Six Of Crows Crooked Kingdom Hardcover – September 5, 2019

Rating: 5 StarsI previously reviewed Six of Crows and I LOVED it! I was so devastated by the ending. Inej was taken and I just couldn’t believe that ending after everything they went through being beat down at the very end. Now our crew is beat down, separated, and tired but they are not out for the count. They have to regroup and come up with more plans. Their lives are more dangerous than ever and old allies could just as easily be enemies these days. When you go up against the more powerful in Ketterdam you need to have more than luck to save you.I didn’t listen to the first book I read it through but having listened to this one I really enjoyed the narration and how each character had a different narrator. As we see the story from different POVs hearing a different person with a different accent and style was really rather thrilling. I now picture certain accents with the characters that I didn’t before but now seem so natural. The multiple POVs is something I loved because it gave us all the information we needed but seeing things from different views you see how everyone can hear/see the same things but take away different things from it. All of their prospective are important and play off one another. They each have something to bring to the table, the same thing that made them special in the first book we just know and love them more. Each of our characters has a special place in my heart. Kaz and his cold and clinical way of looking at things in terms of what they do for him or how they can be used in the future. Inej and her ability to blend into any shadow and disappear yet despite her life she still has a kindness and good heart to her. Nina who is far from her home but will risk her own life for those she loves. Mathis and his turbulent inner battle between what he was raised to believe and what he has seen and felt to be true. Jesper in his flawed and self-destructive nature full of charm and good intensions. And Wylan the son who has always felt less than and flawed for his inability but has found a home and people who see his abilities rather than flaws.“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.”All of my crows were in my heart and I couldn’t wait for them to save Inej because they had to. I had no other option in my head. Well that is the start of the plan, save Inej and get revenge on Van Eck. He has no only betrayed them and tried to have them killed after they upheld their side of the plan but more he did that and took one of theirs and when you have so many enemies your reputation is important in helping fend off the wolves. I loved all the different plots and schemes from the first page to get Inej and the revenge they deserve. To get what is owed and set things right because no monster like Van Eck can be left standing. There is a difference between being a criminal and being a criminal with no value behind your word. Some things are sacred.Things don’t go as planned. Oh so many beautifully crafted plans and of course wrenches thrown into the mix. I am struggling so hard to review this book without spoiling things because there is so much happening. So many little subplots that take place and all the little details that are just amazing. Like seeing characters from the original Grisha series come into play and go toe to toe with Kaz and crew. One of the best moments. Inej, some of her chapters just broke my heart. Her captivity, the flashes back to when she was forced to work in the menagerie before Kaz saved her. So powerful. Bardugo has really captured so much emotion within the story. Things are in chaos all around them but still even between the plotting, scheming, running, and fighting they were able to have such deep moments between one another. They care for one another deeply even if they fight. Even if they don’t always show it. A few lines in particular that just hit me in all the feels….“I would come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were we’d fight our way out together—knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.”I was rooting for my characters and rooting for others to get what was coming to them because they are just so dang vile. Seriously. Nina is struggling with her addiction and how it has changed her and her power. While Mathis sees just how wrong he was and his hope to try and help others see like he did. Oh but his time with Nina being there for her through it all…I adore him. Kaz and Inej are both so different but they are so good together and understanding one another in a way that no one else can. Both damaged. Both strong and weak. Both with baggage. I love this and shipped them so hard! And of course we had a bit of a spark between the wild card Jesper and our shy and quite Wylan which is adorable how they come to count on one another and support one another in times of need. Each of them have their own journeys to work through and I enjoyed being there as they went through them. They knew the odds for the life they chose to lead.No mourners, no funerals. Another way of saying good luck. But it was something more. A dark wink to the fact that there would be no expensive burials for people like them, no marble markers to remember their names, no wreaths of myrtle and rose.The story and pacing of this book was so well done for me. With the larger overall story but full of side stories and little inner stories that just made a more developed adventure. The pacing was on point and it felt like you were there with them rushed and escaping death one moment then having a few moments to regroup. It never let you fully off the edge of your seat but kept you leaning there ready to go. My poor heart was a mess keeping up with it.This book was everything. One of my favorite series by far. I loved everything. Even the end that had me sobbing. Okay several parts of the book had me choking back tears for several different reasons. My heart raced through it all and even though I took my time reading it fearing the end and while I wish I had more and parts made me sad I love it. It is such a fitting end (minus one part I don’t think I’ll ever get over) for this story and this crew. It started with one job and ended with so much more. I love this book and I would highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone.

“I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.”Let's all bow down to Leigh Bardugo because she truly outdid herself with Crooked Kingdom. There are very few authors that could write such an amazing, meticulous story such as this, and seriously it's a mind-blowing experience to be able to see a book so beautifully written. While I did have some ups and downs with the book (literally this makes up less than 2% of my feelings with this book), overall (aka the other 98%) this novel is truly extraordinary and I wish there were more to come. I honestly don't want to say goodbye to these characters yet, but it's better this way...at least that's what I'm trying to convince myself. It's better that this amazing series is only 2 books so that we can be left to imagine the future adventures our beloved characters are having.“Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us?What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary.That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.”Let's start with the teeny tiny thing that bothered me with this book: the pace. There were times at the beginning of the novel that felt super slow to me. I didn't have this problem in the first book, but I noticed it a lot in this one. I don't know if I just was too excited to find out what was going to happen next or if I just was in a mood the day I started this, but when I first started reading, I felt the pace was entirely different. There were parts that kinda seemed unnecessary to me and there were times where the scenes seemed to go on for a bit too long. However, after the first part/part and a half, this resolved and the story really took off. That's why I can't complain too much about this because it really only was a small part of the book. Otherwise, after this slow start, the story really was nonstop action and chaos. I never knew what was going to happen, and Leigh definitely kept me on my toes! There were so many twists and turns that it left my head spinning. With every heist or new trial the group undertakes, your adrenaline skyrockets, and you feel you are right there with these characters risking your own life.“And that was what destroyed you in the end: the longing for something you could never have.”One of the best parts of this book though is the character development. The reason I said that not many authors could write a book such as Crooked Kingdoms is because not many authors could balance 6 different character POVs, each with an intricate backstory, and make them sound like individual characters. Heck there's authors that can't even do dual POV (and I'm not trying to offend anyone when I say that because in my opinion dual POV is an extremely difficult task to undertake and I give major credit to authors that can write it successfully)! But Leigh does an absolute brilliant job at making sure every character is heard and we as readers feel connected to every single one of those characters. We get so much more into these characters that were introduced in Six of Crows, and things are revealed that you will never see coming. And if it's possible, Leigh makes the connections that we have with the characters (as well as the connection between the characters themselves) stronger and deeper. Emotions are definitely at an all-time high in this book when any of these characters are involved, and I loved every single second of it.“We meet fear. We greet the unexpected visitor and listen to what he has to tell us. When fear arrives something is about to happen.”I will say that at first Kaz seemed a bit too disconnected to me, but over the course of the book we come to see more and more inside his mind and understand prior actions while also keeping us guessing for what he's cooking up next. Inej is still one of my favorite characters in the story. She's so strong and brave, and I loved her tenacity. There were times I was truly terrified for her because it takes a lot to break a character such as Inej, and she was slowly crumbling around the edges during the first part of this book. Nina is like my soul sister, but we definitely see a different side to her due to her withdrawal from that terrible drug. It makes her question everything, including using her own powers. However, I also loved how fierce she was in this book. Nina stuck to her guns and didn't let anyone tell her she couldn't do something. Matthias perhaps has the greatest transformation of all the characters, and seriously I can't even begin to explain my love for him while I was reading this book....after all, he's greater than waffles ;) I really did like the addition of Wylan's POV to the story as well because it added yet another raw, realistic element to the plot that propelled the novel forward.“Why do you guys say that, anyway? No mourners, no funerals? Why not just say good luck or be safe?”“We like to keep our expectations low.”There are many aspects of this part that made my heart break, but there was one in particular that involved a certain character's death that absolutely broke me. I didn't see it coming and I'm still not over the character's death, but I will say that it fit with the story and that's why I can't totally be upset at Leigh for killing them. Let's face it, the Dregs and Ketterdam is an unforgiving place and not everyone makes it out alive. This is a sad, but true fact. I think we should just count ourselves lucky that Leigh didn't kill off more people haha!“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.”Everything about this book is perfection, and I can't even begin to emphasize how much you need to read this book. Leigh does an excellent job at writing an evocative story that sweeps you away and leaves you longing for more. The conclusion of this book is every bit as epic as you imagine it would be, and I will not be forgetting this book anytime soon. The Six of Crows duology is going to be a series that I read over and over again, and it's definitely something you don't want to miss out on!Happy reading :)

Six of Crows Duology ✨🐦‍⬛💰📖 BOOK REVIEW 📖This duology was a super fast and easy read! This is a YA Fantasy series that follows a group of six outcasts attempting an impossible heist & set in the slums of Ketterdam. It does take a few chapters to assemble their team and get the train rolling but it is definitely worth it! The unexpected twist and turns of this story will keep you guessing and trying to figure out Kaz Brekker’s next move!Star Rating: 4.5 / 5 ⭐️Spice Level: .5 🌶️