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A review by shrutislibrary
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴. 𝘐 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴." – 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮
In this showdown of the SoC duology, the Bastard of the Barrel, Kaz Brekker & his motley crew- the infamous Crows run a game in the cold cobblestone streets in their backyard- Ketterdam, on a mission to tear down one of the kingpins of the Barrel, brick by brick. But what happens when the six Crows get entangled in a game far bigger & grander than they reckoned- with kings, bosses & leaders of nations- all for 30 mill kruge, freedom & retribution? Will they find they got something more than they bargained for?
Ck picks up the pieces of where SoC ended. Kaz is still hot on his heels of the Ice court job but even he hasn't plumbed every depth of unpredictability that is Ketterdam. Even Kaz Brekker can be bested. But he is nothing if he doesn't like a good challenge, his wits & his crew to back him. Ck introduces us to new characters, backstories of the Crows, provides satisfactory character arcs all in the span of 540 pages. While it wasn't quite "on-the-edge-of-your-seat-thriller" that SoC was for me on my first read, it was charged with emotional currents. The best thing about this series is its shifting stream of consciousness that keeps us interested & invested in the characters. We want them to escape, to outsmart & to win. Even when their backs were against the wall, the crew & I as a reader could depend upon Kaz to take them out of a sticky job.
I could guess some of the plot twists & if you are intelligent & paid attention to Leigh feeding us little hints like Inej feeds her crows, you would see them coming too. While ch-40 didn't break my cold heart as I thought it would, it certainly left me a little misty. The ending was bittersweet cuz all the thrill was in the journey, the heist, the schemes. It's one of those where I don't know what should've been in store for the Crows cuz any ending would've been unsatisfactory to me. I just wanted them to go on another heist lol.
In this showdown of the SoC duology, the Bastard of the Barrel, Kaz Brekker & his motley crew- the infamous Crows run a game in the cold cobblestone streets in their backyard- Ketterdam, on a mission to tear down one of the kingpins of the Barrel, brick by brick. But what happens when the six Crows get entangled in a game far bigger & grander than they reckoned- with kings, bosses & leaders of nations- all for 30 mill kruge, freedom & retribution? Will they find they got something more than they bargained for?
Ck picks up the pieces of where SoC ended. Kaz is still hot on his heels of the Ice court job but even he hasn't plumbed every depth of unpredictability that is Ketterdam. Even Kaz Brekker can be bested. But he is nothing if he doesn't like a good challenge, his wits & his crew to back him. Ck introduces us to new characters, backstories of the Crows, provides satisfactory character arcs all in the span of 540 pages. While it wasn't quite "on-the-edge-of-your-seat-thriller" that SoC was for me on my first read, it was charged with emotional currents. The best thing about this series is its shifting stream of consciousness that keeps us interested & invested in the characters. We want them to escape, to outsmart & to win. Even when their backs were against the wall, the crew & I as a reader could depend upon Kaz to take them out of a sticky job.
I could guess some of the plot twists & if you are intelligent & paid attention to Leigh feeding us little hints like Inej feeds her crows, you would see them coming too. While ch-40 didn't break my cold heart as I thought it would, it certainly left me a little misty. The ending was bittersweet cuz all the thrill was in the journey, the heist, the schemes. It's one of those where I don't know what should've been in store for the Crows cuz any ending would've been unsatisfactory to me. I just wanted them to go on another heist lol.