Crooked Kingdom (book 2 in the Six of Crows Duology) by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4.3 stars

After loving Six of Crows so much, I couldn’t wait to start reading this book. This book starts where Six of Crows ended, with Inej in crisis. I loved this book so much, and it just helped me forget about everything happening in school at the moment. There was a new problem in each chapter, and Kaz had even more tricks up his sleeve. The romance between Jesper and Wylan was to die for. The way Bardugo developed it wouldn’t let me put the book down. The only issue in this whole book was that she never described Inej’s and Kaz’s relationship, except for at the end, when she merely hinted at a possible future together. In this book, we can also see the crows sparking revolution, and growing together and apart with each other, and I think that’s the reason this book was so special. That you can see each of the characters grow every step of the way, as both part of a group, and an individual. 

The pace of this book is certainly slower than the first one. I feel like that is more full of relentless action, and plot twists, (and so is this), but this one gives more focus to each of the character’s backstories, and how far each of the dregs have come after struggling to survive. The storyline is engaging, and the ratio of action, and emotion is well balanced. The action and tension never run dry, leaving readers with something to look forward to on each page. I love how each of the characters are so diverse, and some even polar opposites, because that makes the way they interact a lot more entertaining. All the close calls, and with each of their dominant traits, you would think that there is no stopping their gang. But they take some blows, and just when you think they have no coming back from that, its either Kaz’s brains, Jesper’s talents, Wylan’s innovation, Matthias’s strength, Nina’s sharp tongue, or Inej’s skills that help the story take off in a whole new direction. A lot of their actions really surprised me, and took place when I least expected them to, and I think that’s what made this book so interesting. 

As I mentioned earlier this was wayyyy slower than the previous one (not that it’s an issue), but I was just expecting something action-packed with barely time to process as the sequel to Six of Crows. I also got very frustrated at Inej’s and Kaz’s romance. Everyone else was really invested, but just the fact that they kept hiding their feelings, and no one knew what was hapenning annoyed me. Something I forgot to mention earlier is that Kaz’s and Inej’s backstories might not be easy to read for both people who suffer from PTSD and people who have experienced sexual assault.

Overall, I loved this book, as well as its prequel, but I just felt it’s a bit overrated. I was looking for something to get me over my Throne of Glass addiction, and although this was a great read, it just wasn’t enough. If you have the time, I think you should definitely read this book, it’s worth the read. 🙂