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A review by rubeusbeaky
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
It took me THREE DAYS to come down from the finished-a-good-book high, and center myself enough to write out this review. For those first four days, my thoughts were largely, "AAAAHHHHH!!!!! KAZ!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3"
This book is phenomenal <3. It's quotable and relatable, my heart is aflutter! There are major character arcs, changes, deaths - actions have consequences, and Leigh Bardugo is unafraid of making them /dire/, world-altering, consequences. I love that the story is strong because of the risks it takes, the trust it puts in the reader, and the emotional journeys each character goes through.
Once again, representation is EN POINTE! I love that queer relationships are presented as... relationships. They're not taboo, nobody feels the need to hide their truth from their parents or their church or whomever... Characters are encouraged to pursue healthy relationships with whomever, the end. It lifts my spirits, to see people treated with dignity, and not living in fear (of anything more than bullets XD). If only the real world were as woke as The Grishaverse. Representation matters! Thank you for making this safe space in Fictiondom, Leigh.
In the spirit of representation, I love that a new character is introduced strictly to lampoon YA Fantasy tropes XD!!! Dunyasha, a white assassin princess from a holy order of trained killers, is treated thoroughly with disdain or disinterest by the cast of Crooked Kingdom XD XD XD! It's fabulous! It's a poke at the overabundance of courtly killers in YA Fantasy, a dig at herself for the Chosen One (Alina) in the orig trig, and an overall empowering message for the "invisible girls" who make up the main cast of Six of Crows and the main /audience/ reading this book. #InvisibleGirls #TeamWraith
But as much as I could gush about this book until the end of time, I will knock off 1/2 a star - not even, 1/8 of a star, a smidge, some stardust, if you will - only because Six of Crows was SO good that it slightly overshadowed Crooked Kingdom. I mean, which is more exhilarating: A Nordic prison heist, or a rigged auction? My thoughts exactly. Also, because this book doesn't read like a /conclusion/ to a duology. It reads like the second book in a trilogy, or even a larger series. The main heist of seeing Kuwei Yul-Bo rescued (and the gang getting paid) gets resolved, but there are so many other plot threads waiting to be knit into something bigger... As Inej says, we're not done with Ketterdam ;).
This book is phenomenal <3. It's quotable and relatable, my heart is aflutter! There are major character arcs, changes, deaths - actions have consequences, and Leigh Bardugo is unafraid of making them /dire/, world-altering, consequences. I love that the story is strong because of the risks it takes, the trust it puts in the reader, and the emotional journeys each character goes through.
Once again, representation is EN POINTE! I love that queer relationships are presented as... relationships. They're not taboo, nobody feels the need to hide their truth from their parents or their church or whomever... Characters are encouraged to pursue healthy relationships with whomever, the end. It lifts my spirits, to see people treated with dignity, and not living in fear (of anything more than bullets XD). If only the real world were as woke as The Grishaverse. Representation matters! Thank you for making this safe space in Fictiondom, Leigh.
In the spirit of representation, I love that a new character is introduced strictly to lampoon YA Fantasy tropes XD!!! Dunyasha, a white assassin princess from a holy order of trained killers, is treated thoroughly with disdain or disinterest by the cast of Crooked Kingdom XD XD XD! It's fabulous! It's a poke at the overabundance of courtly killers in YA Fantasy, a dig at herself for the Chosen One (Alina) in the orig trig, and an overall empowering message for the "invisible girls" who make up the main cast of Six of Crows and the main /audience/ reading this book. #InvisibleGirls #TeamWraith
But as much as I could gush about this book until the end of time, I will knock off 1/2 a star - not even, 1/8 of a star, a smidge, some stardust, if you will - only because Six of Crows was SO good that it slightly overshadowed Crooked Kingdom. I mean, which is more exhilarating: A Nordic prison heist, or a rigged auction? My thoughts exactly. Also, because this book doesn't read like a /conclusion/ to a duology. It reads like the second book in a trilogy, or even a larger series. The main heist of seeing Kuwei Yul-Bo rescued (and the gang getting paid) gets resolved, but there are so many other plot threads waiting to be knit into something bigger... As Inej says, we're not done with Ketterdam ;).