The slight clumsiness of Six of Crows dissolved for me here - this was captivating. The chapter endings were each crueler than the last; the cliffhangers were clever and not TOO infuriating and kept me turning page after page. And I think I had whiplash from all the twists & turns of the various heists! I was surprised. I was SO surprised.

Crooked Kingdom begins right where Six of Crows left off – with our crew yet again fighting to save their skins. They’ve been double-crossed and are now surrounded by enemies in a city they once navigated with confidence. With the odds stacked against them, they’ve got to pull off several more schemes to leave with their lives & fortunes intact.

The beautiful characterization work only gets brighter and more detailed here. Each member of the crew is given incredible depth, and we get to watch them stumble and grow and reconcile with the trauma of their past. 

I also continued to adore Bardugo’s writing. It’s evocative, and the way she describes characters and scenes is so visual. This book felt even more cinematic than the last, and the prose was both lyrical and precise. 

My small grudge - and honestly the only thing that keeps this from 5 stars for me - centers around Matthias. I think that he was the weak link of the group by far, and not enough effort was put into giving him a believable arc (I really wanted to witness him dismantle his supremacist upbringing, and I don’t think he grew much beyond recognizing the faults of his internal logic). Nina could do a lot better, just sayin’. I don’t totally buy the extent of her feelings for him.

CW: death, gun violence, blood, murder, addiction, kidnapping, torture, grief, trafficking, slavery, panic attacks, abuse, sexual assault & rape, ableism, confinement, forced institutionalization, child death, classism, abandonment, death of a parent, death of a child, chronic illness, war, gaslighting, racism, pregnancy, religious bigotry, police brutality, pedophilia

Follow me on TikTok for book recommendations!