Ms. Hen Reviews Crooked Kingdom
Crooked Kingdom
Leigh Bardugo
Macmillan Publishing Group
2016
Ms. Hen read the other book in this duology, Six of Crows, this past summer, and she thought the sequel would be pleasant to read during the holiday season.
This novel continues the tale of the group of misfits and criminals who broke into the Ice Court in Fjerda and released the son of the person who created Jurda Parem, a drug that enhances the Grisha power, but makes them addicted. Grisha are witches that have a specific power, Inferni can start fires, Fabrikators can create things, and Hearttrenders can stop or start a person’s heart, among other types of Grisha.
Kaz is the leader of the group, and their mastermind. They make plans to do things and become rich, but the attempts they make do not always come to fruition. They do manage to release Inez from being captured by Jan Van Eck, the powerful merchant, who is Wylan’s father. Kaz and the crew plan to poison Van Eck’s sugar supply, but fail because they are found.
Nina and Matthias become better acquainted, and Jesper and Wylan learn to understand each other. Nina is addicted to Jurda Parem, and suffers because she needs it. She has lost her Grisha heartrender powers, and cannot perform the way she did before, but she discovers a new power. Wylan finds his mother in a psychiatric hospital, and is shocked that his father put her there, but Jesper helps him deal with his suffering.
This is a novel about friendship and love and scheming. The group works together to get what they want, and they fail and afterwards, they succeed, but they always have each other’s backs. Kaz is brilliant, but manipulative, but he is a scarred person because of the trauma in his youth. He thirsts for revenge on Pekka Rollins for taking his money and the death of his brother, and it almost ruins him.
This novel is also about being true to oneself, and not being ashamed. Jesper is a Grisha, but was told by his father that he should keep that to himself, because Grisha are feared in the country where they live, Novyi Zem. Jesper suffers because he does not express his true nature and this comes out by gambling and fighting, but when he uses his powers and becomes himself, his life is better and he feels more satisfied.
Wylan is ashamed that he cannot read, and his father tried to kill him because he believes Wylan is not capable of becoming the heir, but he learns to deal with his limitations, and the world around him. Wylan is brilliant with science and music. People have talents that they have to nurture, and not everyone has the same strengths.
Ms. Hen found one mention of a rooster in this novel: Kaz was talking to Per Haskell, the leader of the Dregs, about loyalty, “Who do you want standing in that doorway when the lion gets hungry? A crow? Or a washed-up rooster who squawks and struts, the sides with a Dime Lion and some dirty merch against one of his own?”
Ms. Hen thinks this novel is a beautiful tale of friendship and the dark side of people trying to get what they want. She thinks the worldbuilding is beautiful in this novel, and Ms. Hen loves that Ketterdam, the city where the novel takes place, is loosely based on Amsterdam. It’s also based on London, Las Vegas, and Antwerp, but Ms. Hen likes that the characters travel around on boats in the canals, and she can almost smell the stagnant water. Ms. Hen recommends this novel for the holiday season or any other time.