Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo | Rating: ★★★★★“I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting.”
Wow. That's the first coherent thought I have when I consider the conclusion of Crooked Kingdom. As always, Leigh Bardugo kills it and exceeds my expectations for what she has in store. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how to wrap up a story. This is not just a writer penning a story full of magic--this is a writer being literal magic. Six of Crows was brilliant and Crooked Kingdom is just as so.
Truly, I can't stress how beautifully written this story is. It has everything you could want from a YA fantasy novel. A lot of action. A lot of danger. A hint of romance. Some teenage angst thrown in for good measure. And whole lot of soul. I didn't think that Bardugo could pack quite the same punch with Crooked Kingdom but she did.
Further, Bardugo's writing just keeps getting better. From her first story in Shadow and Bone all the way to Crooked Kingdom, she has proven that she is one of the brightest stars in YA literature. She is coming for that thrown. If you've liked her previous works, you know exactly what I am saying: she just keeps getting better. Which is shocking in and of itself, considering she has always been brilliant.
