Crooked Kingdom: An incredible conclusion

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the second book in the Six of Crows duology. This takes place in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, which is this fantasy world where some people, Grisha, have magic-like powers, and there are all sorts of political struggles relating to them. This duology takes place after the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but you do not need to read Shadow and Bone to understand the world.

In the first book, our main characters, basically a group of teenage criminals, were undertaking a heist, where they were tasked with stealing something from an impenetrable fortress, a mission sure to fail but too potentially lucrative to pass up. Some events happen at the end of that book, which sets up the plot of this one, so I can’t go too much into it without spoiling the first.

However, if you’ve read the first, and you’re for some reason wavering about reading the second, read it, it’s just as good, which is to say, it’s spectacular.

I love this duology. I like the heist in the first book and the shenanigans they get up to in this one. It’s gritty and raw and so funny and well-done. This duology features found family, heists (obviously), clever characters, plot twists, so many satisfying moments, but also heartbreak.

One of the few criticisms I ever see about this duology is that the characters are too young. That for them to have the kinds of skills and thoughts and such that they do, they should be older, and it’s sort of unbelievable that they’re all 16-18.

I do broadly agree, but I also think it’s relevant to remember that all of these characters’ backstories are much different than what we think of as a 16-year-old in the contemporary world. Kaz grew up on the streets, Inej was sold to a brothel in her early teens, Nina and Matthias grew up being trained as part of armies. These aren’t kids plucked right out of high school.

However, the reason for this slightly unoriginal tangent, is that one of the things that struck me about this book was how there were several moments where the characters seemed to be pining for that childhood that they were denied and we are reminded that they are young and in this situation that is way beyond what they should be dealing with.

I would definitely recommend this duology. Even if you’re not much of a fantasy reader, but you like heists and adventures and clever characters, pick this up. The fantasy elements are actually fairly minimal. They’re relevant and there, but you’re not going to get bogged down in them.

After finishing this, I immediately went out and bought King of Scars, which is the next duology in this universe, and follows some of the characters in this one, so I’m looking forward to reading more in this world in the future.