I’m starting to find that I have a type of book that always ekes its way into the five star range. They are books that while the main story is not love, love is entwined in the story in a big bad way. The Crooked Kingdom does this with incredible success.
The Crooked Kingdom is the second book in the Six of Crows duology and takes place almost immediately after the previous book begins. It is a book that I wish I had started right after finishing Six of Crows because there is no long winded explanation of what we missed and what has changed, it was just BOOM. Off to the races. The teens that make up this gang are all characters that I connected with in very different but impactful ways. I think that is why the love parts of this book had my heart melting.
Let’s be honest. Love is hard. Finding love, keeping love, protecting love is hard to do and in doing so, you risk yourself as well. That is where this book shines. There are three couples in this book that all come together and in some cases depart in very different ways, each just as beautiful as the other. It shines a light on how messy love is emotionally without forcing the reader into a spicy sex scene. Even better than a sex scene, this book explores loss, it explores wanting, it explores trying to be better – no matter how broken you are.
Sure, this book is fantastical, it’s got action and witty heroes getting one over on the big bads, but I will always remember this book for the pictures it painted of love.
5 out of 5 stars. Easily.
