Leigh Bardugo: Crooked Kingdom (Paperback, 2016, Henry Holt and Company)
Paperback, 546 pages
English language
Published Nov. 10, 2016 by Henry Holt and Company.
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts 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.
uf es tan bueno... lo he disfrutado tanto... he sufrido!!! me encanta la banda de misfits y sus backstories y sus maneras de ser y de actuar. sufren tanto!! y yo con elles!! y la historia me ha flipado, me ha mantenido en mis tippy toes todo el rato, sobre todo en la segunda mitad. la mente de kaz!!! y de bardugo, obvio. qué pena no poder volver a estos personajes, la verdad.
The growth of the characters we're experiencing in this second book is phenomenal. I enjoyed it as much as Six of Crows if not a bit more, since it's the culmination of all the little plot points sprinkled throughout the first installment. The Glory or Grave duology is a wonderful addition to the GrishaVerse!
Not bad, very engaging. I thought the death of a major character toward the end and the way of dealing with Pekka were way heavy-handed and unnecessary, and there was no real payoff for either of these (spoiler) plot points...
The main enemy of Kaz is Pekka Rollins... who is basically doing the exact same thing as Kaz. No one really changes that much in this and the lack of dynamic characters in a book so clearly focusing on character development (entire passages about just what a particular character feels about an imagined outcome) a bit irritating. Liked it all the same.
My love of the Grishaverse has certainly been slow to bloom. I wasn't that impressed with the first book (which was called The Gathering Dark at the time) but didn't write off the trilogy. In the meantime, the fan following grew and eventually I gave in and read the others. Six of Crows really was the turning point though, and Crooked Kingdom is my favourite by far.
Even though I went and read King of Scars first, so I had quite a big thing spoiled. I don't know what I was thinking, I'd got it into my head that it was a prequel and, well, it wasn't. Now having read Crooked Kingdom, I wish I had read in order as Nina's continued story would have had more oompf. I got to the end and I was desperate to know what happens next, even though I'd already read what happens next! …
My love of the Grishaverse has certainly been slow to bloom. I wasn't that impressed with the first book (which was called The Gathering Dark at the time) but didn't write off the trilogy. In the meantime, the fan following grew and eventually I gave in and read the others. Six of Crows really was the turning point though, and Crooked Kingdom is my favourite by far.
Even though I went and read King of Scars first, so I had quite a big thing spoiled. I don't know what I was thinking, I'd got it into my head that it was a prequel and, well, it wasn't. Now having read Crooked Kingdom, I wish I had read in order as Nina's continued story would have had more oompf. I got to the end and I was desperate to know what happens next, even though I'd already read what happens next!
The characters are what make this duology so good, and having had their personalities established in advance, I could fall straight into rooting for them. They are all flawed, fighting with their personal demons, addictions and personal intimacy issues. And the fact that they all care for each other, this band of criminal teenagers, even if they don't always show it.
I also love that it's like Mission Impossible in its tropes. What genre is that, like they're not spies and it's not simply a heist? Anyway, it was oodles of fun and emotional, and I wish there were more books set in Ketterdam.
It'll be interesting to see what Netflix do with their adaptation. I'm not sure how they're going to smoosh Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows into the same season, they're not meant to be happening at the same time and they are such separate storylines. Her later books feel much darker and more grown-up, and I'd really like to see that in the TV show.
DNF. The entire order of the series is bassackward. We needed the backstories in the first book. Having them in the second one just kills the pacing.
Not as good or tightly paced as Six of Crows, but the gang's back together for one last heist. And it's cute. I liked the resolution and the character growth. I'm still not a huge fan of the Grishaverse, but I thought Bardugo introduced some interesting new concepts in this one. I was also not a huge fan of all of the female characters being damaged and needing emotional support/rescue.
But it reads fun, they pull off hijinks, the characters are mostly nuanced and well-written, so pretty enjoyable reading experience. Overall, 3.5 stars
Absolutely excellent.
Oh I love this book. It's so much better than Six of Crows (which actually wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. It simply took forever to gain momentum.). So many twists and turns and stuff happening. I did get to the point where I thought "There's only so much pages left, how could everything possibly work out in that short of a time?" There are still questions left, but maybe there will be a spin-off? Or maybe I should read the Grisha trilogy to work it out? It's not actually interesting that not every detail is explained, but I need to know. Reminds me of the feeling after I had read American Gods.
This book took me a while to read, but I very much enjoyed all the characters. I can see how people think it's not strictly necessary, but I think I'm glad I read the Grisha Trilogy first, as I feel I wouldn't have enjoyed the story nearly as much.
