Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #2) (Grishaverse, #5)

by Leigh Bardugo

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.

Source: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627792134

• ISBN10: 1627797912
• ISBN13: 9781627797917
• Publish Date: 27 September 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Henry Holt & Company
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[e_rodz_leb]

Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-crooked-kingdom-by-leigh-bardugo/

WOW!  It's worth repeating my dear readers. WOW. Six of Crows was one of my favorite reads last year and I was dying to read Crooked Kingdom.

There so many things that make this book so good, the world building, the writing, the plot, but I think what I enjoyed the most was our cast of characters.  The story continues where it ended, a week or so after the ending of Six of Crows and finds our main characters planing a rescue.  In this installment we get to know them at a deeper level and loved to be there with them.  Their stories are not all pretty, far from it.  The series it's for an older YA audience, not because it's descriptive, but because of the themes it deals with.

Its hard to choose a favorite character and when I saw Leigh Bardugo last year for the signing of Six of Crows, and she asked that question, she was surprised that my answer was Kaz.  I'm not so sure anymore. Not because I don't like him anymore, but because I got to know all of them much better.   Kaz is so complicated, complex, an evil genius, with a tragic, traumatic past, but he's fair, loyal and take care of his crew. It's amazing how he's always a step ahead, how he seems to know everything and everyone.  Inej is acrobat turned spy that is fiercely loyal, loving, pragmatic, with a strong sense of duty, but not afraid to bend the rules.  Nina is sensual, funny, realistic, a powerful Grisha, with a sweet tooth and a forceful personality. Mathias is the sworn enemy of all Grisha, big, blond, blue eyed, strong, unbendable, strict and he's crazy about Nina.  Jasper is a sharpshooter, a clown, a gambler, trill seeking, loyal, loving, and evasive. Wylan is a merchant's son that fell from grace, a genius chemist with a lot to prove, a confused, lonely young man that found a family with Kaz and his gang. Say yay for diversity, for awesomeness, for greatness and fangirling :)

Of course, there are a lot more characters, both good and bad, but I can't help but love Kaz's crew. Every single one of them.

“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.”

I have something to confess (please don't kill me!):  I read Shadow and Bone, but never finished the Grisha series.  There I've said it.  I know I should try to finish it since I've only heard good things about it.  Anyway, that is to say that I'm somewhat familiar of what Grisha are and can do, so the "world" was not completely new to me.  However, Ketterdam is a whole other universe.  It's a place full of canals, harbors, travel by boat that reminds me a lot of Holland.  It's a place that worships money, commerce, and that houses merchants, gangs, university people, slaves, slums, and all sort of people. It felt so real that it was almost tangible.

“I am grateful you're alive", he said. "I am grateful that you're beside me. I am grateful that you're eating."
She rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're better that waffles, Matthias Helvar."
A small smile curled the Fjerdan's lips.
"Let's not say things we don't mean, my love.”

The plot is a masterpiece.  I mean, what other word can I use to describe it?  The fact that most of the action and plans come from Kaz's mind is mind-blowing (pardon the redundancy).  Talk about twists and turns!  I didn't try to guess what was going to happen, because more likely than not, I wouldn't be even close.  It's so well done that I saw none of it coming.  It's like trying to drive in an eternal "curve" where you can never see the other side of the street.  SO good.

“No matter the height of the mountain, the climbing is the same.”

I'm not going to lie, my feels were broken by the end.  Something awful happened and I don't even want to think about it because I'm going to cry again.  So sad :(  This book is intense, with a great balance between light and dark, hope and despair, hate and love, friendship and enemies.  The writing is mesmerizing, it kept me up late at night and I wanted to be able to read faster and faster. I feel like the ending left an opening for more books or at least a nice novella, although I'm perfectly happy with it.

Overall, Crooked Kingdom is THE best book I've read this year and Six of Crows one of my favorite series forevermore.  Bardugo outdid herself with the perfection that is this series.  LOVE IT!  Now, go read it.This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

[lizarodz]

Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-crooked-kingdom-by-leigh-bardugo/

WOW!  It's worth repeating my dear readers. WOW. Six of Crows was one of my favorite reads last year and I was dying to read Crooked Kingdom.

There so many things that make this book so good, the world building, the writing, the plot, but I think what I enjoyed the most was our cast of characters.  The story continues where it ended, a week or so after the ending of Six of Crows and finds our main characters planing a rescue.  In this installment we get to know them at a deeper level and loved to be there with them.  Their stories are not all pretty, far from it.  The series it's for an older YA audience, not because it's descriptive, but because of the themes it deals with.

Its hard to choose a favorite character and when I saw Leigh Bardugo last year for the signing of Six of Crows, and she asked that question, she was surprised that my answer was Kaz.  I'm not so sure anymore. Not because I don't like him anymore, but because I got to know all of them much better.   Kaz is so complicated, complex, an evil genius, with a tragic, traumatic past, but he's fair, loyal and take care of his crew. It's amazing how he's always a step ahead, how he seems to know everything and everyone.  Inej is acrobat turned spy that is fiercely loyal, loving, pragmatic, with a strong sense of duty, but not afraid to bend the rules.  Nina is sensual, funny, realistic, a powerful Grisha, with a sweet tooth and a forceful personality. Mathias is the sworn enemy of all Grisha, big, blond, blue eyed, strong, unbendable, strict and he's crazy about Nina.  Jasper is a sharpshooter, a clown, a gambler, trill seeking, loyal, loving, and evasive. Wylan is a merchant's son that fell from grace, a genius chemist with a lot to prove, a confused, lonely young man that found a family with Kaz and his gang. Say yay for diversity, for awesomeness, for greatness and fangirling :)

Of course, there are a lot more characters, both good and bad, but I can't help but love Kaz's crew. Every single one of them.

“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.”

I have something to confess (please don't kill me!):  I read Shadow and Bone, but never finished the Grisha series.  There I've said it.  I know I should try to finish it since I've only heard good things about it.  Anyway, that is to say that I'm somewhat familiar of what Grisha are and can do, so the "world" was not completely new to me.  However, Ketterdam is a whole other universe.  It's a place full of canals, harbors, travel by boat that reminds me a lot of Holland.  It's a place that worships money, commerce, and that houses merchants, gangs, university people, slaves, slums, and all sort of people. It felt so real that it was almost tangible.

“I am grateful you're alive", he said. "I am grateful that you're beside me. I am grateful that you're eating."
She rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're better that waffles, Matthias Helvar."
A small smile curled the Fjerdan's lips.
"Let's not say things we don't mean, my love.”

The plot is a masterpiece.  I mean, what other word can I use to describe it?  The fact that most of the action and plans come from Kaz's mind is mind-blowing (pardon the redundancy).  Talk about twists and turns!  I didn't try to guess what was going to happen, because more likely than not, I wouldn't be even close.  It's so well done that I saw none of it coming.  It's like trying to drive in an eternal "curve" where you can never see the other side of the street.  SO good.

“No matter the height of the mountain, the climbing is the same.”

I'm not going to lie, my feels were broken by the end.  Something awful happened and I don't even want to think about it because I'm going to cry again.  So sad :(  This book is intense, with a great balance between light and dark, hope and despair, hate and love, friendship and enemies.  The writing is mesmerizing, it kept me up late at night and I wanted to be able to read faster and faster. I feel like the ending left an opening for more books or at least a nice novella, although I'm perfectly happy with it.

Overall, Crooked Kingdom is THE best book I've read this year and Six of Crows one of my favorite series forevermore.  Bardugo outdid herself with the perfection that is this series.  LOVE IT!  Now, go read it.This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Crooked Kingdom, I wanted to love you. I really, really did.

Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy is one of my top five favorite series of all time. In fact, it may be my favorite series, period. When I read Six of Crows earlier this year I was amazed that I didn't love it. I found incredibly slow and didn't come to love the characters like so many others seemed to. I thought that Crooked Kingdom might be just what I needed to love this series so I bought it on release day and immediately started reading... and I finally finished it 16 days later (embarrassingly) after switching to the audiobook halfway through. This is obviously just not the series for me.

Crooked Kingdom picks up right after the explosive ending of Six of Crows. Inej has been taken hostage and Kaz has been busy devising a plan to get her back and even the score. He is forever trying to break down Pekka Rollins "brick by brick" to get vengeance for his brother and each scheme is more incredible than the last. That's basically what this book is - Kaz's scheming. He makes a plan, they carry out the plan, it works or doesn't. Rinse and repeat. That is to say I found it a bit repetitive.

Despite the fact that this book (and the one before it) is 85% character building, I never grew to love the characters. Although it seems everyone else in the world is in love with Kaz Brekker, I'm left wondering where he gets his reputation for being ruthless when he never actually does anything especially terrible. It's somewhat disappointing for a character with the nickname "Dirty Hands." Inej was kind of sweet, I guess, and Nina was interesting. I enjoyed Jesper and Wylan enough and if I had to pick a favorite it might be Matthias, but honestly any of them could have died and I wouldn't have been terribly upset about it, as horrible as that may be. I'm just incredibly disappointed to not have connected with characters who everyone else apparently adores.

I also still never found the romance. Sure, a couple characters kissed once or twice, but for the most part I am baffled. I constantly see other people squeeing over how sweet and adorable the romance is, how perfect the characters are together. What is everyone else reading? I'm still wondering what I missed and hoping someone can point me towards the swoony romance.

The plot of Crooked Kingdom was interesting, but it was just so tedious. It dragged on forever. It's actually weird. I liked it enough while I was reading it, but I just couldn't find the motivation to keep picking it up each day. (Hence, why I switched to audio.) I read somewhere that this duology was originally supposed to be one book and I think I would've found that much more enjoyable since it would've been more fast paced.

One thing I did really enjoy was seeing some old faces from the original Grisha Trilogy. The cast of characters in the back of the book had me really hopeful for more but I was happy with what I got. I did find Kaz's backstory to be interesting and I liked the revenge plot, but there was never much doubt how things would end up so I didn't feel incredibly invested. I did like how Wylan's story played out though. That was perhaps my favorite bit of the story itself.

Obviously, it's incredibly disappointing not to love a series by the author of what is arguably my favorite series of all time. The Six of Crows duology won't be going on my favorites shelf and I doubt I'll read it again, but I will definitely still read anything this author writes ever. If you loved Six of Crows, you'll probably love this one too! If you didn't, I wouldn't recommend this one because it's really more of the same.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

[ross91]

This was a great ending to a solid duology. I liked the story, I think the character developments were done intelligently and this time the author put more effort into the world building. The plot was at times predictable, but entertaining just the same.
The main problem I had with CK (and SoC as well) is that it reminded me to much about the Gentlemen bastards series, just not as good: a YA, sometimes simplistic, toned down version of one of my favorite books of all time.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked this book, but it really pales in comparison with Lynch's series.
Anyway I had fun, so 4 stars it is!

[Stephanie]

Goddamn. I can't even.

[nightingalereads]

4.5 stars