Crooked Kingdom

Crooked Kingdom is the continuation of the Six of Crows series. And boy is it good. There are so many things going for this series. The twists and turns as well as the characters are my favorite.

Kaz, after being swindled by Jan Van Eck in the last book, comes up with a plethora of new schemes to get the money they were owed. Finding ways to get The Wraith back as well as kidnapping a few people along the way is just the beginning. There are many plots and ploys that go awry and a brilliant overarching job that gets it done.  Some of these tricks and jobs, as well as the little details that set the whole thing right, might be seen as magician tricks that Leigh Bardugo slipped in because she needed a way to make things work; I disagree. Leigh Bardugo gives us enough of the amazing Kaz to make the "long game" believable. He kind of has a Sherlock Holmes kind of feel to him in that his mind races and thinks of so many things. He knows the people he's conning, inside and out.

Not only is Kaz amazing, but I also love Inej, Jesper, and Nina. All of these characters in this book are given time for their backstory to develop and us to truly love them. So much so that when the tears start rolling, it becomes a waterfall. I really enjoyed the progression each character had; they all had their own character arches that gave the readers a reason to love them.

I also enjoyed the world that Leigh Bardugo created. I'm really excited to read some of the other books that take place in this work.

But can I just say how amazing the artwork is! Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom have the most amazing cover art and map art that I've seen. Really, it's beautiful.

I honestly don't have much to say bad about it. For some people, they may be a little set off by the, slightly, unexpected homosexual couple in the book. (I didn't see it in the first one. *shrugs*) But all the romance, for whomever it was for, was tactfully done. In some ways beautifully done. I really love the relationship between Kaz and Inej. They have an odd relationship and is fun to explore. Kaz can be so hard headed and cold shouldered but he has a soft spot for Inej that makes him seem really sweet. When Kaz's gloves are off and he tries to face his demons.... Very different and very interesting relation to explore. And it was explored well.

Leigh Bardugo, in her acknowledgments, gives a resource to help stop human trafficking (something that is dealt with in the book). If we want more information to help stop this awful thing from occuring, check out GAATW.org .