Hi Guys,
Saturday I finished reading the sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows: Crooked Kingdom. Let me start by saying that I’ve been waiting for this book for the past year. I was so thoroughly entranced by Six of Crows and so invested in the characters, that I almost couldn’t bare it! Thank goodness Crooked Kingdom has arrived!
Crooked Kingdom brings back Kaz Brekker and his crew of miscreants; they are hot for revenge and determined to gain what is owed to them. At the end of the first book, Kaz’s crew is double crossed and one of their own, Inej, is kidnapped. They are on the run and have no allies to speak of.
Kaz continues to struggle with physical touch and can hardly hold it together in Inej’s absence. Inej is at the mercy of their enemy and worried Kaz will leave her behind. Wyland is stuck with another boys features and a father who has tried to kill him twice now. Jasper is still in debt and hiding his grisha powers. Nina is dealing with withdrawl and struggling with her grisha powers. Mathais continues to deal with his betrayal of his country and his feelings for Nina.
Whit and determination are the only tools they have left. Will it be enough to get paid, get revenge and get out alive?
Just a mini synopsis for you guys because anything more will give too much away.
Bardugo builds layers upon layers in this duology. Just when you think the crew is in big trouble, they find their way out of it. Kaz is like a prodigal chess player; he can see 100 moves ahead and when the depth of his plans are revealed, we are wowed. And not unrealistic at all. I believed in all of Kaz’s planning.
The setting for this book was marvelous. We get a glimpse at Ketterdam in book one but we really get to see the nitty gritty in book two. Ketterdam it is just a hotbed for vice and I loved it. What a world, full of the dregs of society and Kaz rules them all. It’s just so wonderful having a book were the good guys, aren’t all that good.
I also truly enjoyed all the different relationships in this book. We have three separate couples with different dynamics and struggles. Kaz and Inej were my favorite. They are both so damaged and yet together they are better:
“I would have come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.” –Sigh.
This book gives us an in-depth look into a specific portion of each of our characters pasts, that tell us a little more about who they are and how they came to be. For me, (shrinking away from outbursts of rage) these mini stories…worked butttt they would have made excellent novellas.
Overall, I did enjoy this book immensely. It gets 4 stars. I liked it a lot but I don’t feel the need to obsess like I did with Six of Crows. Another duology I am satisfied with. I think my feelings toward duologies may be on the verge of change.
That’s all for now!
-M-