[Bre’s Review]: Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Into the Crooked Place
by alexandra christo
Series: Into the Crooked Place #1
Pages: 384
Published by Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: October 8 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, LGBTQ+, Magic, Romance, YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC
Goodreads

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.

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

“Trust no one, betray everyone.
Kill or be killed, always.”

This book has been compared to Six of Crows. And while they are both about a group of kids going on a mission, the resemblance stops there. This book isn’t about a group of misfit friends. I would call them a gang of acquaintances at best and enemies at worst. They all fill a specific purpose, and that’s the only reason they need each other. But don’t think that they won’t hesitate to leave someone behind. This element of trust or lack thereof adds another dimension to the story, like you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Wesley readjusted his cuff links. The humanity in him quickly faded. ‘Anyone can get left behind,’ he said. Because not one of them was truly righteous or good or even half-loyal.”

The plot was so interesting and completely captured my attention. I think it’s the use of magic that I found the most intriguing. The things that could be done with magic and the places they could go. I also really enjoyed the dialogue. The book had a dark edge to it, yet the dialogue was often times light-hearted and extremely witty. It had me laughing out loud at completely inappropriate times which I loved.

“Tavia turned her focus to Wesley, needing to see the look of fearlessness on his face before she could school one onto her own. But Wesley didn’t look fearless. He looked like he was about to throw up.
‘What’s with your face?’ Tavia asked.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘This is how my face looks. I’ve never had any complaints before.’”

The characters were amazing and all unique with their own stories. I think Alexandra is incredibly talented to write a book with so many main characters and create an individual story for each of them. Saxony and Karam were different yet played off each other so well. But Wesley and Tavia were my favorite. There’s this love-hate element with intricacies woven into their relationship that even they don’t want to admit.

“Wesley would give her the world, even though Tavia hadn’t earned it, and he’d give her power, even though she didn’t want it. And among it all was the scariest thought: the fear that she might like it, might just grow to ignore all the bad things and the good people they happened to.”

To say that the ending broke my heart would be an understatement. Like it hurts so much that I’m almost mad. With all the endings I thought of while reading this book, this was not one of them and I’m so interested to see how Alexandra fixes it! And by that I mean, “please I’m begging you to fix this immediately!”

“She knew then that home could be anywhere, because it wasn’t a place, but a feeling. It was made up of people, not bricks, and it was something you could create for yourself, just like family.”