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A review by musicalmelody21
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
I definitely didn't like this one as much as the first. The characters stopped this from being boring, as they still all had a great dynamic. Their interactions are just a blast and I think I could watch them have a conversation for hundreds of pages. But if I'm being honest, the story dragged quite a lot and it felt like very little growth happened between characters, aside from a few. It was still enjoyable without a doubt, but I could have been better.
A few spoilery thoughts.
The ships: Hmm the ships. I have very mixed feelings about the ships. I really liked Jesper and Wylan. They had a great chemistry, and while it didn't feel necessary I guess, it felt built up to and it was cute what can I say? I was pretty split on Kaz and Inej. As much as I hate it when the main character has to have a love interest, this pairing actually had a purpose. They both had trauma that would pretty much prevent them from being sexually active, and that would have been quite an interest dynamic to explore. I personally don't think you need to be sexually active to have a meaningful relationship, but some people would disagree and that's totally fine. I wish that this theme was actually developed because I would have loved to have seen that. But as it is right now, it's fine I guess. Nina and Matthais, almost don't merit a mention. They barely got any development at all in this book. If the last book was any indication, they were looking like quite and interesting couple. If they had more time together to flesh out their relationship here I think I would have liked them a lot more, but as it stands right now, they almost feel non existent as a couple. Which is quite a shame.
Matthais' death: Oh boy, don't get be started. I knew going into this book that someone was going to die. I didn't know who, but I knew not everyone was going to get out of here alive. And I didn't have a problem with that. Matthais' death was alright when it came to the themes around it. It would have been quite powerful if done right, but the execution was absolutely atrocious. It was so anticlimactic and had little fanfare. And we were supposed to feel bad for Nina even though they absolutely NO development as a couple. I was mostly just angry anyway because it was such a lame ending for Matthais' story. It really grinded my gears. Grr.
Sturmhond: AHHH Nikolai was in this book woohoo!
The ships: Hmm the ships. I have very mixed feelings about the ships. I really liked Jesper and Wylan. They had a great chemistry, and while it didn't feel necessary I guess, it felt built up to and it was cute what can I say? I was pretty split on Kaz and Inej. As much as I hate it when the main character has to have a love interest, this pairing actually had a purpose. They both had trauma that would pretty much prevent them from being sexually active, and that would have been quite an interest dynamic to explore. I personally don't think you need to be sexually active to have a meaningful relationship, but some people would disagree and that's totally fine. I wish that this theme was actually developed because I would have loved to have seen that. But as it is right now, it's fine I guess. Nina and Matthais, almost don't merit a mention. They barely got any development at all in this book. If the last book was any indication, they were looking like quite and interesting couple. If they had more time together to flesh out their relationship here I think I would have liked them a lot more, but as it stands right now, they almost feel non existent as a couple. Which is quite a shame.
Matthais' death: Oh boy, don't get be started. I knew going into this book that someone was going to die. I didn't know who, but I knew not everyone was going to get out of here alive. And I didn't have a problem with that. Matthais' death was alright when it came to the themes around it. It would have been quite powerful if done right, but the execution was absolutely atrocious. It was so anticlimactic and had little fanfare. And we were supposed to feel bad for Nina even though they absolutely NO development as a couple. I was mostly just angry anyway because it was such a lame ending for Matthais' story. It really grinded my gears. Grr.
Sturmhond: AHHH Nikolai was in this book woohoo!