Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – Review

Published: September 20, 2016

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 546 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 3.5/5.0

 

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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I have no explanations for why it took me so long to read Crooked Kingdom, because I’ve had it since the day the it was released. All I can say is “Woe is me, my TBR pile is large and continues to grow”. Fortunately, it’s no longer growing exponentially… I think its reached the plateau phase.

Crooked Kingdom was a strong sequel, though because it’s been over a year since I read Six of Crows I forgot a lot (okay, most) of the details! I had to play catch-up and fill in all the blanks, so that took away from my overall reading experience but aside from that, it was really a very good story. Crooked Kingdom is a book primarily about revenge, meaning plenty of violence and action sequences. The story also manages to expound on the history of both Wylan and Jesper, which was good because I don’t remember learning much about them in Six of Crows.

SIX WEEKS LATER…

Guys, I forgot to finish writing this review!! I’m keeping it short and sweet now and apologize for how disjointed this review probably seems, but I’m being lazy and I’ve got other books to read and reviews to write. Crooked Kingdom was a fine follow-up and finale to this duology, though it doesn’t leave me DYING for more of any of the characters. It was entertaining, fun, and at times satisfyingly violent but the impression it left on me was shallow and is fading. At this point I can’t remember much of what happened. Perhaps one day I’ll re-read both books consecutively and further analyze the story, but for now this is what I’m leaving you with.