I’ve noticed a trend that I only seem to do Currently Reading posts when I’m in reading slumps…

Yeah, I’ve hit another reading slump.

I actually got myself out of the slump for almost a whole month and a half! It was amazing. Truly. I never felt better.

But we’re back.

So as I suffer through this slump, I wanted to talk about Alexandra Christo’s latest book: Into the Crooked Place. I’m around 100 pages into it, and I already feel the need to talk about it.

Stats

Title: Into the Crooked Place
Series: Into the Crooked Place #1
Author: Alexandra Christo
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan)
Page Count: 384
Release Date: 10/8/2019
Premise: Tavia is a busker, selling illegal magic on the streets until she can afford to get herself out of Creije. Wesley is Creije’s underboss, their closest thing to a gangster. Karam is a fighter, making a deadly name for herself. Saxony is a part of the resistance, who is desperate for revenge. When their world is threatened by a new dark magic, these four outsiders must come together to save their home.

[ Related: Currently Reading: We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal ]

My Thoughts

Into the Crooked Place is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. When I read To Kill A Kingdom last year, I never expected to love it as much as I did, and it became one of my all time favorites. Because of that, I definitely have really high expectations for Into the Crooked Place, but so far, it seems to be meeting them!

I wasn’t kidding when I said Into the Crooked Place is like a new Six of Crows in the title. It has the same gritty fantasy setting, filled with smart criminal characters who are forced to team up, except I would argue that these characters are a little less morally gray then the crows. But I’ll talk more about that in a minute.

The Bad

First, I want to start with any negatives I can come up with. Which is a bit of a challenge.

The only possible negative I can think of right now is that this world is so rich and detailed that there is a lot to learn once you’re thrown into it, which can make the beginning feel a little slow. That said, the book starts off pretty strong so don’t be concerned that it’s really slow.

The Good

Okay now back to me fangirling over this book. Like I said, it has Six of Crows vibes. The characters and the main city we find ourselves in really do remind me of that series, but it’s different enough to make this book stand out on it’s own and not be a simple carbon copy. I would say Into the Crooked Place is (so far) a mix of Six of Crows and The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi.

But enough about what this book reminds me of. Let’s talk about what makes it stand out.

1. The writing. Alexandra Christo has such a beautiful writing style, that never fails to impress me. Even the simplest lines come out beautiful. But at the same time, she has such witty and fun banter between characters!
2. The world. It’s so well developed and interesting. There’s a lot of moving pieces, and while it can be a lot to keep track of, I can tell already that it’s worth it.
3. The characters. They are just so amazing and I can’t wait to learn more about them!! So far, I think Wesley might just be my favorite, but honestly I love them all so much it’s hard to say if that’ll stay the same throughout the book. Also, this cast is really diverse, and we have LGBTQ+ characters (and I think one of the main couples will be f/f)!

[ Related: To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo (Review) ]

Predictions

Here are my non-spoilery predictions for where this book may go:

• As I said before, there will be a f/f main couple
• There will be another m/f main couple (I’m not saying who because spoilers)(I also really ship this couple already)
• Characters in one of the ships (or both) will push each other away because either pride or plot reasons until the next book
• That new dark magic will have some negative effects on one of the main characters (possibly mind control?)
• This will end in a painful cliffhanger. This seems like the kinda book to hurt me in that way.

That’s what I think, but who knows. I’ve been wrong a lot in my predictions, but I feel pretty confident in these.

If You Liked Into The Crooked Place, I’d Recommend:

• Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo – [ Review ]
• The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi – [ Review ]
• The Beautiful (The Beautiful #1) by Renee Ahdieh – [ Review ]

Have you read Into the Crooked Place yet? What is your favorite dark and gritty fantasy book?

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