Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5 stars)
To save everyone the trouble, I’ll go right ahead and preface this review by saying that this is one of my favorite reads in my lifetime and I have never been more in love with a piece of literature. Harry Potter is my top series of all time but I can personally admit that one or two books were a chore to go through. However, HP just got dethroned because that is completely not the case with the Six of Crows duology. I was intrigued and kept in the suspense of disbelief on every page, which is what you’d want from a fantasy book.
Plot/Summary
We set the stage at Ketterdam: a fictional city that is so well-described as a merchant-centric location that’s mostly filled with people trying to survive. Think of a bustling market in the middle, the higher-end shops at one end, and the dark streets with shady establishments and skilled criminals on the other. In these busy streets, a new, powerful, and dangerous drug is threatening to change life as they know it. They increase the magic populace’s powers beyond control but one taste will get the user addicted until his/her death. The drug is currently being experimented on to be more controllable. Multiple people – governments and criminals alike – are after it for multiple reasons. A powerful government officer enlists Kaz Bekker, a teenage criminal prodigy who has a penchant for lockpicking and operating a criminal organization, to retrieve the drug’s creator inside a highly-secure prison. The reward? A life-changing amount of money. To do this, he enlists five other criminals with varying associations with him and skills, and he orchestrates the heist that will change their lives forever in more ways than one.
Story and World Building
I love the world-building in this book. Usually, it takes a lot for me to remember all the new names especially when it is as complicated as this where there are magical beings and everything – every occupation, item, language, and place – has a different name. However, I like that the words are so consistently used that I didn’t even need to put in an effort to memorize what they were. The context provides everything and the more you read, the more you’ll get accustomed to this new world and understand their language. In fact, I didn’t even know that this was an already existing universe (Grishaverse) from a popular and its preceding trilogy – Shadow and Bones – until after I finished the entire thing and looked up what else I can read from the author. The best thing is that you don’t actually have to read that trilogy to understand what’s going on with this universe. It stands perfectly well on its own.
For the story, the premise itself is intriguing but I was pleasantly surprised that this was just about more than a single heist. Every major character in this story has their own past and issues that entangle the plot. I found myself getting more and more nervous as the mission goes on because I became so invested in their individual lives and I was holding my breath at every stage. It’s also amazing how some of the romance even unfolded so naturally. There’s not a lot but the sprinkled moments here and there feel like shots of endorphin in the middle of having an adrenaline rush because of all the action.
Character Building
I have trouble memorizing names, especially last names, but I loved the character building in Six of Crows so much that I had no problem remembering them even though weeks have passed since I read this. They’re flawed and they know it. They’re so well-written and their motivations are clearly described that they make some deviations and questionable actions here and there but they would still be on brand. Best of all, their friendships had chemistry. They would joke grimly, they’ll call each other out, they’ll respect each other’s skills, they’d fight together AND each other, and it’s going to be fun watching them go through it all.
Final Thoughts
This is the kind of book that I would wish to erase my memory so I can go through all of it all over again. If you like action, smart maneuvers, a rich plot, a dark-but-not-so-dark fictional world, and flawed but lovable characters, I 100% recommend this.
Favorite Quote(s):
“No mourners, no funerals.”
― Six of Crows
“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”
― Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows
“That’s what he wants, not what he needs,” said Kaz. “Leverage is all about knowing the difference.”
― Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows
Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
― Six of Crows
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Posion in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.
“She wouldn’t wish love on anyone. It was the guest you welcomed and then couldn’t be rid of.”
― Nina Zenik, Six of Crows
“Better terrible truths than kind lies.”
― Inej Ghafa, Six of Crows
“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”
― Inej Ghafa, Six of Crows
“She’d laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him.”
― Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows
“Greed may do your bidding, but death serves no man.”
― Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows
“I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
― Inej Ghafa, Six of Crows
The Stray Reader 
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