A review by just_a_bibliophile
Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
After having this book sitting on my shelf for the past few months, I finally decided to pick it up before the next Shadow and Bone series comes out on Netflix, and in all honesty, I don't know why I was putting off reading this for so long. I found Six of Crows so incredibly slow and hard to get in to, but there was something about Crooked Kingdom that was just a billion times better. Following on from Six of Crows, the next book in this duology continues Kaz and his crew's story, with the six back on the streets of Ketterdam.
The world-building was BEAUTIFUL. I think especially as this is the fifth Grishaverse book I've read now, I really appreciated how the whole world is just so intricately detailed and well thought out. There's something so magical about it all.
The characters were where things really got interesting. I adored all six of them. I felt like the characters had been developed on such a new level in Crooked Kingdom - we really got to understand them and their motives, and they all had such distinctive traits and quirks. They all had such compelling friendships and relationships with each other, and again, it was just truly magical to read about. The sheer complexity of some of these relationships was explored in such a clever way, and I really loved how all of the characters had their own unique ways of expressing themselves and their love for each other. The six of them together had such a powerful dyanmic.
While I did think some parts of it dragged a little too much, it did feel like such an incredible amount happened in this. It was absolutely full of twists and turns and everything unexpected and spontaneous, definitely keeping me on my toes. On the flip side, I did think that other parts were skimmed over way too quickly, so for me, the pacing was slightly off generally: some parts too slow, some too fast. My only other complaint was that there was just something lacking in this. I'm honestly struggling put my finger on it, but I felt the same way about Six of Crows, there was just something missing from this that made me not entirely love it as much as I could have. I think maybe it's the lack of connection I feel I have with the characters? As much as I love reading about them, I just didn't feel I could truly empathise with them in the way that I usually can with other characters. As irritating as this is, I do absolutely adore these characters' stories and individual developments throughout the whole duology.
Absolutely worth a read for any fantasy fan, and I'm actually quite interested in reading some of the next Grishaverse books after this.
Rating: 3.5 stars
The world-building was BEAUTIFUL. I think especially as this is the fifth Grishaverse book I've read now, I really appreciated how the whole world is just so intricately detailed and well thought out. There's something so magical about it all.
The characters were where things really got interesting. I adored all six of them. I felt like the characters had been developed on such a new level in Crooked Kingdom - we really got to understand them and their motives, and they all had such distinctive traits and quirks. They all had such compelling friendships and relationships with each other, and again, it was just truly magical to read about. The sheer complexity of some of these relationships was explored in such a clever way, and I really loved how all of the characters had their own unique ways of expressing themselves and their love for each other. The six of them together had such a powerful dyanmic.
While I did think some parts of it dragged a little too much, it did feel like such an incredible amount happened in this. It was absolutely full of twists and turns and everything unexpected and spontaneous, definitely keeping me on my toes. On the flip side, I did think that other parts were skimmed over way too quickly
Spoiler
, such as the death of a certain someoneAbsolutely worth a read for any fantasy fan, and I'm actually quite interested in reading some of the next Grishaverse books after this.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual assault