Title: Crooked Kingdom
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pub Date: September 20, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 546
Source: Purchased
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★½
Goodreads || Buy on Amazon

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Synopsis from Goodreads:

When you can’t beat the odds, change the game.

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

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My review:

“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.”

Oh, how I love these crows. I would hate to be the person that spoils Crooked Kingdom for someone else, so I won’t be writing about any intimate details from the book. I will just say this: the ending had possibly everything I’ve ever wanted, but it was also missing a few things that I needed. In any case, I am not okay and I am okay and I am still trying to suss out my feelings.

Unsurprisingly, Bardugo strikes a beautiful balance between action and emotional conflict. There is so much going on from beginning to end that you would think it’d be difficult to follow all the characters. But it’s not. Each character is so carefully developed. We learn so much more about them in this book, particularly Kaz, and Jesper, and Inej. Even Wylan. We are offered these fragile little pieces of the things that make them who they are, and I am so grateful for that. I will miss them all so much. I am incredibly sad that their story is over. But let’s be real… nothing is over until Kaz says it’s over. I truly hope Bardugo decides to write about the Grishaverse again in the future.

So, instead of me sharing all of my ugly and messy feelings, please enjoy these wonderful words spoken by the monstrous boy (with the dubious haircut) that we all love and respect:

“The really bad monsters never look like monsters.”

“I would come for you,” he said, and when he saw the wary look she shot him, he said it again. “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’ve taken knives, bullets, and too many punches to count, all for a little piece of this town,” said Kaz. “This is the city I bled for. And if Ketterdam has taught me anything, it’s that you can always bleed a little more.”

“Ketterdam is made of monsters. I just happen to have the longest teeth.”

*Actual rating: 4.5 stars

No mourners, no funerals!