Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo | I have no words {Yomna's Review}

  Just kidding, that title was just for effect! I definitely I have some words! 

One word review (for those too lazy to read the whole thing. It's okay, I understand): WOW

My rating: 5/5

Heavy SPOILERS for the whole series, you have been warned!

Holy sh*t. 

I have just died. That was the stress ride of a lifetime and I think I've aged ten years at least. I feel like I've died. But honestly, this death is worth it. I don't know why I keep reading this books that hurt my heart and my brain. How could this be the end of this PHENOMENAL series? How could there not be more? 

I was reading this using my phone as a flashlight last night because my dad wanted me to go to bed but I had to finish. And today my wrist hurt from holding the phone up, but you know what, its worth it. The things I would do for this book. 

Guys, I cried so much this book is not for the faint of heart. It is beautiful but heartbreakingly so. But first, let me address spoilers. So I was scrolling through Twitter yesterday and by mistake, I clicked on a tweet that said, "Nina Zenik is waking up alone (crying face emoji)". Being on the 350th page of Crooked Kingdom, I was confused. Then I realized that my baby Mattias died. At first, I was angry. Then, I was scared. Like our baby Wylan, I really thought they'd all make it. I mean, after all they've been through, the impossible fights, Mattias dies?? From a bullet?? Whyyyyyy. But then I read the book and ladies and gentlemen, I loved it. Well, not the fact that he died but the ending gave me a sense of continuation. I really felt that Nina and Mattias would reunite and be happy. It just didn't have to be now, and I'm coming to terms with that. Make no mistake though, there will definitely be mourners at this funeral. 

Anyways, as I continued through the book, I was having heart palpitations from the pain and the joy it gave me. It was a lot of stress and I'm gonna have gray hair after this. All in all, though I'm really happy with the ending. There was this feeling of whimsicalness that I felt. I loved that Inej and Kaz are starting to work together, but I also appreciate how all their wounds don't spontaneously disappear. And hey, at least my baby Inej didn't die, or else I don't know what would happen to me. To be honest, I'm just really impressed with how Bardugo handled a major character death because it's really hard for most people to pull it off without losing fans' love (*cough* Veronica Roth). Instead, Mattias' sendoff was handled perfectly. But also, I can't help that my heart was quite literally shattered. Its very painful when such a pivotal character died, and it hurts. And despite not hating the way the death was executed, I also don't think that his death added anything to the story since it was very sudden. I don't think that he needed to die to advance the story. :(

I love the appearance of the Shadow and Bone characters in this book. It felt like I was in on something no one else knew because I knew Stormhond was Nikolai and all that jazz. And Zoya and Genya are amazing as ever. I feel like I love them more now that they're matured under responsibility. I would've liked for Inej to meet Alina or something and go to Ravka but that's okay. 

Again, I find myself needing to applaud the diversity in these books. The characters are so different, they're so beautiful I honestly love it. This book is really good with representation. Most of all, my favorite character is still Inej and it always will be. For some reason, I expected her backstory to be blurred out in this book but we really saw all her suffering and it hurt to see a beloved character go through that. This is definitely not a book for those not ready to read about violence. 

The relationships were so good!!! I shipped Kaz and Inej so hard and Nina and Mattias as well until they got titanic-ed (still sobbing by the way). Wylan and Jesper were perfect as always. All the characters were so well written it was so easy to relate and connect with the characters. 

I feel like there's more story to tell with these characters so I hope Leigh Bardugo will write more. I really don't feel a lot of closure because I love these characters so much and I want to be them and read about them more. This book has brought me so much pain and the ending is bittersweet. Every time I think about this book I feel like tears are near. Its so surreal and that's what I usually feel when I finish a good series so good job, Bardugo, you've shaken me and no doubt many other readers.

Until next time,
Yomna