Published: September 27th 2016 by, Orion Children's Books
Series: Six of Crows book #2
Genre: YA books
Stars: 5/5
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 left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, 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 magic in the Grisha world.
Loved this book so much! It contained everything that a
final book needs; drama, intensity, action, love, tears and justice. So sad
that the series has ended with just two books. Click here to read my review of
the first book.
Kaz,
Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, and Wylan will forever be my most beloved
fictional crew.
First, let’s talk characters! The friendship forged between our
beloved six outcasts remain my favourite thing. Not only do the characters have
meaningful relationships with their respective romantic partners – they also
share beautiful moments with platonic members of the crew. Crooked Kingdom is
filled with character bonding and where friendships is one of the main themes
in this duology.
Whilst each character has their quirky
habits and personalities, the best scenes are the ones where six of them are together,
bantering and scheming.
The
amount of character development in this book is phenomenal. You get to
understand them individually as well as a group and learning about their
history and what they have been through throughout the story, just makes us
even more so invested in their mismatch family that they have put together.
Aside from its diverse and
charismatic cast of characters, Crooked Kingdom also boasts an arresting
story line, filled with cunning tricks and plot twists. Leigh Bardugo does an
amazing job in describing each scene (action and non action) that it seems
like you are there witnessing/experiencing it all with the characters at first
hand.
I would just love to have a look at Kaz’s
mind! How he schemes his way around things and situations is just amazing even
in scenes where you think there is no way out…..Kaz finds a way! And never
seems to disappoint.
The plot of Crooked Kingdom takes
numerous twists and turns – with alliances ever shifting and plans forever
being foiled.
Published: September 29th 2015 by Henry Holt and Company
Series: Six of Crows book #1
Genre: YA books
Stars: 5/5
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
This book was absolutely amazing!!! It deserves all its
stars.
I was very surprised at how good this book one, especially
after my dislike at Leigh’s previous books on the Grisha novels (which you can read the review for book 1 here and book 2 here). However, boy
is the Six of Crows something different altogether.
As the blurb shows, it is about a criminal heist (reminds me
soooo much of Ocean’s 11...or 12....or even 13.....well minus the whole
magic/dark background but you know whatever).
Each character has some sort of secret/hurt/dark past that
they want to escape. Leigh has given each character great depth and
personalisation by their past, despite them being criminals. It just makes you
root for them.
Kaz’s past, the leader of the group, has made him become who
he is. He’s 17 years old and literally runs a gang. He is feared, ruthless but
yet so lovable. He is the anti-hero of the story and I can’t stop loving him!
Especially when he tries so hard to show his feelings to a particular girl. But
yet he’s so stubborn on improving on his ways. He is quite literally, a broken
man, but one who is very clever and conniving.
He reminds me so much of Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders. His cartoon
caricature actually looks like him too.
The plot line was thrilling from beginning to end. There
definitely were times where I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, especially
the ending. And I still don’t! It left the readers wanting to know what happens
next (I know it certainly left me like that!). The poor misshapen group is
plunged into another heist and they didn’t even get what they wanted from the
first heist! All I know if that you do not want to make yourself an enemy of
Kaz. There is a lot of unopened secrets and questions, which I hope will be
revealed in the second book.
Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.
***WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS***
I was slightly disappointed with Siege and Storm. I loved
the first book which you can click here to check out the review. And I was
looking forward to getting my hands on the second book to continue with Alina’s
journey........but alas it wasn’t what I had anticipated it to be.
My opinions about the characters haven’t changed
drastically. Just a few minor comments.
I felt Mal was just overbearing in this book and not his
usual charming self. I understand that things have become veryyyy serious now
and they are running for their lives so there isn’t any time to be jokey and
easy going. But come on, cracking a few smiles here and there wouldn’t hurt.
My opinion of the Darkling, who hardly featured in this
book, isn’t as high as it was in the first book. I don’t know, but I just got
bored of him really, really, really quickly. Actually come to think of it, I
got bored of Mal and Alina very early on in the book.
The new addition in the book is the youngest Prince Nikolai.
I knew he was going to make an appearance in the second book and I knew he was
the pirate. Out of the book, his character made it me continue on with reading
the book. He was absolutely hilarious at time and serious in others. We don’t
know his true personality as he constantly changes it to suit whatever the
situation. I really liked him and I did what something to happen between him
and Alina, other than the whole charade they were putting on, but we all know
her heart still lies very much with Mal.
Moving on from there to relationships, I thought Alina’s and
Mal’s relationship was annoying. I mean they get jelous at ANYONE who looks at
the other person VERY VERY VERY quickly! That should not matter as frequently
as it does with them when you’re in love with someone. It was just sooo
frustrating whenever a prince takes Alina’s hand and Mal storms out the room or
a girl looks at Mal and Alina desperately wants to use her power against her.
The whole plot line was boring and flat, focusing mostly on
Alina’s hunger for more power. It slightly picked up at the end when Alina’s
little Grisha army were coming together and making weapons to their advantage.
After the small massacre at the end, Alina finds out that she no longer has her
power and to be honest it didn’t really faze me or surprise. It wasn’t a big
shock and my initial reaction was ‘oh, well using that much dark power would do
that to you’, even though she did it in order to save her friends lives. Maybe
it’s because I didn’t really feel any sort of sympathy or empathy towards her.
Alina is not a character that most readers (I think) will care about.
Notables quotes/passages:
“Watch yourself, Nikolai,” Mal said softly. “Princes bleed just like other men.” Nikolai plucked an invisible piece of dust from his sleeve. “Yes,” he said. “They just do it in better clothes.”
“I want to kiss you,” Nikolai said. “But I won’t. Not until you’re thinking of me instead of trying to forget him.”
“Do you answer a question directly?" "Hard to say. Ah, there, I've done it again”
“And there's no way I'm leaving you alone with Prince Perfect." "So you don't trust me to resist his charms?" "I don't even trust myself. I've never seen anyone work a crowd the way he does. I'm pretty sure the rocks and trees are getting ready to swear fealty to him.”
“You heard Prince Perfect," Mal said, and joined us at the table. Nikolai grinned. "I've had a lot of nicknames, but that one is easily the most accurate.”
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.
Okay,
I would like to point out that I fan girled ALL THE WAY THROUGH MOST THIS BOOK!
Eeikkeeeeeeeee! Talk about major book clenching!
Shadow and Bone was on
my summer book haul (yes the summer that went by *sigh* and I hadn’t finished
reading it until now butt my excuse is that there was just too many delicious
books to read first). However, after reading this book, I could kick myself for
not finishing reading it during that summer. IT WAS FREAKING AMAZABALLS!
Since the synopsis
was pretty much similar to most YA books, I was prepared to be disappointed.
HOWEVER, not only did it live up to its name, it left me bewildered of Leigh
Bardugo's incredibly writing skills. This book is brilliant because of her
creative outlet. Props to Leigh, here here!
Bardugo weaves a compelling tale, with a cast of fascinating characters and
places them in a completely harsh world. Plus, it has the DARKLING! Wohoo this sexy
villain is already making me sweat!
What makes this
book food for the eyes is the enticing world that Alina lives in. Ravka is full
of rich culture and history that is so bleak but brilliant for a dystopian
fantasy world. Ravka’s culture is based on traditional Russian culture and
Leigh captured this with her awesome descriptive skills. This in fact was one
of the key components that made it very different from any other dystopian
novels.
Alina Starkov is perhaps not your typical heroine. She is very insecure
about herself, her strength, her capabilities and her appearance. She has been
sickly and plain looking all her life and is incredibly sensitive to the
appearance of others, especially since beauty is a key component in this book
and everyone who is ridiculously strong is also ridiculously stunning.
Nevertheless, when she realises what her power could do for the people of Ravka
and beyond, she grows out of her insecurity and grows into the girl that she
was supposed to be all this time. Here we see that she becomes more confident,
more relaxed and happier. It was a joy for me to see how much she changed from
the first couple of chapters.
One of her love interest, Mal, had been her lifelong
childhood friend, a fellow orphan like herself and someone who she’s loved all
this time. At first I didn’t really like Mal. Don’t get me wrong, there’s
nothing wrong with him, just a typical guy best friend which every girl has
had, who you’ve been forever in love with but who won’t see you anything other
than a friend.......right? But there was nothing special about him. Yeah sure
he was a bit of a ladies’ man, what with his incredibly good looks and his
boyish charm......which was something that always made Alina jealous, but that
was it. However, to be honest, I can’t complain since we weren’t told a lot
about him anyway. Nevertheless, when he did make a bigger appearance during the
later chapters, I couldn’t help but fall slightly in love with him. Arghhh, I
was rooting for the Darkling all this time, but when Mal appeared, I had to
stop and rethink! Both him and Alina share so much history (well of course,
since they were brought up together) and when he realised that Alina’s always
been the girl for him (after seeing how happy she was with the
Darkling......JEALOUS MOMENT THERE) and confessing his love for her and how blind
he was all this time, I had to reconsider. Maybe Mal and Alina should get
together? Arghhh, I HATE having conflicting emotions when it comes to choosing
guys and I never normally go for the boring good one. Buttttt, in this case, there
was just something intriguing about Mal as a character.
BUT BACK TO THE
DARKLING! As I already said, I always go for the bad boy/villain, just
like Warner in ‘Shatter Me’, does that make me a crazy? To be honest this book
reminded me soooo much of Shatter Me especially with the Darkling who was
veryyyy similar to Warner (but this book was written in a better way than
Shatter Me). Anyway, there was something
deliciously evil about the Darkling. You
know what? Falling in love for a villain is the way forward and I don’t care
what anyone says....even though in actual real life, this would totally have
the opposite effect. At first, I thought he was just really misunderstood by
the whole population in Ravka and he actually wanted to do well by everyone.
Hey, it wasn’t his fault that they considered him evil. But then he does the
most horrific thing and we find out what his real motive was all along.....I’m
so confused but I still like him a lot....arghh. Help!
The Darkling (ha
funny name, but yes that is his real name) and Alina’s relationship is one of
lust, passion and full on sexual tension....eeikkee. So much more interesting
than her relationship with Mal. Why is it that the villain always brings out a
book clenching romance with the main girl but the boy (that the girl is
destined to be with and to be honest, can be frankly quite dull) brings no fiery
passion whatsoever? Whatever, despite the Darkling’s true intensions, I
still think there’s more to him anddddd he really does like Alina, as it showed
on numerous occasions when he got jealous every time Mal’s name was mentioned.
Beyond the characters, I found myself easily entertained and immersed in
Shadow and Bone. The idea of these different magical people and the different
divisions in court is brilliant. The conflict at the heart of the book focuses
on Alina’s gifts and her ability to one day bring peace to a sundered land, to
restore the inevitable deaths that occur once you’re in the Fold and to bring
harmony and light back to a blighted country. Of course, nothing is ever that
simple.
One thing that stops me giving it a 5/5 stars however, is
that in some parts of the book, the pace seemed to slow down and irrelevant
aspects to the story seemed to be just written for the sake of it.
Having said that, I can’t wait for the second book!
Notable quotes/passages:
“Then the memory of the Darkling's kiss blew through me and rattled my concentration, scattering my thoughts like leaves and making my heart swoop and dive like a bird borne aloft by uncertain currents.”
“Did you miss me, Alina? Did you miss me when you were gone?" "Every day," I said hoarsely. "I missed you every hour. And you know what the worst part was? It caught me completely by surprise. I'd catch myself walking around to find you, not for any reason, just out of habit, because I'd seen something I wanted to tell you about, or because I just wanted to hear your voice. And then I'd realize that you weren't there anymore, and every time, every single time, it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I've risked my life for you. I've walked half the length of Ravka for you, and I'd do it again and again and again just to be with you, just to starve with you and freeze with you and hear you complain about hard cheese every day. So don't tell me we don't belong together," he said fiercely. He was very close now, and my heart was suddenly hammering in my chest. "I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”
Title: Crooked Kingdom
