Title: Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA fantasy
I’ve been meaning to enter the Grishaverse for awhile. Once I saw it was a Netflix show, I consulted a friend who told me that the show covers both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows, sort of. She recommended reading both before the show just to avoid small spoilers. I recommend this as well, because enough of Six of Crows’ characters are in the show that meeting them in the book is a lot more fun. And while I enjoyed the plot of Shadow and Bone more, maybe because it was my entry into the books, I LOVE the characters in this one. Every single crow is fantastic, but Jesper is hands down my favorite.
From Goodreads:
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .
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
Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
This book is actually a prequel of Shadow and Bone, so it’s perfectly fine to read it first. Either entry into the world would work. They both explain what Grisha are in a way that assumes the reader is unfamiliar. The events in this book are entirely unrelated to those in S&B, also. Now, the Netflix show puts them on the same timeline and gives the crows something to do in regards to the plot of S&B. I didn’t mind the change because it was so delightful seeing the crows. The person cast as Jesper is PERFECT, which just increased my love of the character. I’m always skeptical when it comes to YA fantasy, because it’s just not my thing, but these are excellent, and I will be reading more.
Pleasant Nights 