Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult (older teens)
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong Language


Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Six of Crows is an example of what YA fantasy can be when romance isn't the main focus of the story, teen angst is non-existent, and there is really good character development. While set in the same world as The Grisha Trilogy, Six of Crows doesn't feel the same at all, and while I loved The Grisha trilogy, especially the first book Shadow and Bone, this is a much more mature read and just all around better written.

The story starts with Grisha power being amplified by a new drug, but this new drug has deadly side effects. Kaz Brekker is hired on to assemble a crew for a heist. The goal is to break into a seemingly impenetrable facility and "rescue" the scientist who has made the drug. Kaz assembles a team of 6 people. The book description describes them really well.

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

The characters here are all very interesting and deeply troubled in some way. Throughout the story we read chapters from their different points of view. This book wouldn't have been half as good without the characters and their background stories woven into it. Kaz was hard to like at times, but he was supposed to be. I did find myself sympathizing with him after I learned his back story and everything he had been through. He is very broken. All the characters had endured something horrible in their pasts. The ones I enjoyed reading about the most were Inej and Nina.

This book really could have been a stand-alone, except for something that happens at the very end. I think I agree with one of my Goodreads friends who said (view spoiler)[ it would have been better if this story had come to an end and then subsequent books could have been about their adventures after moving on.  (hide spoiler)]. Despite that I am looking forward to reading the next installment.





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