A review by literarydumpling
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous dark emotional medium-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? Yes

5.0

How do you wrap up multiple storylines in a duology? Personally I think in Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo shows you exactly how.

A cast of six lead characters, interchanging POVs and a clear goal in mind, this book has it all. Before I started the Six of Crows duology, I didn't have any strong feelings about heist-related books, but it was the perfect introduction and Crooked Kingdom is the perfect follow-up and conclusion.

The story picks up where Six of Crows left off
and you see the Crows try to work out how to get back Inej
. The beauty of multiply POVs means you can see each person's thoughts and feelings towards the insane plans they come up with and the desperation they feel at trying to retrieve their friend.

Unsurprisingly, the character development in this book is excellent, building on what we had in the first book. You can see each of the relationships develop (I love them all, no favourites, how dare you) whether romantically or platonically. With the switching POVs, you can get more insight into how each person has changed post-Ice Court and also how they are tackling their struggles.

My heart was torn out by the ending, and I shed tears after tears after tears, and that is always a sign of a good book.
It was so unexpected but really demonstrated how deep the drüskelle conditioning goes and how much work is cut out to change perceptions on Grisha.
I couldn't work out what the Crows' plan was and it really did keep my guessing until the end,
and I gasped audibly when I felt like their plan was all falling apart at the ninth hour,
so kudos of Kaz for being the mastermind that he is and pulling through.

I also very much enjoyed the allusions to the first trilogy in the Grishaverse, and though it's not necessary to read the books before this duology, it is nice to see how the added flavour of the world has been developed for new and old readers alike.
I definitely geeked out a few times. When I saw Genya, Zoya and Sturmhond come back as I do have a soft spot for them.


This was the perfect conclusion to the series, with enough of an ending that the story is closed, but with the hopeful beginnings of what else may happen to our wonderful cast in the future.

No mourners. No funerals.
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