A review by poisonenvy
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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

4.5

Another excellent edition into Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse. The writing was solid and visceral, for the most part, the plotting intricate and yet very well done. A lot of the time when authors want their characters to carry out some sort of great genius plot, it involves a lot of "I *knew* that so and so would do *this* and so my entire plan hinges on them doing exactly that," but Kaz Brekker leaves nothing to chance. He adjusts when he needs to, but he doesn't rely on his enemies doing what he wants them to do, he forces their hand and uses, to his advantage, things they've already done. There's no need to go extend your sense of disbelief to encompass the idea that the genius character also possesses a sense of preternatural prognostication. 

There were multiple points where I laughed out loud, and I loved the dynamic of the six crows. The character development was well executed.

The ending was also, for the most part, very satisfying.

I wasn't a fan of
Matthias' death. I love a good character death, but that didn't seem earned at all. Completely random, in fact? As if Bardugo decided she wanted a pound of flesh and took it from wherever she could get it. His death scene -- the entire speech he gave Nina as he died in her arms -- was hokey as well, and felt very rote.
 

But overall, I loved this duology, and I'm excited to move on to the next duology. 
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