Double-crossed and hunted, the crew schemes its way through one last con while four near-romances finally crack open.
- Score
- 86.9
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Sweet
- POV
- multi
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
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What readers think
Readers broadly regard Crooked Kingdom as a worthy — and for many, superior — conclusion to the duology, praising the escalating complexity of the cons, deeper character backstories (especially Wylan's first POV), and the emotionally resonant found-family payoffs. The Kaz/Inej relationship arc is frequently cited as one of the most satisfying slow-burns in YA fantasy, culminating in a scene that hits precisely because it is so restrained. The death of Matthias is consistently described as gutting and divisive — some feel it earns its emotional weight, others wished for a different ending. The main structural criticism is that the first half paces slower than Six of Crows as the crew regroups, though most readers agree the back half more than compensates. A minority of critics (such as Kara.Reviews at 3 stars) felt the Kaz/Inej tension was ultimately left unresolved in a frustrating rather than satisfying way.
Read it if
- · Readers who loved Six of Crows and want a deeper, more emotionally complex payoff for every character
- · Fans of intricate multi-layered cons where each reveal recontextualises everything before it
- · Anyone invested in slow-burn romance defined by emotional walls breaking down rather than physical heat
Skip it if
- · You have not read Six of Crows — this is a direct continuation with no recap
- · Major character death is a hard limit, particularly the death of a beloved ensemble member
- · You want explicit romance — physical intimacy remains almost entirely off-page
If you liked this
- · For fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch — ensemble heist crew, morally grey leads, escalating con artistry
- · For fans of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir — brutal stakes, slow-burn romance, characters shaped by trauma
- · For fans of Mistborn: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson — a darker, more emotionally weighted sequel that deepens the first book's ensemble
- · For fans of Six of Crows — the direct sequel and a satisfying conclusion that raises every emotional stake
In this series
Part of Six of Crows — read in order:
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