens, and so this saga continues.
I have never really caught onto the whole Jeslan/Wyler (?) ship, because it felt forced and their maturity ages were so different. I get a very baby-ish vibe from Wylan, while Jesper was far more emotionally mature from years in the dregs. I still stand by this point.
HOWEVER.
Their chapters were some of my favourites because of their beautiful, flirtatious banter. Jesper got all the best lines, and Wylan’s character development (helped by having his own POV chapters this time) was great. His confidence grew so much that he was able to FLIRT BACK WITH JESPER! As the kids say, shook. The evidence, your honour:
Matthias
How dare you kill Matthias!
He had finally become a reformed man and had such a magical life ahead of him, and you go pull that low blow. Nuh urh. Not a fan. I knew it was going to happen from the blurb of King of Scars, but I still had to take a moment or 5 to process it.
Having started to read KoS though, Nina is having a really interesting plot line develop so, as well as the reason that it was the most logical kill, if just for being the cruellest, you are partially forgiven Leigh.
Things that still annoy me
Inej
I love Inej. She is super cool, tough, the assassin fight scenes were great, and she is so perfectly matched to Kaz. But that’s the problem. I really felt like the development Inej got in the first book was not met in this book as the focus moved away from her after her (so easy I forgot it happened) escape from Van Eck. Her and Matthias were definitely on the back-burner for this one. On reflection, as much as I looked forward to her chapters, I really felt like her purpose was to get with Kaz. *Shrugs*
Kuwei
Um so Kuwei was just conveniently forgotten until he was needed wasn’t he. I get that he couldn’t go anywhere because his life was in danger, but it got to the point where I forgot he existed until he was snogging Jesper. Would have liked for him to have played a part a bit more.
Also, the whole random, over in 5 seconds, Jesper thing takes me back to the age issue. I honestly thought that Kuwei was 13/14 not 16, so that just freaked me out on many levels.
^^Me looking for Kuwei^^
Those Shu metal soldiers
Again, another cool character that didn’t really stick around enough. They were there for all of 5 seconds, and never really posed a threat again. We have little context for what they were and how they came about. I just felt they were a bit add-on-ish and not fully developed into the plot point they could have been.
^^Me looking for more Shu metal soldiers^^
Things I love that make it all better
Nina
Nina is still my favourite Crow for her confidence, flirtatious ways (teach me I beg you), love of food, and hilariousness. I loved how her power did a complete 180 and am fascinated by how she will explore her powers more in the next duology. I am just so happy she is the character being brought into the King of Scars world.
Overall writing
Once again Bardugo’s writing was top notch. The plot was even more cleverly done than the first one, with the world of lock picking left (partly behind) for the more obscure world of the financial markets. Despite this being a complex topic to tackle, I still understood what was going on without an economics degree, nor felt like I was being treated like a child when it was being explained.
Her ability to manage six different viewpoints coherently still astounds me, especially when the book was so perfectly fast-paced for low-attention span readers like me.
May we one day brave the streets of Ketterdam again and explore more of this fascinating world she has created (remembers the Netflix show is happening in less than a month and squeals with joy).
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Six of Crows only got 4.5* as it didn't leave me feeling all the feels and mildly disappointed due to all the rave reviews. This, going in completely blind, left me feeling so darn feely that I struggled to work, nearly cried over a cute Twitter thread, and felt like someone had broken my heart into teeny tiny pieces. When I finished three nights ago I couldn't sleep; I had to process those final chapters because, man, I had just been put on a rollercoaster and I was struggling to get off.
Well done Bardugo, well done *applause*.
(p.s. sorry this was so long, but honestly this has been like therapy and I now feel like the weight of feels from that book have been lifted from my chest. Right, off to read King of Scars and do it all over again. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.)
Some ground keeping:
- If you haven’t already, please read my review of Six of Crows for some context about how I felt going into the second half of this duology here and even more Crazy Ex-GirlFriend GIFs.
- Spoilers will be in spoiler brackets, but there may be minor spoilers for SoC.
Right enough of the pretext and on with the show!
Things that annoyed me, that no longer do:
Kaz’s perfection
Urgh, so it annoyed me in book one and it still annoyed me now. Kaz just came up with the answers too easily and everything was tired up too neatly. This is because THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH KAZ CHAPTERS. We didn’t see, and therefore could not fully appreciate, the set up for half of the ways he was able to tie everything up in a neat little bow. I for one would have loved to have seen some dog training with no context half way through the book. We also never got to see his thought process when plotting, only his ‘scheming face’, which would have been sooooo interesting. Finally, it would have been great to see him properly doubt himself – all good character arcs have a worrysome, doubt-yourself moment.
HAVING SAID THAT
The way Bardugo wrote his chilling backstory and his inner turmoil when he couldn’t touch people,
Kaz and Inej’s ending
Putting in spoiler brackets so I can speak freely and without judgement.
Right, so I would like to first state two facts:
1) I am a romance reader who loves a proper, fireworks moment, or, as Rebecca in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend would sing, “One Indescribable Instant!” (Google it), where the couple FINALLY get together.
2) As far as I was concerned, the underlying plot of the whole duology was these two recovering from the past demons, overcoming their issues and getting together.
So imagine my disappointment when I get to the last three pages of the second to last chapter, having already been teased with Kaz trying to kiss Inej’s neck (which shattered my heart – I really wish Kaz had been able to tell Inej about the corpses that haunt him, it would have helped his recovery so much!), for them to hold hands. Three weeks I have devoted to this duology, and we couldn’t even get a kiss.
HOWEVER, before you all come at me, I would like to say that I am not a horny teenager, I just felt like it was leading to much more. This was the slow burns to end all slow burns.
And, for all my disappointment, it was perfect.
They were not at the stage to be that intimate, and this moment was huge in its own way. I suppose it’s just a shame they were not given more space in the book to heal, but, then again, they were trying to save the world. All I can say is: Kaz-Inej spin off defeating slavers please! I need to know my babies are ok.
Jesper & Wylan and Bardugo’s confusing portrayal of age
So I said in my first review that I felt that all the Crows were in their early twenties, not late teens, and so this saga continues.
I have never really caught onto the whole Jeslan/Wyler (?) ship, because it felt forced and their maturity ages were so different. I get a very baby-ish vibe from Wylan, while Jesper was far more emotionally mature from years in the dregs. I still stand by this point.
HOWEVER.
Their chapters were some of my favourites because of their beautiful, flirtatious banter. Jesper got all the best lines, and Wylan’s character development (helped by having his own POV chapters this time) was great. His confidence grew so much that he was able to FLIRT BACK WITH JESPER! As the kids say, shook. The evidence, your honour:
[Wylan to Jesper] 'Will you stay with me? Will you help?'
... [Jesper] 'I guess I can manage it.' Jesper's eyes traveled from the top of Wylan's red-gold curls to the tips of his toes and back again. 'But I charge a pretty steep fee.'
Wylan flushed a magnificent shade of pink. 'Well, hopefully the medik will be here to fix my ribs soon,' he said and he headed back into the parlor.
'Yeah?'
'Yes,' said Wylan, glancing briefly over his should, his cheeks now red as cherries. 'I'd like to make a down payment.'
Matthias
How dare you kill Matthias!
He had finally become a reformed man and had such a magical life ahead of him, and you go pull that low blow. Nuh urh. Not a fan. I knew it was going to happen from the blurb of King of Scars, but I still had to take a moment or 5 to process it.
Having started to read KoS though, Nina is having a really interesting plot line develop so, as well as the reason that it was the most logical kill, if just for being the cruellest, you are partially forgiven Leigh.
Things that still annoy me
Inej
I love Inej. She is super cool, tough, the assassin fight scenes were great, and she is so perfectly matched to Kaz. But that’s the problem.
Kuwei
Um so Kuwei was just conveniently forgotten until he was needed wasn’t he. I get that he couldn’t go anywhere because his life was in danger, but it got to the point where I forgot he existed
Also, the whole random, over in 5 seconds, Jesper thing takes me back to the age issue. I honestly thought that Kuwei was 13/14 not 16, so that just freaked me out on many levels.
^^Me looking for Kuwei^^
Those Shu metal soldiers
Again, another cool character that didn’t really stick around enough. They were there for all of 5 seconds, and never really posed a threat again. We have little context for what they were and how they came about. I just felt they were a bit add-on-ish and not fully developed into the plot point they could have been.
^^Me looking for more Shu metal soldiers^^
Things I love that make it all better
Nina
Nina is still my favourite Crow for her confidence, flirtatious ways (teach me I beg you), love of food, and hilariousness.
Overall writing
Once again Bardugo’s writing was top notch. The plot was even more cleverly done than the first one, with the world of lock picking left (partly behind) for the more obscure world of the financial markets. Despite this being a complex topic to tackle, I still understood what was going on without an economics degree, nor felt like I was being treated like a child when it was being explained.
Her ability to manage six different viewpoints coherently still astounds me, especially when the book was so perfectly fast-paced for low-attention span readers like me.
May we one day brave the streets of Ketterdam again and explore more of this fascinating world she has created (remembers the Netflix show is happening in less than a month and squeals with joy).
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Six of Crows only got 4.5* as it didn't leave me feeling all the feels and mildly disappointed due to all the rave reviews. This, going in completely blind, left me feeling so darn feely that I struggled to work, nearly cried over a cute Twitter thread, and felt like someone had broken my heart into teeny tiny pieces. When I finished three nights ago I couldn't sleep; I had to process those final chapters because, man, I had just been put on a rollercoaster and I was struggling to get off.
Well done Bardugo, well done *applause*.
(p.s. sorry this was so long, but honestly this has been like therapy and I now feel like the weight of feels from that book have been lifted from my chest. Right, off to read King of Scars and do it all over again. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.)