BOOK: Crooked Kingdom (2016) - Quick Review

  Disclaimer: Spoilers of the whole duology of Six of Crows. All of this is just my opinion based on my experiences reading it. I hope you enjoy!

You can read my review of the first book here.

• Author: Leigh Bardugo
• Series: Six of Crows #2
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
• Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, LGBT

Summary: Welcome to the world of the Grisha.

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts 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. 

(From Goodreads)

My Thoughts (major spoilers are hidden)

After the emotional rollercoaster that was Six of Crows, for the first time in many years I saw myself tempted to keep awake for a few more hours past midnight to at least start the sequel. Similar to what happened with the first book, I just couldn't wait to see what was going to happen. I've seen some reviews on Goodreads saying that Crooked Kingdom was even better, so I was very curious to see how Leigh Bardugo would surprise me even more.

And I have to agree with those people there, because it was amazing. All of my complaints with the first book, which were already minor, seemed to have been solved in Crooked Kingdom, and everything I loved was also kept and even improved. 

Six of Crows laid a very solid foundation for the more political plotline of Crooked Kingdom. I was already acquainted with the main conflict of jurda parem, as well as with the involved parties and the setting, and because of that the harsh learning curve didn't exist this time, so I could jump directly into the good parts. 

And while the first book was focused more on the actual heist than anything else, the plot of Crooked Kingdom seemed a lot more complex, more intimate. All of the Crows had a lot more reasons to care about the outcome of this job, and their flaws and inner demons were explored in much more depth. This, added with the familiarity of characters I already knew and loved, made possible for me to get to know them even better and get even more attached. 

The Crows' internal conflicts felt a lot more real this time around, and the important, emotional moments hit much harder. Jesper's guilt towards his father and struggle to find a place to belong, Nina's slow acceptance of her new powers, Matthias' battle against his own harmful instincts. Their flaws were not treated as something easily solvable, and sometimes things ended on a bittersweet note, but nonetheless they all grew into new people by the end of everything, and it was beautiful.

In this same vein, there were some different POVs that refreshed the whole thing and shone a light onto characters that weren't developed as much in Six of Crows. Wylan was a central figure this time around (yes!!) and had a lot of chapters, we got to know better the main antagonists and other central figures of Kerch and other countries, but the greatest addition to me was Pekka Rollins epilogue. It threw me off the loop a bit and was perfect to end the book in a memorable way.  

Little details like that always manage to excite me in many different ways. I loved the small interactions between the moments of chaos (specially Nina and Inej's friendship. It's one of my favorite things of the duology and always makes me smile. Also, don't even get me started in the bathroom scene cause I think I died right there and still haven't come back. Oh my god.), the cameos of interesting secondary characters and, of course, Bardugo's vivid descriptions and analogies. It was so satisfying to see the mythos she's been slowly developing throughout the two books finally completing itself, and nothing could be more fitting than ending with the explanation behind the symbol of the crow. 

And Ketterdam does a great job of weaving a lot of these symbols, tying imagery to real locations and making them even more iconic. The Church of Barter, the Reaper's Barge, the Barrel, everything feels real, connected and meaningful to both the culture of Kerch and to the plot of the book. This city is pulsing with life, beckoning us to explore it at all times, eager to reveal its secrets kept in dark corners.

So what better place to finish it all in Kaz Brekker's own domain? Maybe that's why his plans seemed even more solid and believable now, and even more surprising to see. The final scene at the Church of Barter is in my opinion the best scene of the whole duology, and I've got to hand it to Bardugo: it's very hard to make genius characters, and even if some might complain about Kaz, overall she did a pretty good job. 

My only complaint, if you can call it that, is that maybe the stakes could've been even higher. (heavy spoilers ahead, select the text to read it) Don't get me wrong, Matthias' death was painful, but he was the character I was the least attached to, and I think it was the case to the majority of readers as well. Inej's first fight with Dunyasha was very convenient sometimes, and overall once again the Crows escaped without much harm. Even so, it was better than the first book and it didn't worsen the experience for me so it's more of a token protest.

In conclusion, the Crooked Kingdom is the perfect closure to one of the best sagas I've ever read, and a book that I will certainly read again and commit to memory. It manages to excel in the three essential pillars of a fantasy book (characters, plot and worldbuilding) and provides an amazing experience from start to finish. I might be still emotional, but maybe not even a 10/10 is enough to demonstrate my love for this book.