By Title: Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publication Date: 2016
Publishing House: Henry Holt and Company
I loved Crooked Kingdom and could not wait to read it after finishing Six of Crows. In part it is a continuation of the same story but it is so much more also. In Six of Crows Kaz is leading a team on a mission. Get in, do the job, grab the mark, get out, get home, and get paid. If you have read the first book in this duology then you know that getting paid becomes difficult. Thus this is where Crooked Kingdom begins.
This book is not just a job for Kaz and the others. It is a fight on their home turf for what they are owed. For Kaz this is money and revenge, for Jesper it is getting out of his debt and helping to restore what he destroyed. Wylan is learning to become something more in spite of the things that he cannot do. For Inej, winning this fight will allow her to escape and make her own dreams come true. In this second chapter of the story Nina learns to fight addiction and changing power while Matthias learns to change the way of thinking that was pounded into his head since his childhood.
This book tests the characters knowledge of the city of Ketterdam and her residence: the layout and superstitions, paths in and out, tradition and regulations. But the schemes in this book also test the characters: their resolve, drive, knowledge of themselves, and trust in each other. Bardugo paints a beautiful and deadly world for these residents of the Barrel to fight their way through. A world full of few small moments of brightness that are overshadowed by loss, betrayal, deceit, and pain. Pain both from injury and emotional upheaval.
I highly suggest this book if you haven’t read it already. Learn the was in which the scheming mind of Kaz Brekker works. Learn the rooftop paths with Inej. Learn to make an impossible shot with Jesper and how to stand up for yourself from Wylan. Learn how to appreciate what was once misunderstood from Matthias and how to move forward from a shattered world with Nina.
As always I would love to know your thoughts on this book and this series. Please comment below and have a great start to your week.
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