Crooked Kingdom: Collector's Edition

Crooked Kingdom is the second book in the Six of Crows duology, and continues to follow the adventures of the characters we've grown so familiar with from the first book, essentially picking up where the first book left off and giving us the aftermath of the heist. A whole host of unanswered questions remain as to the fate of the crew, and Crooked Kingdom does not disappoint in giving us what we want from a sequel.

My love for this book and the duology as a collective can't be understated. It's so incredibly well written and rich in world building and character depth, which only seems to deepen and unravel with each chapter. The book, although a fairly long read, didn't fail to keep my attention and always kept me eager and excited for my next reading session when I could delve deeper into the world and learn more about the crew's adventure.

It's seriously impressive to me just how well written Kaz and all of the other members of the crew were. The author does an amazing job of pouring such depth into each of her characters. You can tell she really put her heart and soul into the backstories of each one and their identities, and this effort rewards the reader as you savor each interaction between them and are able to understand and appreciate why certain characters are the way they are as a result of their backstories and history.

The plot itself was another strong point of this novel. The author really keeps you on your toes when reading through as the plot twists and turns delightfully, keeping things exciting and unpredictable throughout. Trying to second-guess Kaz Brekker's schemes went about as well for me as it does for most others in Kerch!

Fair warning: this book will certainly make you feel things! Ultimately each of the crew have fairly complex and traumatic pasts that make up who they are, and throughout the story these characters have to wrestle with their own individual traumas and challenges, manifesting for some in physical limitations and pretty much for all in their mental states. There's a lot of heavy and heart-wrenching stuff here as a result of that, and I certainly felt it as a reader. It was also rewarding as a reader to experience some of the characters taking steps to heal from these experiences, or finding other ways to overcome their limitations.

Another part of this whole series that I enjoyed was the diversity of the crew, and how the plot-lines explored bigotry in various ways. Not only bigotry, but in some cases perpetrators of such being able to heal from their indoctrinated views when allowed to make their own discoveries in life outside of their echo chambers and views they once held as sacred. Some of the budding romances here were adorable, and also a major heartstrings-puller as things fully unfolded. Matthias and Nina's arc is certainly very memorable.

I think my only criticism here would actually be the age the characters are portrayed as. I think when reading through this story, I had mentally aged the characters up by 10 years from the stated ages in the book as I found it to be more fitting. Ultimately I feel the author/publishers wanted the characters portrayed as younger to capitalize on the YA marketing hype, but it feels more right from a story perspective if you imagine them to be a little older, in my opinion.

Ultimately if you love epic quests undertaken by groups of flawed, but lovable, rogues, some fantasy elements and a tale of learning to adapt and overcome your fears and shortcomings, or turning those perceived shortcomings into advantages, this is a series you'll love. It's not understated when I saw this is one of my favorite fantasy series. I shall be moving on to watching the Netflix series set in the same universe and featuring some of the same characters from the Six of Crows duology called Shadow and Bone.

"No mourners."

Six of Crows is an epic tale following the journey of 6 bandits looking to pull off the heist of their lives, with plenty of twists, turns, and some unexpected romance along the way!

This was my first foray into the universe created by this author which began with earlier novels. As such, I was a little trepidatious about not being able to fully enjoy Six of Crows due to not being aware of the lore and backstories that came before it. Thankfully, however, I didn't find that to be a barrier at all. This novel more than stands on its own in that regard with no previous knowledge of the universe being required, although I'm sure a more full knowledge of the universe may have made reading Six of Crows even more enjoyable for those who have.

Six of Crows takes us on a gritty adventure to the seedy underbelly of Ketterdam, where we meet a motley, rag-tag bunch of criminals who all find themselves aligned despite coming from very different backgrounds. One of the major strengths of Six of Crows is the depth of these characters, whose backstories are slowly revealed to the reader at appropriate intervals during the story. The interweaving of each characters' personal journeys and history is seamless alongside the main plot; the author strikes a masterful balance of introducing backstory for each character at very timely moments that help the reader understand precisely where characters are coming from and their motivations.

The plot twists and twists-on-top-of-twists are deliciously executed that will have you as a reader guessing and second guessing where the story is going. One thing is for sure though: The cunning of Kaz Brekker is never to be underestimated!

This book will have you feeling all the things and ultimately take you on an excitingly deep journey into this world filled with a lot of moral ambiguity, characters wrestling with their own emotions, struggles with past trauma, and feelings. There'll be joy, triumph, setbacks, and tears with some epic magic along the way too! There's also some awesome female badasses who were very easy for me to root for as well.

This was a top drawer fantasy novel for me, and I'll immediately be reading the second book in this series: Crooked Kingdom.

"No mourners. No funerals."