Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows 2) - Leigh Bardugo

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

Really loved this second installment in the Six of Crows duology, though not quite as much as the first one. I really enjoyed the development Nina and Matthias both got--in the last book, I always groaned during their chapters, but I actively liked them this time! And I LOVED the addition of Wylan's POV.

This book felt more like a series of wacky schemes than one big heist, which I didn't like as much, but I loved the worldbuilding and the way things fell together (and sometimes didn't). And I loved the diversity in the characters, not just racially but also in terms of their backgrounds and their morality. Kaz is such an interesting antihero who you want so badly to root for even though he's a pretty awful person, and this book made me think so much about morality and "bad" people, and how many bad things people are allowed to do when so many bad things have happened to them. And I also really liked this glimpse into the lives of people who are NOT heroes in a world obviously going through a lot of turmoil. I kind of wish the theme of revenge not being the best thing to hold onto for the rest of your life was explored more, but it's okay, I can explore it in my head.

In the end, most of my gripes were very minor, except that a character I liked died and after that I told Maggie I didn't want to read the rest anymore (but I still did). In my eyes, character deaths like these are unforgivable. I don't care if it's unrealistic! That's what I read fiction for!

But that being said I loved the relationships, both platonic and romantic (and something in between), and I loved the character development, and some of the family and trauma stuff got me real choked up. I have no interest in her other books in this 'verse, but I'm glad I read these.