Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5 stars)
Best. Sequel. Ever. Have you ever watched something where you were left sitting quietly as the credits rolled and you just think to yourself, “I am so glad I was alive for that”? That’s me after I read The Crooked Kingdom.
This is the second book of the Six of Crows duology. I’m usually nervous or skeptical when reading sequels because you never know what you’re gonna get. Worst case scenario, they don’t live up to the first installment. The best case, for me, is it definitely lives up to its expectations. I didn’t know until reading this that there’s something better: it’s equal to the previous book but it completes it. They’re a whole package worth 5 stars each and 5 stars both. Action isn’t even one of my favorite genres to read and yet here I am craving for more Six of Crows content.
Plot/Summary
Our six crows just pulled off a successful heist to recover a powerful drug creator from the most secure prison in the world. On their way to retrieve the prize money, they were double-crossed leading to one of their own getting kidnapped. Our team leader, Kaz, is not about to let his most trusted spy die in the hands of the enemy. As criminals, they’re used to making enemies and being hunted by half the city. But this time, the government and the criminals who used to be on their side are after them. The whole city of Ketterdam is not safe anymore. What will our criminal prodigy Kaz and his unique team do? Well, we’re no longer doing one big heist like in the previous book. Things are definitely getting darker.
Story and World Building
Bardugo doesn’t disappoint in her consistency to keep a picturesque universe in my mind. As I mentioned in my review for Six of Crows, I didn’t have to force myself to memorize all the new names created for this universe. It is so naturally inserted consistently that it just transports me into the streets of Ketterdam and feels like I’m mingling and integrating with society. It doesn’t feel like the author needed to do a brain dump at the beginning to force the readers into the world. It slowly unveils itself and you’re there without taking up too much effort on the reader’s part.
As for the story, if I thought Six of Crows had a rich plot then I was blown away by its sequel. It’s not just about this one big job anymore, it’s about surviving everything that comes their way. Even then I don’t know how they’re supposed to be back in society without everyone wanting to kill them. The story kept me on the edge of my seat. I also found myself smiling when something convenient happens and I don’t get that feeling of rolling my eyes because they seem to be obviously an author’s maneuver and not a naturally occurring thing to happen in the world. For example, Jesper’s dad became a valuable part of their mission later in the book but his presence was not ‘out of nowhere to save the day’ kind of appearance. Jesper’s background with his family has been constantly there since the first book and his father’s entrance was not a very pivotal moment in the book. It was initially an inconvenience even. It felt like he had nothing to do with the story other than becoming a liability. When he became an asset later on, I thought that was really well done.
Character Building
The characters have been really well-built since book one but book two took it home. I thought we were mostly done getting to know them in Six of Crows since their backstories were already pretty rich back there. Again, I am pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Everything that happened in the first book and everything that’s happening to them in the second book is constantly growing their characters and I grew more and more attached to them. Not only were they physically described well, but their individualities also stand out and the chemistry in their friendship was even better even when they were separated from each other. I just can’t get enough of their dynamics. For example, they developed this inner joke where Kaz, the team leader, would ask a question while planning, and the rest of the group would answer in horrible ways and then the remaining righteous person would comment on how bad they all were.
From Six of Crows:
Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Posion in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.
From Crooked Kingdom:
“Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?”
“Guns?” asked Jesper.
“Ships?” asked Inej.
“Bombs?” suggested Wylan.
“Political bribes?” offered Nina.
They all looked at Matthias.
“This is where you tell us how awful we are,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “They all seem like practical choices.”
In short, the banters are really fun to read. Plus point to Jesper and Wylan’s love story developing because that totally caught me off guard but now they’re my favorite pair.
Final Thoughts
Repeating my sentiment from the previous book, this is the kind of book that I would wish to erase my memory so I can go through all of it all over again. If you like action, smart maneuvers, a rich plot, a dark-but-not-so-dark fictional world, and flawed but lovable characters, I 100% recommend this.
Favorite Quote(s):
“No mourners. No funerals.”
― Crooked Kingdom
“Do you know what Van Eck’s problem is?”
― Crooked Kingdom
“No honor?” said Matthias
“Rotten parenting skills?” said Nina.
“Receding hairline?” offered Jesper.
“It’s a law of systems,” Wylan murmured. “You build in safeguards for failures, but something in the sagefuards ends up causing an unforeseen failure.”
― Wylan Van Eck, Crooked Kingdom
“I would 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.”
― Kaz Bekker, Crooked Kingdom
“Maybe being brave didn’t mean being unafraid.”
― Wylan Van Eck, Crooked Kingdom
“You’re not weak because you can’t read. You’re weak because you’re afraid of people seeing your weakness. You’re letting shame decide who you are.”
― Kaz Bekker, Crooked Kingdom
“Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?”
― Crooked Kingdom
“Guns?” asked Jesper.
“Ships?” asked Inej.
“Bombs?” suggested Wylan.
“Political bribes?” offered Nina.
They all looked at Matthias.
“This is where you tell us how awful we are,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “They all seem like practical choices.”
The Stray Reader 
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