This is a spoiler filled book review. Please be aware that if you keep reading there will be information that you may not want to know if you have not read the book. For a spoiler free review of Crooked Kingdom click here.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Stars
Quotes to Remember:
“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.”
“Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.”
“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.”
“No mourners, no funerals. Another way of saying good luck. But it was something more. A dark wink to the fact that there would be no expensive burials for people like them, no marble markers to remember their names, no wreaths of myrtle and rose.”
“We meet fear. We greet the unexpected visitor and listen to what he has to tell us. When fear arrives, something is about to happen.”
“This action will have no echo.”
“I have been made to protect you. Even in death, I will find a way.”
“Suffering is like anything else. Live with it long enough, you learn to like the taste.”
*This is your final spoiler warning*
*Continue with Caution*
My Review:
So. Crooked Kingdom. I was honestly so excited for this book. If you read my Six of Crows review you will know that I really loved that book. Like I loved that book. I enjoyed Crooked Kingdom, don't get me wrong, I just can't say that I loved Crooked Kingdom.
I will say that I was extremely invested in the characters. I was rooting for the characters I shipped, and I wanted to see everything turn out right in the end, but I wasn't super invested in the plot. I honestly didn't really care about the big picture. In the beginning I cared more because it was still related to the events that took place at the end of Six of Crows and I really cared about Inej. After that the plot shifted to Kaz's revenge plot and it honestly wasn't what I was expecting or wanting.
There simply wasn't the same type of action in this book that was present in Six of Crows. I loved the heist in Six of Crows and learning things as they happened and seeing the characters grow and develop as the book goes on. In Crooked Kingdom some of that was there, it was still action heavy but there wasn't the same thrill. They weren't running to trouble in this one for the most part. They were running away from it. In addition, the characters didn't really grow in the same way. Kaz had some mejor character development which can be expected since he was given the most attention. Other than him, Matthias had the most development. Then they killed him off. Watching Matthias grow and learn to love Nina despite a lifetime of being told she was evil was truly remarkable and I really enjoyed it. I'm not gonna lie, I expected someone to die, but I didn't think it would be Matthias and the way she did it was very anticlimactic and honestly it didn't affect me in any way. I liked Matthias, sure, but I was never able to truly get to know him in a way that made me care that he died. I just felt bad for Nina.
Didn't love or care about most of the plot but I still loved the characters. Kaz has major character development in this book. We also get to see more of the background on all of the characters. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't like big time jumps that aren't pointed out to the reader. I find it confusing when they suddenly go into a flashback and I just can't keep track of what is happening present day versus in the past. That being said, I didn't dislike it in Crooked Kingdom. I don't think it was as well executed as in Six of Crows but I still, for the most part, understood what was happening.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters more and seeing them develop but I just don't think it is as good as Six of Crows and that was a little disappointing to me.
Publisher's Description:
Welcome to the world of the Grisha.
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts 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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