Title: Into The Crooked Place (Into The Crooked Place, #1)
Author: Alexandra Christo
Pages: 496
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release Date: 8th October 2019
Blurb from Goodreads:
Magic rules the city of Creije Capital and Tavia Syn knows just how
many tricks she needs up her sleeve to survive. Selling dark magic on
the streets for her kingpin, she keeps clear of other crooks,
counting the days until her debt is paid and she can flee her
criminal life.
But then, one day, with her freedom in sight, Tavia uncovers a sinister plot that threatens to destroy the realm she calls home. Desperate to put an end to her kingpin's plan, Tavia forms an unlikely alliance with three crooks even more deadly than her:
Wesley, the kingpin's prodigy and most renewed criminal in the realm
Karam, an underground fighter with a penchant for killing first and forgetting to ask questions
And Saxony, a Crafter in hiding who will stop at nothing to avenge her family
With the reluctant saviours assembled, they embark on a quest to put an end to the dark magic before it's too late. But even if they can take down the kingpin and save the realm, the one thing they can't do is trust each other.
My Review:
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Hot Key Books*
Tavia lives in
Creije selling magical charms on the streets to pay off her debt to
the Kingpin.
One day, she
unearths a dark plot that may lead to the destruction of the place
Tavia calls home. Determined to stop the Kingpin, Tavia joins forces
with three other crooks: Wesley (the Kingpin's prodigy), Karam (who
uses her fists first and asks questions later), and Saxony (a Crafter
hiding her abilities and hell-bent on avenging her family).
The group must work
together to stop this strange, dark magic before it's too late, but
can they work together when they can't trust each other?
As a big fan of the
author's debut novel, To Kill A Kingdom, I was so excited to read
Into The Crooked Place. It sounded like such an intriguing read and
was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019. Unfortunately, I ended
up being possibly the most disappointed I've ever been by a book.
I struggled to
connect with the characters and wasn't invested in what happened to
them.
Tavia was probably
my favourite character, but she reminded me a too much of two other
characters, so I couldn't help but imagine her as them. I would have
liked to have seen more of Tavia working as a busker - there wasn't
as much of that as I expected.
Wesley was another
character that reminded me way too much of someone else, and again, I
pictured him as that character. He was meant to be this big, bad
underboss, but I didn't feel that he actually did that many bad
things for someone meant to be so terrible.
The only thing that
I think to say about Saxony was that I liked that she was tall.
I liked that Karam
was a female bouncer, but she felt a bit bland.
The Kingpin was
creepy, but I never felt that he was actually going to kill or
seriously injure any of the main characters.
I wasn't a big fan
of the romance in this book.
I did start off
enjoying this, but the more I read, the more I lost interest, and
towards the end I debating not finishing it. However, I was still a
bit intrigued to see what happened so I continued to read.
I guessed a plot
twist and nothing that happened surprised me like it should have.
I felt that there
could have been more world building, and I would have liked more
description about Creije, as it was meant to be this special city
worth fighting for, but it could have been anywhere.
The writing was a
bit jumpy at times, and the characters seemed to suddenly be in a
different place without me realising they'd moved.
I liked the idea of
messenger bats and floating railways. The charms were intriguing as
well.
The premise was
interesting, but this ended up feeling like a cross between Six of
Crows and Ace of Shades, but too similar to them for my liking. It
was almost like a Six of Crows fan-fiction in a way (which I feel bad
for saying).
I am extremely
disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.
I'm not sure if I
will read the sequel or not.
Overall, this was an
okay but disappointing read.
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