Crooked Kingdom the highly anticipated sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s thrilling #1 New York Times-bestselling Six of Crows.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 … 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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Absolutely amazing! I want more from these characters. So much more. Give me another story
I loved it. I loved every bit of the story!
5 Stars is not enough to explain how much I love this duology!! They are masterfully written…the schemes, the jobs, the secrets…the way everything is leaked out piece by piece…utterly brilliant. I cannot even imagine the work–the research–that went into designing the jobs for this crew. (I think maybe Leigh was a master thief in another life!)
These books have left me breathless and utterly wanting… The only thing wrong with these books is that it’s a duology!! I love this world, I love Kaz and Inej and I don’t want the adventures to stop! This book was just as masterfully written as the first (but then again, was there any doubt 😉 )
Standing ovation Leigh! These were instant favorites!!!!!!!!!!!
Brekker is back and with more fiendish frivolity from the barrel. Still trying to recover from the disastrous end to the Ice Court job, little does Kaz know how deep the deception went and how much he is going to have to unravel to even begin to salvage what he started. Kaz maybe clever but he is far from the only clever man in Ketterdam. He is going to have to work even harder than ever before to try and recapture what he is owed, but with Inej captured, Nina battling an addiction with parem, Wylan tailored to the wrong face and Jesper now forced to confront his past, how easy will that be?
Crooked Kingdom is a longer book than Six of Crows yet the action takes place mainly over a matter of days, the multiple POV’s stretching the tortuously epic and heart thumping twists across the pages. It still has that immense page turning captivation that was within Six of Crows, but it just lacked that extra sense of excitement along with it. They are both books of equal joy but I think book 1 just pips it, but only just. In typical Kaz Brekker style there are twists and swindles and multiple cons that would given Danny Ocean on his best day a run for his money. I love a story that keeps me questioning myself and hanging on a thread as to the outcome, and Crooked Kingdom gave this to me in spades.
I don’t know what is wrong with me of late in the emotions stake, but this book again reduced me to tears, the short but intense bursts of connectivity with the characters overwhelmed me. Multiple POV’s in books is a risk and I have been drowned by them in books in the past but Leigh Bardugo manages to completely avoid this. Despite every player being forced to battle for chapter time, I felt utterly part of them and their story, sharing their joys and sadness as they peaked and troughed through the words.
The only thing that I didn’t enjoy about this concluding part of the duology was entirely down to the publisher. I read the paperback of this book and found that the text was just so hard to read. The margins were so tight, the text was disappearing into the gutter and hiding under my thumbs as I was reading. I hate having to bend back spines on paperbacks which made this even more of an arduous task, I get that more text on a page means fewer pages and lower print costs but this made it such a hard read at times, sort it out Indigo!! This is the first Duology that I have read and I have to say this is now my favourite book series style, all of the action and none of the filler – I hope that more writers/publishers take this forward in the future.
Would I love more from Kaz and the Dregs? Of course! However, unlike a TV show that jumps the shark I am glad that the world of Ketterdam has been left the way it has and I look forward immensely to the next original world created by Bardugo.
Kaz literally shipped himself with The Wraith after that uncharacteristically noble gesture. What can I say? Leigh put on a master class of world building, character building, plot, dialogue and, of course, writing with this book and duology. I have a gut feeling there will be a third. In the meantime, no mourners, no funerals!
Absolutely great second book. Stakes were high for the six misfits, but Kez’s mastermind was up to it – and then things didn’t go as planned. Once again, the characters knew more than the reader, but it wasn’t as obvious or copiously used as in the first book, and there were enough twists towards the end that it didn’t matter. The ending seems to signal the end of the group as well, but it was hopeful and open enough that I’m fairly sure there will be more books in the series.
Crooked Kingdom gets a very quick start as Kaz and his crew come up with a plan to save Inej, who at the end of Six of Crows was taken hostage by Wylans father Van Eck. There is a clear cut line of good and evil in Crooked Kingdom with Kaz, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, Wylan and Inej all cast on the side of good, even though they are the best of the worst part of Ketterdam. Van Eck is an easy villain in comparison with Wylan who is the angel among thieves, and the easiest to identify with in the crew. Kaz, as the mastermind behind all of their plans plays puppeteer to all of their marionettes. Even as I tried to figure out the plans direction and guess as to the outcome it would change on a dime and I would try to read faster to play catch up. Crooked Kingdom had a beginning, middle and end I just didn’t end up where I thought the path was leading and it was wonderful!
Crooked Kingdom showed an advancement in the relationship of all of the players. Kaz and Inej, Wylan and Jesper, Nina and Matthias all grew as individuals but also as couples. There wasn’t any time for more than a kiss here and there but the emotions behind those kisses were long drawn out and well thought. I was not disappointed in the final outcome to any of these players parts, although I did have a couple of teary moments. We got to know each of them and their reasons behind their actions so that even if I didn’t agree morally with what I thought they were doing I did understand why. Bardugo did a great job of making a band of miscreants honorable and likable. I rooted for them to outsmart their opponents and enjoyed the exchange of wits. I know that I have not said anything about the plot of this book.
I really feel that whatever I have to say can not do the intricacies of this plot any justice. All I can say is that I loved getting to know all of these characters and enjoyed reading their story.
One last thought on the city of Ketterdam. I am glad that it is a fictional destination. I would fear for any tourist who docked their ship in the bay where a sign reading Enter Ye At Your own Risk No Mourners, No Funerals greets their gaze.
Such a good book, To bad there’s only two books in the series.