The Crooked Kingdom (2016)

*Premise spoilers, which includes major spoilers for the end of Six of Crows.*

The second half of the Six of Crows duology is a banger. While the first book probably offers more straight-up action, hijinks, and excitement, book two still contains a good amount of all that while also featuring a lot of beautiful character work.

When Kaz accepted the nigh-impossible job of breaking into the militaristic Fjerda’s Grisha-hunting stronghold, that was supposed to be the hard part (obviously.) But it turns out collecting his reward is no small feat either. Van Eck, the wealthy merchant who hired for the job, double-crosses him, and Kaz’s contingencies are barely enough to limp away. Now Van Eck is holding Inej, Nina’s Grisha abilities have taken a powerful hit, and the Crows are still in possession of one of the most sought-after Grisha in the world. It’s going to require the best of everyone’s skills just to survive, let alone to come out on top, but if anyone can manage it, Kaz is determined that it’ll be him and his crew.

Six of Crows probably has the tighter plot of the two: one big heist, and even though there’s plenty of course-correction as curveballs get thrown their way, everything flows toward this central plot. In The Crooked Kingdom, the Crows have an overarching goal, but attempting to pull it off requires a wide variety of mini-heists and assorted moves, with additional side plots branching off for most of the characters. This means it’s a little less focused, and some aspects of the story come off better than others. Wylan definitely comes into his own in this book, and his backstory is riveting. Some of Kaz’s wheels-within-wheels schemes are pretty darn spectacular. On the other hand, there’s an assassin side plot that, while cool, doesn’t go much of anywhere, and I feel like Jesper’s storyline spends a bit too much of its time on the least interesting part of it.

That said, even if the narrative is a little more uneven, it’s still an excellent book, particularly where the character work is concerned. We dive much deeper into each of the individual Crows and the relationships between them, and there’s some utterly fantastic stuff here. I’ll repeat my praise for Wylan’s fleshing-out, and in particular, every scene between Kaz and Inej just crackles. (Side note: it’s interesting how the Alina/Mal will-they-won’t-they feels so played out in the Shadow and Bone trilogy when Kaz and Inej’s dynamic is practically setting the page on fire with romantic longing, personal damage, and sexual tension.) I really like the developments with Nina and Matthias, and even if I think Jesper could’ve had a better storyline, it takes him on quite a journey on the whole.

All that, plus heaps of one-liners and scheming. There are also a few Shadow and Bone Easter eggs, which are fun. Overall, it’s a satisfying conclusion to Six of Crows that goes in some wild directions I wasn’t expecting.

All I know about the final duology in the series, King of Scars, is who it centers so, so I’m not sure if any of these characters will make an appearance. I hope they do, though, as long as they can be fit in in a way that makes sense. They’re too great to be confined to just two books!

Warnings

Violence (including references to rape,) sexual references, language, drinking/smoking/drug use, and strong thematic elements.