I had high hopes for this book after reading To Kill a Kingdom and seeing the comparisons to Six of Crows (another book I loved), but for me, this book fell flat. A lot of the elements felt too familiar to fully enjoy, and overall the plot was pretty predictable and while the characters were compelling, they weren't enough to make me love this story. Perhaps, if I hadn't read Six of Crows, Smoke Thieves, Ace of Shades, or similar con artist/gangster themed fantasy novels, I would have loved this more.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Alexandra Christo’s debut novel, To Kill a Kingdom, I eagerly waited for her to release a new novel. Although I found Into the Crooked Place to be a fairly pleasurable reading experience, the story left me feeling underwhelmed at the same time. Told in multiple perspectives, Into the Crooked Place focused on four main characters: Wesley, Tavia, Saxony, and Karam. The four must grudgingly become allies to stop Dante Ashwood, the Uskhanya Kingpin, from releasing the Lor elixir (a form of mind-control) to unsuspecting citizens across the four realms. Their journey to stopping Ashwood was fraught with tension – both romantic and personal as each character’s secrets and true motivations for embarking on this mission are revealed.

Like her debut novel, Into the Crooked Place had strong characterization and worldbuilding, but lacked the fast-paced storytelling that was seen in To Kill a Kingdom. Most of Into the Crooked Place seemed to just be filler for the last 1/5 of the novel. It was an especially jarring reading experience for me at times because many of the chapter cliffhangers were never truly resolved. Instead of resolving the previous chapter’s cliffhanger, Christo took the storytelling in a completely new direction. The characters would eventually discuss the outcome to a previous chapter’s cliffhanger, but that resolution often occurred several chapters later. That being said, I am invested in learning what outcomes await the main characters in the upcoming conclusion to the duology, so I will be reading Christo’s sequel to Into the Crooked Place.

I had such high hopes! What happened Christo? I was so impressed with “To Kill a Kingdom.” First off...mini rant: “buskers” are musicians or other entertainers who perform on the street for money. Often they need a permit. Do not directly equate people of the arts with criminals and indirectly drug dealers...make up a new word. Which brings me to the world-building in general, which could have been so much better. It was all over the place and confusing. There are some wonderful ideas...it really doesn’t bother me that it is similar in nature to other crime/fantasy ya novels...it has some good stuff in it and my readers in my school would eat it up - just not not like this. It is confusing and you really don’t connect with or care about any of the characters. They don’t each have a unique voice.

This book is honestly one of my new favorites right up there with her other books! Alexandra Christo has a way with making these epic adventure books that are so magical. The world she builds are just so real and lush.

I LOVED all the characters in this book. I love the inclusivity of it with some LGBTQ rep in it. But most of all I loved all the relationships that were formed and strengthened by the circumstances they were put in.

I couldn’t put it down and I cannot wait for book 2!

Alexandra Christo's Into the Crooked Place is a wonderfully exciting read, at least sometimes. I kept putting it down rather than devouring it as I expected to do. It took me much longer to finish than I wanted. wanted to love this book, but there seemed to be something missing. I enjoyed Tavia, and the rest of the cast of characters, but I wanted more. I was able to guess what would happen next with little to no surprise. I loved Christo's other work and wanted to feel the same about this one, but it is just a solid 3 stars. I don't think this will keep me from continuing the series; I just hope it picks up the gangster fantasy hustle and bustle a bit.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the ebook ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love Alexandra Christo's work and I am so happy this is a series/duology/whatever because it was AMAZING. She got me hooked with To Kill A Kingdom and now Into the Crooked Place has taken her talents to another level.

Quick Star Rating: 4/5 stars

This book was such a good surprise for me. I didn't expect to come out loving this book as much as I did. It almost has a six of crows feel with such a mismatched crew, but throw in a magical war instead of a heist.

We get a POV from each of the characters above plus a couple mini pov just once that help explain some things that are happening in other spots of the world without throwing off the feel. I can't decide my favorite character they all had good moments and others where I wanted to shake them mostly Wesley (he didn't do things he should of xD). Each characters arc had such good surprises and didn't do things I had expected! This is one of those novels where I'd have trouble listing out my favorite POV which is a rare treat!

I really like the magic system in this world and I'm very excited to see how it changes into book two. Crafters are the creators of magic, but people like Tavia can use spells and charms from previously created magic and cause chaos, of course. One of the things I'd really like to know more about and hopefully will come into play more in book two is the beginning wars that have created the world that they now live in. It's mentioned, but there is still explanations to be made.

If you like magic, chaos where you aren't sure what's really going to happen next, multiple POV's, and fight against the ultimate evil to save the world than you need to pick this book up!

This book was enjoyable, but at the same time it offered nothing new. Reading this felt like a rip off of Six of Crows mixed with maybe a bit of A Darker Shade of Magic (Tavia reminded me of Lila) and because of that it felt incredibly predictable. There was no spark that made it feel its own, nothing that made me NEED to pick it up again.

The best word to describe this book is fine. The characters were fine. The writing was fine. The world was fine.

This book follows Tavia and crime underboss Wesley who were forced as children to serve the kingpin of the city. Tavia is looking forward to the day that she is 18 and can leave his service, but until then she sells “magic,” or at least the idea of magic, which is forbidden in their city and can only be sold at night. Tavia is very good at tricking people into believing what she sells. Then Tavia is offered a new deal, sell this new magic and for every vial she sells the kingpin will take one day off of her required service to him. Great, right? But then, dun dun dun, the kingpin is even worse than they all thought and wants to take over more places, aka the world!! The vials are not what they thought!! Tavia realizes this after a fellow criminal drinks the vial and acts strangely. Can these two criminals and some other criminals (the person who drank the vial as well as Wesley’s bodyguard) team up to take him down?? With lots of shenanigans, of course.

Also, since Wesley and Tavia are childhood friends, you know there’s gotta be some sparks! Wesley also reminded me of a much less traumatized Kaz.

I might eventually pick up the next one, especially since this one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and if this is a trend you’ve enjoyed this will probably be right up your alley.

Review: 3 Stars

Into the Crooked Place was one of my most anticipated releases of the second half of the year. I was so excited for this book and I am pretty disappointed. It sounded like it was going to be so good and I am a sucker for criminals and fantasy, but this book didn’t live up to its potential. I had such a hard time getting into this book that I almost had it down, but it started to pick up a quarter of the way in. I did enjoy reading it, but it was nowhere near as good as I expected it to be.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the plot. I thought pretty much every twist coming and felt like Ashwood was a poorly written villain. Once we finally got to the climax I really no longer cared what happened. I don’t feel like the tension was built up enough and even though I like the characters, I just really wanted the book to be over already. I really expected more because the description sounded so cool and the ladies in this book had so much potential.

The magic system had cool ideas behind it, but was described poorly. I love the idea of the black market and buskers selling dark magic. I wanted the novel to take place in Creije because that city had so much potential with this underworld. But instead the story moved away from the city and I felt like the parts that did take place within the city it were poorly done. The world building was just shoddy all around and the setting was so hard to visualize at times and I kept getting confused.

This book saving grace was its characters. Well the beginning was rough, once the story really got moving I want to blabbing some of the characters. Tavia and Wesley were my favorites and the banter between them was so entertaining. I really appreciated having Wesley as a sort of mastermind character, but he wasn’t on the same level as characters like Kaz, Tyrion or Kelsier. If it weren’t for these interesting characters I probably would’ve given up on this book.

Overall I am pretty disappointed. Regardless of my high expectations I feel like this book was poorly done, but I didn’t expect a lot more from it. I found it entertaining at times, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I really expected more from the world building and the plot, especially since they portrayed Wesley as a mastermind character.

Into the Crooked Place is a fantasy driven, diverse, action adventure with a cliffhanger that will have you yelling because you're unable to stop what is unfolding in front of you. The best kind!

The relationships had me flipping the pages at rapid speed (sexual tension? Yes, please!) and the action was around every corner and had my heart pounding.

The bad guy reveal I honestly didn't put together in time because it was seamlessly interwoven into the story. The ending truly had me worried for what's to come and I can't wait to see how this two book series wraps up this wild storyline!

For YA and fantasy lovers alike, I recommend this book for everyone. I loved it!

A young busker responsible for selling the world’s most dangerous magic. Her former best friend and current underboss who is ready to expand his criminal enterprise at any cost. His vicious, kickass bodyguard from another land with a warrior heart and a dark past. Her busker ex-girlfriend with a massive secret of her own. Tavia, Wesley, Karam, and Saxony are turning Creije’s criminal underworld on its head to take down the gangster that shaped their wretched lives, Dante Ashwood. But Ashwood has all the power and a strange magic of his own. The four main characters and their allies will have to risk everything to take him down.

I picked up Into The Crooked Place because I was surprisingly thrilled with Alexandra Christo’s debut novel, To Kill A Kingdom, which could have easily been a wishy-washy The Little Mermaid retelling but morphed into a fantastic, original sea voyage with teeth. Unfortunately, I think Into The Crooked Place was a little less successful in maneuvering away from its easy comparisons. It’s one of the few novels with a “Six of Crows meets X” pitch that actually feels a bit like Six Of Crows, but given the less intricate plot and the lack of true twists, that doesn’t necessarily work in its favor.

But first, let’s dive into what I liked: Christo writes some strong and varied characters, each with an in-depth backstory that plays into the plot. I liked each of the characters individually and appreciated what they added to the story. The tension between Wesley and Tavia as well as Karam and Saxony (that’s right, LGBTQ rep!) was indulgent, but in very different ways that kept the romantic tension fresh. The story took caution not to center itself around the romances, which I really appreciate. Also, the paths the storytelling took were more creative and fantastical than most of the YA “gangster fantasy” out there, which really kept me on my toes.

While Into The Crooked Place is a pretty good read, I struggled with the pacing on the whole. It felt like the novel fell into the takedown of the gangster boss very quickly, before the characters were thoroughly introduced and the readers really understood why the characters all hated him (other than him being generally villainous.) The story revolves around a magic sickness, which is super interesting but not explained very well. The action scenes came in bursts with long lulls in between. Overall, it made the reading experience choppy.

That said, the story really pulls together in its final sequence. There are dramatic “reveals” that probably won’t be much of a reveal for any discerning reader, but the action is on point and there are new elements introduced that leave breadcrumbs for a sequel– This is the first book in a duology, after all.

Enjoyable as it is, Into The Crooked Place is competing a well-versed sub-genre at the moment. It’s an easy read, but you’re probably not going to get the same thrills you’d expect from a gangster-inspired YA fantasy world.

Loved Alexandra Christo's first novel but for me this one fell a little short. It reminded me a lot of other books I have recently have read. I do feel like some of my students will enjoy it, but it just fell a bit short for me.

"Into the Crooked Place begins a gritty two-book YA fantasy series from Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom.

The streets of Creije are for the deadly and the dreamers, and four crooks in particular know just how much magic they need up their sleeve to survive.

Tavia, a busker ready to pack up her dark-magic wares and turn her back on Creije for good. She’ll do anything to put her crimes behind her.

Wesley, the closest thing Creije has to a gangster. After growing up on streets hungry enough to swallow the weak whole, he won’t stop until he has brought the entire realm to kneel before him.

Karam, a warrior who spends her days watching over the city’s worst criminals and her nights in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself.

And Saxony, a resistance fighter hiding from the very people who destroyed her family, and willing to do whatever it takes to get her revenge.

Everything in their lives is going to plan, until Tavia makes a crucial mistake: she delivers a vial of dark magic - a weapon she didn’t know she had - to someone she cares about, sparking the greatest conflict in decades. Now these four magical outsiders must come together to save their home and the world, before it’s too late. But with enemies at all sides, they can trust nobody. Least of all each other."

It's like Leigh Bardugo's duology but with morals!

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo is my of my favorite books. I loved the characters, the world and the overall plot of the novel. It had a few weak spots but I was willing to overlook them and love it regardless. Into the Crooked Place had too many flaws for me to overlook. It started out pretty decent but ran off the rails at around 40% for me (pun intended). This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I'm so disappointed in it.

Gangster fantasy seems to be huge right now with the top being Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. From there we have The Gilded Wolves, Ace of Shades and now Into the Crooked Place which are being all lumped together fors their knock-off feeling. It's not an original idea anymore and since it's not the characters need to be amazing and have the ability to stand out. Christo's characters fall flat for me. Wesley and Tavia were interesting in the beginning but then Saxony and Karam get added in and besides Wesley I would sometimes forget who was who and whose chapter I was currently reading. The adventure part of this novel started quick but left me with so many questions about the world, the magic, and our characters backgrounds. I get that no one wants an info-dump happening on the first page, but I was almost halfway through the book and still had no clue what was really going on or how the gangster system or magic system worked. Maybe all my questions would have been answered in the next 50% of the book, but I'm not going to keep muddling through this confusing and messy story to find out.

I adore these heist style books with a group of characters who even though they don't seem to work, manage to figure out their own rhythm. These books are kind of my jam and I've read a lot of truly fabulous ones. But for me, Into the Crooked Place felt a little flat. Character-wise, I adored Saxony, Tavia, and Karam. Give me all my dangerous girls with soft sides. And there's even a f/f relationship in this book - which gets me every time. But for me, I didn't get enough of Wesley's back story. Keeping with the Six of Crows vibe, which I haven't read in years, Wesley just didn't feel open enough to me? I never really got a sense of knowing him? I love that we were able to delve into Tavia's backstory and I feel like a lot of the times we saw snippets of Wesley through Tavia. Don't even get me started on how much I adored seeing the backstories of Karam and Saxony - FAVORITES!

Where it fell flat for me was that while magic is a big part of the world, I never really got a sense of how magic works. As the book progresses, I found out more and more, but I still have a few questions. And, what ultimately, is the most disappointing is that books like this work around a sense of found family. The idea that these people, these rough edges, work together. But at the end, I didn't get enough of a sense that these characters were like that. And when I was sensing it more, it was a bit too late for me.

A dark fantasy with very dark group of characters. Told in 4 POVs. This was a fast read and is a must for fans of Six of Crows and A Darker Shade Of Magic. The magic system is interesting and the dark world these characters live in makes for an interesting backdrop. I love Wesley. He did seem a little like Kaz from Six of Crows but he seemed a little more unhinged.

I really enjoyed Alexandra Christo's previous book so I had been looking forward to reading Into the Crooked Place. Following a collection of misfit teens with a variety of skills who have to put aside their differences to work together to overthrow the big bad Kingpin, this had all of the makings of a book that I should love. Unfortunately, this book was just okay for me. I didn't think it was bad, there were some really cool moments, particularly near the end. But overall, it just wasn't as great as I had hoped it would be. I liked Tavia and her interactions with Wesley were fun to read but I just wasn't connecting to the story as much as I wanted to.

If you’re itching for more heist or gangster YA à la Ace of Shades or Six of Crows, then Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo is here to provide you with all the scams and schemes you’ve been missing.

Tavia is a street performer and confidence woman in Creije, a city that traffics in forbidden magic under the watchful eyes of the underboss. She’s good at her job but longs for a more respectable future, and she hopes that selling a new magic drug will help her pay off her indenture. But when a friend ingests the drug instead of one of her marks, she sees what kind of horrors it’s really unleashing on the streets. And so she turns to her underboss, Wesley, for answers. Wesley may not know everything, but he has other pieces of the puzzle, as does Saxony, who has a lot of secrets even for a criminal, and Karam, who mostly knows she wants to protect Saxony. Together, they have to pull off a train heist, a journey into forbidden territory, and a murder or several to stop a man who’s more evil than all four of them put together.

If this sounds like the setup for a lot of fights: it is. The action is well-paced and consistent throughout the story, balancing the equally consistent character exposition. The characters do sometimes make some odd choices, fighting when they could just explain and vice versa, but overall the motivations are pretty solid.

The prose tries too hard to be clever, which occasionally worked but more often ended up muddling the forward motion of the narrative as I tried to figure out what the heck Christo was trying to say. A more straightforward style would also have helped with the emotional impact—being straightforward almost always does. Each character has more than enough in their backstory to wrench a few hearts and break a few more without resorting to flourishes, and as the book goes on Christo does seem to embrace just telling the story.

There’s a particularly lovely sequence about three quarters of the way through that takes them all on emotional journeys through their past mistakes. This provided some truly compelling character work and made an excellent overall point about growth. All of the characters had moments of deep regret, but Christo framed the exercise as one of acceptance, not of change. The past is immutable; you can only learn from it or be consumed by it. In a genre absolutely overrun with revenge and redemption fantasies, it was nice to have such a clear and reasonable message.

There’s a super cute queer relationship that goes through some rocky terrain before getting stronger and more honest. Usually we only get break-ups and get-back-togethers in contemporary (non-fantasy), so I appreciated the realism there. Queer people don’t have to be tragic and they also don’t have to be paragons of perfect love; we don’t have to be anything. We can just be, even if it means we’re being a little messy.

I also loved the little details of the charms and spells for the most part. Having Wesley eat four-leaf clovers like candy was an inspired touch, and the littler cantrips had a lot of potential for clever uses. However, the magic quickly got too big and showy, and those little details disappeared. In its place we got lots of scenes like out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with explosions, big hits, and fast dodges. It made for decent action, but it left the magic insufficiently explained and overpowered. And it’s hard to tell a story about underdogs when it seems like one of them is a living volcano.

There were a few dramatic moments of double-cross and betrayal that sprang from the emotional core rather than the action setups, but overall everything was a little too straightforward. The bad guys were bad, the main characters were misunderstood, and nothing was surprising. It seemed like Christo liked her characters too much to really mess with them. They might have been tormented by their personal demons, but every step in their plans went almost exactly right. This made it more of a beach read than an edge of your seat read, but there’s something to be said for not everything being incredibly convoluted. And there were a few twists at the end, though I was annoyed at the way they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory only to set up the second volume—does YA (and heist YA) have to be so hung up on cliffhangers?

The problem with comparing this to Six of Crows is that Six of Crows was a genre-defining (or at least sub-genre defining) book by an established author. This comes off as a pastiche and a knockoff, regardless of how original it actually was when it was conceived. Ten years ago, it would have been an incredibly impressive sophomore novel. It's unfortunate for Christo that the YA market is so glutted right now, since it means that Into the Crooked Place is merely good. It's bright and occasionally scintillating, but in the end it's a star in a night sky full of them. I really hope Christo pushes herself and that her follow-up goes supernova.

Being a 'ganster fantasy,' I imagined it would be lumped in with similar books. That being said, this definitely had 'Six of Crows' vibes with Wesley and Tavia reminding me a bit of Kaz and Inej. Lots of adventure and tricky magic. That's probably what drew me to it. It was a bit on the slow side but the writing was enjoyable and it definitely pulls the reader in and lends itself to another book.

If you’re looking for a story of angsty teens with the world’s biggest chips on their shoulders, look no further, because this is exactly what you’ve been looking for. I personally enjoyed the dark, gritty, and bleak aspect of this book...but maybe that’s just my fall reading tastes. It’s a gangster heist story dealing with a lot of heavy themes, but I think everyone will find something to love in this story. The plot advances well, and the characters are really well explored, so I’m excited to see what happens in the next book...because that ending is pretty devastating. While the story is unequivocally a fantasy novel, I do want to say that if you’re triggered by violent/abusive situations, you might tread with caution.
Our story begins on the streets of Creije with Tavia, a young woman who peddles dark magic wares, with a dream of escaping and leaving that life behind. There’s also Wesley, who dreams of bringing the kingdom to its knees, leaving behind the young boy who grew up hungry and alone on the streets of Creije. Karam is a warrior who serves as a bodyguard during the day, and by night she spends her time in the fighting rings, making a deadly name for herself. Finally, there’s Saxony, a resistance fighter who’s hiding from those who ruined her family, and will do everything she can to get revenge. When Tavia mistakenly gives a vial of dark magic to a loved one, she sparks a conflict larger than our four players. Now they must work together, but with enemies at all sides, they can’t trust anyone, least of all, each other.
Make no mistake friends, this isn’t a happy story. At first I was frustrated, because I often read stories of characters who slowly lose their innocence, which gives characters an added depth, makes them more relatable. Not having that really rubbed me raw, making me feel as bleak as they were...as desperate for relief. I won’t lie, I almost put it down because I felt like we were getting nowhere fast, and then. Suddenly, these characters begin to show you snippets of themselves, before horrors came, before those terrible nightmares made them into jaded individuals. Some of the characters show those aspects faster, but the ones that make you wait are worth it. I’ve never had a book sink it’s claws into me this way before.
The plot grows quickly and with four perspectives, it can get tangled quickly, but Ms.Christo keeps these voices separate and easy to follow. It moves along at a fairly moderate pace, not so fast that you’re struggling to keep up, but not so slow that you’re wanting to put it down. Moreover, I was fascinated by the magic system. It’s a commodity that’s being bartered around, and more importantly, there’s an addictive quality to it. A lot of stories look at magic behind these rosy glasses that seem like it’s the end all be all. Not here. Magic is dangerous, too much is addictive, and the dangers are very real. I wanted to keep exploring more of the magic. I definitely want to see more in the next book.
Character-wise, Tavia was/is my favorite. The self-awareness about her is incredible, something that seemed to have been achieved thanks to her circumstances. Her stubborn and reckless behavior is fun to read, and nail-bitingly thrilling. Her friendship with Saxony is wonderful, while also showing the frayed relationships between her Wesley and Karam. Honestly, the tension that fills each and every character’s relationships are so great. There’s also something else I can’t talk about because of spoilers, but man, am I excited to see that voice again in the next book.
There is definitely romance in this book, the slow kind that makes you want to push them together and yell “KISS ALREADY”. We’ve also got rekindled romance, the kind that’s full of love-lorn glances and pushing each other’s boundaries to see who’ll fall in first. I enjoyed reading both romances, but the family relationships are truly where it’s at! Those dynamics are truly heart-breaking, and just adds another level to the angst that these characters experience. I don’t feel that there’s one story that’s the most heartbreaking, but there is definitely one that we don’t get to explore in this book that I’m dying to find out about.
I think the only issue that I had with this book is that it felt really off in the beginning, but that’s a personal opinion. However, that did affect the pacing for me for about a third of the book, and then picked up into the moderate pace that I really enjoyed. I do wish that there had been a little more descriptive imagery, because the story is stunning, and I wanted a clearer picture of what was happening. It’s still a wonderful read, and I’m excited to have it on my shelf next to my copy of ‘To Kill A Kingdom’, also by Alexandra Christo, if you were wondering.