Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Quote: "They don't know who we are. Not really. They don't know what we've done, what we've managed together. So let's go show them they picked the wrong damn fight."
Blurb: Kaz Brekker and his crew pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're fighting for their lives. Double crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies and hope.
As old rivals and new enemies descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of jurda parem- a dangerous substance capable of altering the very fabric of Grisha magic- Kaz's cunning and his team's fragile loyalty are tested to their limit.
A war will be waged within the city's dark and twisting streets- a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the future of magic and the fate of the world.
My Personal Views: Now, now before you come onto me about why I gave this book a 4 star when I gave the first book- Six of Crows- five stars. Well, let me tell you it is not at all because I found the storyline a bit crappy or predictable (Heck, it was anything but predictable) or I didn't like the characters or anything, it is not at all because of any of these reasons yet I still have a pretty good reason for it.
I really don't know how to tell you this reason without a spoiler hence, I will give a BIG SPOILER WARNING here. One of the crows dies. Yes, you read it right. One of the crows dies.
BIG SPOILER WARNING ENDS
And how much disappointing to read it was- I can not tell this to you enough. Major disappointment of the Grishaverse. Now, I am not one of those people who would be put-off because of this in a book but I just felt like it was not necessary there, not at all. I get that sometimes you need to throw your readers off and challenge them with the storylines but I don't know, man, it was just disappointing to read.
Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer, she is just fabulous however nah, this was- to simply put it- a major turn off for me in the Grishaverse. If I knew this would be happening in the second book, I would have NEVER picked it up to read.
Anyways, moving on, the plot was fine. As you must have got it from my- Six of Crows review, I have become a fan of the crows so each scene with the crows was so good. The chemistry between the ships was amazing, the badasses were being just that- badasses. And each character is just so cool.
The crows made me crack each time with their wits, sometimes they made me feel like smacking them on the face and sometimes shout "SO COOL" on top of my lungs to them and sometimes (especially in this book) made me cry my eyes out.
I don't know what is going to happen to the crows in the future, if they will get a third book or not but if they do get a third book, I am sure I would be picking it up to read only after doing all my research about it because I can't have my heartbroken by the Grishaverse a second time.
Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5
