It's unpopular opinion time, you guys. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I didn't love Crooked Kingdom.
After I finished Six of Crows, I couldn't wait to start on this book, but I wonder if jumping into the sequel so soon had been a mistake. Without a doubt, this duology is complex and complicated, filled with a long and epic mission, lots of lovable if flawed characters, and so many twists and turns that you'll get whiplash. But it was just too much of a good thing and it felt never-ending.
Part of the issue for me is that the sequel is essentially an extension of the first book, but without its laser-focused mission. Instead, the mission of this book was meandering, cleaning up all the loose ends and getting to things that were not achieved in the first book. Now there are multiple purposes driving the gang forward: rescue, vengeance, money, reputation, and staying alive. And so the mission became muddled and rambling.
It didn't help that this is a huge book at 500+ pages. Our gang lays out elaborate plans, then things go wrong, then they lay out other elaborate plans, then more things go wrong, repeated ad nauseam. I think for someone who loves this universe and these people, having such a drawn out plot is a good thing, but it wasn't for me. I didn't need to read every little detail about this universe or what happens when things go wrong again and again. I feel this book could easily have cut out 200 pages, and still delivered the same story.
It took me so long to get through this book. Every time I thought about reading some more, I just got this feeling of fatigue. If I took any individual chapter of this book, I can say that it was great fun and well-written. But put together, it was just too much. Instead of feeling exhilarated by this ride, I felt exhausted and spent, and relieved to have reached the end.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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