Review: Six of Crows

Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
Fantasy 

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:
Break into the notorious Ice Court(a military stronghold that has never been breached)
Retrieve a hostage(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)
Survive long enough to collect his reward(and spend it)
Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first. 

If you have never heard of her, please read Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy RIGHT NOW. Truly a piece of the best fiction out there.

That said, Six of Crows is a very different type of read. It's set in the same world, making it the same genre, but it's more of heist drama than a fantasy-world adventure. It's told from the different POVs of the six, making each chapter unique and fresh. Also, each of the narrators have a backstory that most of the others don't know about- it's fascinating  and never repetitive, also allowing you a window into tensions and dramas within the group. 

Kaz Brekker is your deliciously complicated, tormented and brooding, talented scheming bad boy. In another story he'd also be the sexy hearthrob, but in this novel the romance takes a backseat. What was amazing was that the plot alone was so thrilling that I did not find myself searching for more steam in the romances at all. 

As for the rest of them- they were diverse, dynamic, funny and intriguing. You'll love them. 

Setting:  Ketterdam was cool - the gangs, the entertainment houses, the ports, the fights... oodles of awesome. Surprisingly, in Fjerda where all the action happens, I wasn't all that enthralled. Hoping that in the next book (releasing soon!) we'll get to go back to our beloved and magical Ravka *insert heart-eyes emoji here*. 

Two more points of praise:

These days, successful authors will almost always write some spinoff of our favorite stories in their worlds. They'll make it about new characters and if we're lucky they'll up the stakes, but in the end they'll always  have our old friends come in and make a cameo. Leigh Bardugo, however, really gave us a new story, and didn't even have to force the Grisha characters from before into the book to make us excited. Color me impressed.

And one last thing- I read Six of Crows from a paperback edition, BUT DID YOU SEE THOSE BEAUTIFUL HARDCOVERS?? WITH THE BLACK ON THE PAGES?? I WANNNNTT

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