Crooked Kingdom Review

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.

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Title: Crooked Kingdom

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Series: Six of Crows, #2

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Date Published: September 20, 2016

Pages: 546

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Goodreads Synopsis:
When you can't beat the odds, change the game.

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

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Review:
I honestly don’t know where to begin my review. Crooked Kingdom rendered me speechless. Have you ever had a sequel been so hyped up that it let you down when you read it? Fear not, this was absolutely NOT the case with Crooked Kingdom. Given, it was really hyped up but it lived up to every aspect of the hype.

The first thing that I absolutely have to mention is how much I loved the diversity. Forgive me if I miss some, but in Crooked Kingdom (and Six of Crows), we have multiple people of color, characters with different sexualities, characters with PTSD, a disabled character, and probably more that I am forgetting. It is rare to see diversity in fantasy novels, let alone this much diversity. I can’t properly explain how happy I am that Crooked Kingdom included all of this diversity.

Next, we have the characters. First up, Kaz Brekker. I mean, how can you not love him? I do understand that he is a thief but the development in his character combined with all of the things he has been through makes him tough to hate. We also get to see Kaz start to face some of his fears, which I found to be extremely well executed. Then we have Inej, also known as the Wraith. The things that she is able to do never cease to amaze me. In addition, her character as a whole is just phenomenal. Jesper the sharpshooter is up next. He adds some much needed humor to the book. He also undergoes a big change in character throughout the book, which I really loved! Wylan finally gets more chapters in Crooked Kingdom which really makes the reader understand more of his story. Nina is another character that undergoes a big change in this book. She displays immense strength which is truly admirable given the circumstances. Matthias was such an intriguing character to read about because I started out disliking him and then loving him. Then we have Kuwei. He plays a huge part in Crooked Kingdom and also has some pretty hilarious scenes. Finally we have Pekka Rollins and Van Eck. Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, they are some pretty terrifying villains. In Crooked Kingdom, we also get introduced to some new characters, some of which play a crucial role in the book.

I can’t write this review without talking about Kaz for some time. In this book, he creates insane schemes that I thought were going to fail on multiple occasions. It’s really hard to tell if what’s happening if something that Kaz has planned for, but fear not, he usually has something up his sleeve.

Crooked Kingdom is an insane and thrilling ride from start to finish. It is intense and constantly changing. It is heartbreaking (especially the last several chapters) but it is also beautiful. I can’t put into words how phenomenal this book was. So, I am going to end the review at this: if you don’t read Crooked Kingdom, you are really missing out on an absolutely extraordinary book.

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