My Reaction in a Nutshell: 
 About ten different plot lines compiled into one book. 
 The Long Version: 
 Somehow it worked. 
 This book took me about a month to read. Normally if a if I haven't finished reading a book within a month, that means I won't finish it. Ever. 
 Now, if I'm being completely honest I forget most of what happened in the Crooked Kingdom. But that's due to how long it took me to read it, not how compelling the book was/wasn't. 
 There are more references to the Grisha trilogy in this Crooked Kingdom than in Six of Crows so I found myself asking people online who/what they were referring to. It doesn't take away from the plot, but you can tell that these are references from the other series. This is similar in any spin off series (from TMI to TID or the Mistborn OT to the later Mistborn books, all have references to previous events). 
 I'm going to keep the review short to avoid spoilers: I liked this book. There were less melodramatic arguments. Bardugo has really grown as an author from the first Grisha book to this one. I love the diversity in this series (I really cannot wait until the day diversity in YA becomes so common practice that I no longer have to celebrate when it's actually included in a book). 
 But there were a lot of plot lines. Almost too many. It was like if someone decided to put the plots of all of the Ocean's *insert number here* movies into one film and call it a day. Translation: it was a lot for one book, not a lot for several books. But since I like elaborate plots and heist and thievery and underdogs and the Dregs it was worth it. 
 This book is more of a 4.5/5 stars for me. Partially because of having too many plots, partially because of my mixed feelings on the ending (which happens at the ending of EVERY series I read), partially because it took me too long to read so I forget half of what happened, partially because it was entertaining as hell. 
 As I said in my Six of Crows review: if you hated the Grisha trilogy, give Six of Crows and (subsequently) Crooked Kingdom a shot. If you loved the Grisha books then you have no excuse for not wanting to read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. 
 Overall it was an enjoyable read that had too many plot lines and less character backstories, but more character development than the previous book. 
 ***TRIGGER WARNINGS: drug withdrawal, addiction (drug, gambling), brief mention of suicide at end of chapter 8, mentions of brothels, kidnapping, mentions of slavery,