Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, 2) (edition 2018)

oh my god this book ( )

fantastic addition to the YA genre!!!!!!!!!!! ( )

I hesitated to read this one for a while -- the first one was such a great Heist book, but that ending! and I knew there were so many characters and so much detail in that last book -- and I have the worst memory, so I thought I wouldn't be able to catch up. Well, Leigh Bardugo is a master at reminding you of the previous journey without harping on about it or talking down to her reader, and this book just flows: heist after heist, foiled, defeated, betrayed, begin again, bigger picture, bigger picture, and on and on. The action never lets up, but the characters continue to grow and flourish.

Beautiful. ( )

I had to start reading this one the moment I finished “Six of Crows” because AHHH that ending! Leigh Bardugo, you are the master of suspense! Things are not so good for our Crows, with Inesh captured and Kaz, Matias, Jesper and Waylan trying to get her out while Nina suffers through terrible withdrawal. We got a lot more backstory in this one. I particularly felt for Waylan, and the revelations we learned. I connected with his character somewhat in the first book, but I totally loved him here.

And oh, the ships. I could get into the plotting, which is like the most complex Swiss clock of a thing anyone has ever tried to pick apart, but it’s just amazing, and I’d waste three paragraphs fangirling. It’s the ships here that leave you pining, make you swoon, and break your heart. Matias with his stiff Fierden heart that is slowly warming to Nina. Kaz and Inesh who you wonder if because of their traumas they’ll ever be able to touch. And Waylan and Jes, who are just too sweet for words. Just the right amount of shipper-goodness included. Loved this book, and really hope to read another one set in this world because Leigh Bardugo gets better and better with each one!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

Not bad, very engaging. I thought [the death of a major character toward the end and the way of dealing with Pekka (hide spoiler)] were way heavy-handed and unnecessary, and there was no real payoff for either of these (spoiler) plot points...

The main enemy of Kaz is Pekka Rollins... who is basically doing the exact same thing as Kaz. No one really changes that much in this and the lack of dynamic characters in a book so clearly focusing on character development (entire passages about just what a particular character feels about an imagined outcome) a bit irritating. Liked it all the same. ( )