Crooked Kingdom Puns

Before I get absolutely crucified, let me emphasize that the SoC duology is still my favorite part of the written Grishaverse. Leigh Bardugo's writing style throughout the whole series is gold, but there's something about the character dynamics among the Crows (and the supporting characters they interact with), the dialogue/banter, and the scope of the heists they pull off... all of that is damn near perfect.

No, the reason I'm conflicted on the possibility of a third Six of Crows book is - I'm having a hard time thinking of how the remaining crew could get back together, in a way that doesn't feel contrived simply for the sake of having a third book. Inej is off on her crusader's hunt of slavers, Matthias is dead, and from what I've read of King of Scars (and can find on the wiki for Rule of Wolves), Nina seems to be pretty firmly entrenched in her mission for Ravka. So that leaves Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan... who could definitely still work as a crew, but it wouldn't be the same.

Thoughts?

Hey everyone! This is a new fan of the Grishaverse universe and the books, so I would like to ask for some advice. My relatives gifted me Six of Crows because they thought I'd like the book (I do). Back then I didn't know it was a part of such big world like the Grishaverse, so I started reading it. I'm at such point deep in the story that it's too interesting to stop and switch to the first trilogy...

Anyways I'd like to ask for some help and advise for when I do finish SoC: should I continue with Crooked kingdom or go back to Shadow and bone (and the other 2 books) before I do so? I only recently found out how the timeline of Grishaverse goes according to the books so I'm kinda worried I might be missing some important stuff because of this

Thank you in advance <3

I will never emotionally recover from this. Oh no, Matthias, the golden boy! Such an amazing character development and such an untimely death! I had started to like him. The last three chapter though. Damn, that felt amazing for my Kanej stanning heart. That was so pure and wholesome. Man, I know people say this a lot but I’d give my soul to be able to read this again for the first time. Absolutely amazing.

Since the Crows are officially complete, here's the remaining supporting and key characters I'd cast:

Jan Van Eck: Michael Shannon. Bringing a big name is a great opportunity to flesh out a character in the screen and it would give the writers to make Van Eck a main character as the Crows instead of being the antagonist to the leads much like Vincent D'Onofrio's Fisk in Daredevil that he's both an antagonist and a main character; giving Van Eck a screentime would parallel Kaz and Crows. I hear his voice whenever I was reading Van Eck's parts in the books.

Michael Shannon has intense screen presence who doesn't need to lift a voice to be commanding, and he can both sympathetic, threatening. His range of acting in roles he play in his filmography show he can take on all the crows. He's also an actor who bring out the best out of his screen partners especially Jack Wolfe's Wylan that make the audience believe he's the one who gave Wylan a hard time.

Alys Van Eck: Aidy Bryant. SNL alum and a comedian. Alys could've easily been a plot device like Kuwei but her interactions with the crows are hilarious, and you'd need someone like Aidy who can bring comedic chops and can improv with the cast members plus Alys had an impression to me that she's influenced the Crows' choices to be brave and bold that Aidy can bring to the table like the light-hearted presence in a grim show.

Kuwei Yul-Bo: Gordon Maeda. Mostly known in in J-dramas, he's spent some time in the US and speaks fairly good English plus he and Jack Wolfe are both musically inclined. Gordon has that cool, prim and proper attitude who can crack a sassy remark out of blue.

Adem Bajan: Anupam Tripathi. He's funny and harmless also unpredictable in Squid Game. What I like in his acting his he's believable enough not to be lying that let you put your guard down. I think he can hold his own against Michael Shannon and Amita Suman.

Colm Fahey: Nolan North. A veteran voice actor, best known for Nathan Drake from Uncharted games. He's done on camera actor and plays dad/everyman roles, and gotta say his acting in both medi

i feel like i won’t enjoy shadow and bone as much for some reason?? i was thinking about reading king of scars next but that’s after CK and SoC so if i go and read the rest of the books (SaB,SaS,RaR) after i’ve read king of scars, i feel like that’s gonna complicate things for me and also i keep seeing ppl on twitter talk about this nikolai guy and they’re obsessed with him so that makes me curious if i should read the other books to understand everything completely

When does Kaz say, “My mother is Ketterdam. She birthed me in the harbour…” etc. ? Thanks!

Has Nina somehow tapped into Merzost? The way her powers changed after parem, the way she controls the dead. I really like how she’s evolving. And Nina & Mathias relationship is everything.

I am missing 30 pages????

So this was for art class but I decided to post this here since it might interest you. I hope you enjoy this! BTW it might contain spoilers for crooked kingdom (kinda ambiguous but I want to be sure) as well for the pairings in general so if you didn't read both SoC and CK, it might spoil. Read at your discretion!

Kaz Brekker :

I was born a Rietveld, but there was plague and Jordie died

Brick by brick, Rollins, i'll destroy you cause you lied

I broke my leg in my glory, please, don't touch me

My cane is a crow but I'm leader of a murder

The Dregs are my family bit I'll always love her

Is my tie alright, oh Wraith, can we be?

So that's that. I'll post the next five parts over the weekend (since I have school) and again, I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did while writing it! Please upvote if you like it!!! Thanks!!

When Inej says “you will see me once more, but only once” to Van Eck when she’s crossing the bridge as they’re making the trade with Alys. What did she mean by this? Was it like “when I see you again, I’ll kill you and that’ll be the last you see me/anyone”?

I just find it odd because it seemed like a promise of revenge, almost like a parallel to Kaz’s revenge vow of “brick by brick” with Pekka Rollins, yet in the end it didn’t really amount to anything—it was Kaz’s plans that sent Van Eck into his misery in jail.

Heard about Six of Crows and decided to give it a shot. Within the book it mentions the Grisha Trilogy so I moved on to Shadow and Bone. After reading that I learned about Crooked Kingdom and read that one (I wasn't fully aware whether Six of Crows came first in the timeline or Shadow and Bone) and of course promptly spoiled the Grisha Trilogy haha.

Six of Crows was the first book I read for myself and not school in years. I didn’t do anything else in my free time the past week besides read this duology and now I’m done and don’t know what to do with my life. I never want the story to end and I want to follow up with the characters forever. I’m going to look into similar series suggested in the mega thread but I just feel like I’ll never find anything that will pull me in and not let go like this did, but then again I had no expectation to even want to finish Six of Crows when I bought it since it’d been so long since I’d really enjoyed reading.

Please send help, how do I move on? 😭

Looking for more books with clever protagonists, kind of like Sherlock Holmes-y but not necessarily solving crimes. Just always thinking ahead. I realize this is a very specific ask but thought I’d throw it out there. Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/m76piqoksho71.png?width=637&format=png&auto=webp&s=609f93cf680ff10496f682ecd86c7f6ba47036a9

I almost can't believe it. She was the one who killed Jesper's mother (indirectly, but still).

So, I read the Crooked Kingdom a few weeks back but the scene in chapter 40 where Matthias is killed still bugs me so much and I wanted to know if anyone feels the same.

The dead felt so pointless and just there for the sake of drama and so Nina could be single in king of scars. There were no consequences to his death. And apart from Nina it seemed like none of the crows even cared. The story was wrapped up and everyone got their happily ever after (exept Nina because I guess she is in the next series) and none even thinks twice about him.

How do we feel about Genya so easily tailoring Marie's face from Alina's in the Shadow and Bone show? Obviously we know she's an incredibly skilled Tailor but in Crooked Kingdom it takes her hours to tailor Wylan's face back from Kuwei's. Do you think it's because tailoring Marie's face was her own work so it was easier to undo it or is it just for convenience in the show?

I recently purchased the book from Amazon but i noticed the sprayed-on black paint on the edges of the pages was staining my fingers. Is it doing it for anyone else, or did I end up receiving a counterfeit copy? The pages also appear to be thinner than the six of crows edition.

Matthias 😭 I wasn’t ready.

I wanted just a bit more out of the ending. I was a little disappointed at first but I re-read the last Inej chapter and accepted that Kaz was showing himself without armor and could understand that that was all I was going to get from them. I didn’t love that the book finished with Pekka, he didn’t deserve that honor. I liked the realization he had in the last paragraph but I would have loved the book to end with Kaz in his room with Inej at the windowsill. Just something a little more reassuring between the two of them or Kaz’s thoughts at least. Or I would have liked a small glimpse as to what each character had gone on to do. What did everyone else think of the ending?

I read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom and they were so amazing that I don’t know how to cope now that I’ve finished the books. What books have you used to fill the gaping hole the Crows have left behind in your heart? I’m open to other suggestions but I particularly love fantasy/supernatural books.

Any recommendations would be great!

Don't read if you don't want to see spoilers below! Thanks :)

I can't believe Kaz and Inej didn't end up together. Or did they? It's sort of implied, I guess. I like to imagine that they did.

Also, can we talk about KAZ FREAKING BREKKER finding Inej's parents for her?! I'm almost in tears at the end of her story. What a beautiful way to end it. Inej got everything she deserved and I wish her nothing but the best. ❤️😭

Does the author’s other books take place in the same universe? If so, could you point me towards them?

I was reading chapter 26, and right in the middle of it I started bawling my eyes out ☺️ Before starting the book I heard people talk about "the bathroom scene" and I kind of expected something spicy but this chapter is perfectly sad and beautiful and amazing just like this. I love how Leigh decided to take this direction with these characters and I dare to hope that the ending of the book won't crush my soul into thousands of pieces. 😌

I was rereading the scene where Matthias soothes a very pregnant Alys Van Eck and I kept thinking of how we were robbed of Helnik as parents and how adorable it would have been to see Matthias dotting over Nina.

🙂💔

I am in so much pain....

“Have none of you people ever encountered a pregnant woman before?” Matthias grumbled. He remembered his mother’s discomfort and moods well, though he suspected Alys’ behavior might owe nothing to the child she was carrying. He tore a strip from one of the ragged blankets in the corner. “Here,” he said to Jesper. “Dip this in water so we can make a cool compress.” He squatted down and said to Alys, “I’m going to take off your shoes.” “Why?” she said. “Because your feet are swollen, and it will soothe you to have them rubbed.” “Oh, now this is interesting,” Nina said. “Don’t get any ideas.” “Too late,” she said, wiggling her toes.”

—Crooked Kingdom, Chap-8

Recently, I have discovered these two books on the basis of great Goodreads rating..

So should I go for it?

Spoilers for Crooked Kingdom below

When Kaz calls Jesper Jordie,

Does anyone remember the page I can’t find it for the life of me

So... I just finished reading Crooked Kingdom

That was amazing. Freaking amazing. I have a book hangover and I want more but there’s no 3rd book :(

So.. the ships were my favourite part of the duology, but my favourite one: Kanej

Their ship ended in what I would usually say a good spot, but honestly I’m so sad that there wasn’t more. I know that they progressed a long way and still have much longer to go, but honestly I really wanted a kiss or an epilogue or SOMETHING. And now I have nothing but my longing misery :(

Don’t get me wrong, it was so good but my emotions about Kanej are really just taking over my mind and I can’t think about anything else in the book other than ships, specifically, Kanej. I just cannot get over how Kaz has such a soft spot for Inej, I think I found my favourite romance trope lol.

Does anyone have any fluff fanfics for Kanej? I need more. Right now please. I think I also need help. Severe mental help to get over this hangover that won’t end.

Also RIP Matthias I nearly cried And when Jesper kissed Kuwei instead of Wylan I nearly screamed in horror lmao, the thought occurred to me jokingly before I turned the page that hmm maybe it’s Kuwei lol but I thought nahhhh its Wylan and then... nOpe. Poor Jesper.

Please I need some Kanej fluff please I am begging.

Thank you for reading my rambling post.

I’m about 75% down with Six of Crows and honestly I think it’s just ok. But I’ve heard the sequel is really good and I loved Shadow and Bone and wanted to read everything before watching the Netflix show. Did anyone think SoC was just ok but kept going and was glad they read CK? I’m trying to figure out if I should stick it out without spoiling anything.

GIVEAWAY

I’m not sure if this is allowed (I’m sure it’ll disappear if not lol)but I was going through my grisha collection (which is obsessively massive lol) and for some reason, I have an extra signed copy of Crooked Kingdom. I have a feeling that I got it signed as a giveaway for my blog a million years ago and just never did it.

But anyway I don’t need it! The book is basically perfect and is signed by Leigh. I’d love for it to go to someone who’d really appreciate it so I’m giving it away for free. I’d like to say US only, mostly because shipping to other places is a LOT.

Please message me if you’re interested. I’ll delete this once I have someone

Edit: I’m going to do a giveaway to make it fair! Just comment your favorite Grishaverse character and I’ll do a random selector in 24 hours!

2nd Edit: I didn’t forget about you all! Today was a crazzzzzy day and I will pick a winner first thing tomorrow!!

When Kaz goes to the sweet reef to get Inej and Nina says the look between them “ was the first sight of land, the hope of shelter and even salvation that might await you on a distant shore”, what does she mean? I took it to mean that she knew they loved each other but now I’m not sure.

(The last paragraph of chapter 22 in CK)

i just finished chapter 24 of crooked kingdom… wtf is this.. JESPER THOUGHT KUWEI WAS WYLAN