Crooked Kingdom
2016
- young adult
- fantasy
- magic
- juvenile fiction
- friendship
- revenge
- brigands and robbers
- fiction
- juvenile audience
- fantasy fiction
The story
Preceeded by [Six of Crows](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17332479W/Six_of_Crows) BOOK TWO of the [Six of Crows Duology](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19758128W/Six_of_Crows_Crooked_Kingdom) Crooked Kingdom is a fantasy novel by American author Leigh Bardugo, published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2016. Set in a world loosely inspired by 19th-century Europe, it takes place days after the events of the duology's first book, [Six of Crows](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17332479W/Six_of_Crows). The plot is told from the third-person viewpoints of six characters.
What it’s like
Grimy, lamplit canals under sleet and gaslight, coal smoke and brine in the air, a city of gambling houses and crooked bridges that feels cold to the touch. The sound is quick banter tossed across tense rooms, with fights and plans crackling in sharp bursts. Told in rotating close-third chapters, the book moves like a heist: brisk, clever, full of double-crosses and dry jokes, with quieter stretches of tenderness among its crew of misfit thieves. The tone is wry and emotionally sharp, a found-family story about loyalty, grief and the cost of revenge. Violence is frequent and sometimes brutal, including torture and deaths, though rendered on the page without much gore; romance includes on-page kissing and restrained intimacy. Suited to a rainy evening or a long train ride, for readers who want a fast, clever caper with heart and morally grey characters, and whose banter-loving tastes run toward high stakes.
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