Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo — Review

Six of Crows is the better-known book, the one that announces the characters and the world and the style. Crooked Kingdom is where Leigh Bardugo proves she is among the best plotters in commercial fiction, full stop. The heist structure of the first book becomes, in the second, something more complex and more emotionally resonant: a series of interlocking cons that converge into one of the most satisfying endings I have read in YA.

The gang is back in Ketterdam, which is dangerous for all of them and specifically dangerous for Wylan, Inej, and Nina in ways that Crooked Kingdom uses methodically. Kaz has a plan. Kaz always has a plan. The pleasure of this book is watching that plan encounter reality and adapt, and watching the people who implement it come into sharper focus as the pressure increases.

What Bardugo Does With the Ensemble

Each character in Crooked Kingdom gets the thing they most need — not what they want, necessarily, but what the story owes them. Wylan gets his identity and his truth. Nina gets to face her grief rather than outrun it. Inej gets a reckoning that is exactly right in its specificity. Jesper gets clarity about himself that is both painful and necessary.

Matthias’s arc, which spans both books, ends where it has to end, and Bardugo handles it with the directness the character deserves.

Kaz and Inej

If you read Six of Crows for any reason, it was probably at least partly for Kaz and Inej. Crooked Kingdom rewards that investment without sentimentalising it. Bardugo understands that the best thing she can do for this relationship is be honest about what it costs and what it can and cannot be, and she does exactly that. The scenes between them in the final third of the book are extraordinarily well written.

Why YA Readers Will Love This

Read Six of Crows first. That is not optional.

For readers who love heist fiction and want the payoff of an elaborately constructed plan: Crooked Kingdom’s finale is the payoff. Bardugo has built toward it across two volumes and she sticks the landing.

For readers who have been invested in these characters: this book is for you specifically. It takes everyone seriously. It pays every emotional debt the duology accumulated. It ends the way great duologies should end — with everything resolved and everything changed.

Essential. Non-negotiable. One of the best YA fantasy duologies ever written.

Published: September 2016 · Genre: YA fantasy/heist · Series: Six of Crows, Book 2

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Crooked Kingdom considered a superior heist novel to Six of Crows? The review calls Crooked Kingdom the book where ‘Leigh Bardugo proves she is among the best plotters in commercial fiction, full stop.’ The heist structure of the first book ‘becomes, in the second, something more complex and more emotionally resonant: a series of interlocking cons that converge into one of the most satisfying endings’ the reviewer has read in YA. Kaz’s plan encountering reality and adapting provides the core pleasure.

How does Crooked Kingdom handle the ensemble cast? The review says ’each character in Crooked Kingdom gets the thing they most need — not what they want, necessarily, but what the story owes them.’ Wylan gets his identity and his truth; Nina gets to face her grief rather than outrun it; Inej gets a reckoning ’exactly right in its specificity’; Jesper gets ‘clarity about himself that is both painful and necessary.’ Matthias’s arc ’ends where it has to end,’ handled with directness.

How is the Kaz and Inej relationship resolved in Crooked Kingdom? The review credits Bardugo with understanding that ’the best thing she can do for this relationship is be honest about what it costs and what it can and cannot be, and she does exactly that.’ The scenes between them in the final third are described as ’extraordinarily well written,’ rewarding investment ‘without sentimentalising it.’ The relationship is neither abandoned nor resolved tidily.

Is Six of Crows required reading before Crooked Kingdom? Yes — the review is unambiguous: ‘Read Six of Crows first. That is not optional.’ Crooked Kingdom is designed as a direct continuation whose emotional payoff depends entirely on the investment built across the first volume. The duology is described as ‘one of the best YA fantasy duologies ever written.’

What is the setting of Crooked Kingdom? The gang returns to Ketterdam, ‘which is dangerous for all of them and specifically dangerous for Wylan, Inej, and Nina in ways that Crooked Kingdom uses methodically.’ The city’s criminal ecosystem — established in Six of Crows — becomes the backdrop against which the interlocking cons play out, and Bardugo uses the familiar setting to create specific vulnerabilities for each character.

Further Reading from Authoritative Sources

• Crooked Kingdom — Wikipedia’s Crooked Kingdom article provides publication details, critical reception, and series context that helps readers understand the novel’s place in the Six of Crows duology and the broader Grishaverse.
• Leigh Bardugo — Wikipedia’s Leigh Bardugo article provides biographical and bibliographical context including the Grishaverse trilogy and Six of Crows duology, helping readers understand the scope of the universe Crooked Kingdom concludes.