Into the Crooked Place (Into the Crooked Place, 1)

Magical double cross.
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I was pretty excited Santa brought me this book for Christmas. I really enjoyed To Kill a Kingdom and was excited to read Alexandra Christo’s newest story.
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After a few chapters of character introduction and world building, the story takes off with action, magic, tentative alliances, evil mind control, and some strong romantic attraction with morally gray characters (my favorite). The ending is a devastating cliffhanger, and I can’t wait until the next installment in this exciting series.
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If you had the choice would you want natural magical abilities that are hard to control, or only be able to use magic with charms and potions you carried with you and had to replenish?
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Clean rating: 🧼🧼🧼1/2: for some kissing.
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If you love a found family of kickass protagonists, this book is for you. There's wonderfully casual queer rep. There's dangerous magic. There are even MESSENGER BATS. Yes, you read that right, and it's just one of many delightful reasons to pick this book up. But my favorite element of all were the complex friendships between our four leads.

Also, without spoiling anything, can I just say: THAT ENDING THOUGH!! The last 2-3 pages absolutely wrecked me, so book 2 can't come soon enough!

Having read To Kill a Kingdom, I was excited to read the author's second book. Unfortunately, while the author's writing is still very good, Into the Crooked Place came nowhere near To Kill a Kingdom for Me. The book is told from the viewpoint of four different narrators - Tavia, who is counting down the days til she doesn't have to be a busker anymore, Saxony, Tavia's best friend who has secrets to hide, Karam, a professional fighter, and Wesley, an underboss with a lot of blood on his hands. The chapters alternate between the narrators, with a few chapters from other characters scattered throughout. Through a series of events that happen very quickly in the start of the book, the four of them come together to defend themselves, their city and realm, and their families in an all-out war.

By far, the book's strongest point is the writing, which flows very well. Each character has a different voice, but the storyline and writing is still consistent throughout. There are also a lot of creative elements in the book which I enjoyed.

However, the book still had a couple of major flaws which detracted from the story. First, the author has created an entirely new world, and there is a lot to learn about it. Unfamiliar names of cities, areas, and realms, different words in an unfamiliar language, a government and underbelly structure in the city, and so on. It's too much to take in all at once and I grew frustrated with trying to remember the more minor characters and why they were important and what different words meant. It works best if you only focus on the major points and try to ignore the details, but that's not how I like to read books. And it may have been partially because of this that I had trouble getting into the story. I found myself skimming in parts just so I could finish the book and I never really felt compelled to pick it up and read based on the story alone. I connected somewhat with Tavia and Saxony, was a bit interested in Wesley, and didn't care for Karam all that much, which also didn't help. The basic storyline is interesting, but with the amount of information thrown at me and not connecting with the characters all that much, it's hard to say that I really enjoyed the book.

Note that this book is the first part of a two-book series. I completely missed this fact and so wasn't prepared for the cliffhanger ending. I will likely read the second book, in part because I do want to know what happened and in part because I read two other books this year that were part of a two-part series where the second book was much, much better than the first.

I won't say I went into this book with low expectations--that's not quite right. I've never read anything by this author before, but I've gotten a bit jaded by books, especially YA books, that start off strong, then tank. So, I'm wary. This book, however, started off strong and stayed strong. Great characters--all of which have good and bad, that make you both trust and distrust them. Complex, in other words. And such a rich story world! I love the magic system, in which magic is created by Crafters, and once created can be reused and recombined, but never renewed by anyone but Crafters. I love that the world has magic, but also technology, and the whole old-world gangster vibe. And all of this wrapped up in wonderful writing, the kind that made me stop to reread sentences and savor them. I didn't realize this was part of a series, though, and now I'm chomping at the bit for book two.

This one is not for me, but sounds really interesting. I still wanted to give it a try and was really excited, but it did not capture my attention like I wanted too. This is just a personal preference. I know others will love it.
Amazon does not allow for (DNF) no rating. I rate three stars as it I normally will not rate a story I did not finish. I do not feel it fair to give one star or five stars as I was not able to fully rate the story if I did not finish it.

I will be trying the audiobook once released and will update my review if I have more thoughts.

This one is not for me, but sounds really interesting. I still wanted to give it a try and was really excited, but it did not capture my attention like I wanted too. This is just a personal preference. I know others will love it.
Amazon does not allow for (DNF) no rating. I rate three stars as it I normally will not rate a story I did not finish. I do not feel it fair to give one star or five stars as I was not able to fully rate the story if I did not finish it.

I will be trying the audiobook once released and will update my review if I have more thoughts.

This one is not for me, but sounds really interesting. I still wanted to give it a try and was really excited, but it did not capture my attention like I wanted too. This is just a personal preference. I know others will love it.
Amazon does not allow for (DNF) no rating. I rate three stars as it I normally will not rate a story I did not finish. I do not feel it fair to give one star or five stars as I was not able to fully rate the story if I did not finish it.

I will be trying the audiobook once released and will update my review if I have more thoughts.

This review has been long overdue. So I'm thinking I should just be direct and say it outright... what was up with that ending?!? *cue my head exploding*

Alexandra Christo became one of my favorite authors since I read and absolutely fell in love with To Kill a Kingdom. And I'm so happy to say I feel no different this time. Into the Crooked Place was all parts exciting and addictive. I'm not usually a fan of multiple POVs but I gotta say it was so well done with this one. Of course, unsurprisingly, Wesley is my favorite but Tavia, Saxony and Karam are all just as lovable. Even Arjun kinda grew on me.

Personally, I found that this one had a much stronger end than beginning. Not that I found it to be in any way boring, no. I was just as engrossed with the characters' past and everyday lives as I was with the action-packed scenes and shocking revelations. Also, romance fans beware. It was the most frustrating thing ever! In a good way. (Just not good for my romance-loving heart and sanity, lol) *just kiss already!!*

I don't know what Christo has in store for us next. But I just know it'll be amazing!

I NEED book two!

In Into the Crooked Place, Alexandra Christo has created a rich world with magic and plenty of grit.

The book started slow for me, but it turned into a page turner at the end. I enjoyed Tavia‘s and Wesley’s characters the most.

The language Christo uses is beautiful and evocative.

3.5 stars.

I'm so disappointed that I didn't enjoy this book more than I did. 'To Kill a Kingdom' is a story that has stuck with me since I finished it and it's easily one of my favorite reads of the last few years. So imagine my excitement and anticipation for a "gangster fantasy" story from such a talented author.

'Into the Crooked Place' is fine. It's enjoyable, but not addicting. Magical, but not entrancing. Not a whole lot happened action- or character-wise and the pacing was a bit slow for me. That and I just wasn't as invested in this world as I was in that of her previous novel.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel just because I really only cared about one character here (the rest were *fine*), but we'll see when the time comes.