Crooked Kingdom: Book 2

Kaz Brekker has gotten his plan in motion to free Inej who is his spy, secret keeper, and the closest person to a friend that he has. When Jan Van Eck captured Inej to get Kuwei Yul-Bo and the recipe for jurda parem from Kaz, he did not anticipate all that “Dirty Hands” could throw at him. Nina is greatly weakened due to her use of jurda parem to aid in their escape attempt in the last book, but she will not give up and run while Inej is captured. Matthias will stay by Nina’s side and fight. Wylan has nowhere else to go. Jesper wants to earn back Kaz’s trust after his accidental betrayal that almost got them all killed and he needs the money to pay back the bank so that his family can keep their farm. Kuwei Yul-Bo is a tentative ally since he does not want to be captured. Will Kaz be able to come up with a plan brilliant enough to fight off a whole city?

This thrilling action and mystery book uses every bit of information that it give you to perfection. Whenever you think you know where the story is headed, the author pulls the rug out from under you. I love how the story just keeps changing and flowing around the different challenges that arise and is not afraid to knock its characters to their knees. This allows the characters strengths and weaknesses to shine as they have to attempt to make the game that has been set up for them work which is so fascinating to watch. Every line, conversation, and detail is important. I love this book which somehow manages to be more captivating than its predecessor.

If you liked this book, I would suggest: the Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo since these stories share the same world, the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown because of the same gritty feeling that it gives you while you’re reading it, or the Warcross duology by Marie Lu because it, too, is not afraid to knock its characters to the ground without reprieve.