Yep, we're veering off from Carry On and Harry Potter, because I've been reading a lot of books from other fandoms over the past few weeks.
So now I've got a review for Six of Crows, the first book in a duology by Leigh Bardugo.
Credit: Goodreads
So... this duology that I'm speaking of is part of a greater world called the Grishaverse. There was a Shadow and Bone trilogy prior to this series, and also more books coming later.
The Grishaverse is really an entire new universe; there are formations of land similar to the Earth we have now in the map featured in the book, but they do have different names. A few of these continents are mentioned by name in the Six Of Crows books, but there are others not mentioned directly.
There's Ravka, clearly inspired by Russia, in which the Shadow and Bone trilogy takes place. There's also Fjerda, seemingly created based on countries such as Norway or Finland. There's Noyvi Zem, possibly modeled after Africa, Shu Han, modeled after China or another Asian country.
Featured in Six of Crows are characters from all of these places, but the story itself takes place in Kerch, a large island centered in the True Sea. And within Kerch is a city called Ketterdam, which is where our story begins.
This book features six members of a notorious gang called the Dregs, and they have to pull off an impossible heist. There's Kaz Brekker, the hardened "leader" of the gang, Inej Ghafa, who's incredible sneaky and small, Wylan Van Eck, a rich mercher's son, Jesper Fahey, a gunman, Nina Zenik, a Grisha (will explain later!) and Matthias Hevlar, a former Grisha hunter.
A new drug called Jurda Parem has been discovered by a Shu scientist, and it has terrifying properties. It can extend Grisha powers further than should be possible, and if the secret gets out, there will be chaos.
Now, Grisha are magical people (called creatures by some that think their powers are unnatural) that can manipulate parts of the world. There are some that can control the elements, others can control materials, and some can control aspects of humans. Nina, as mentioned before, is a Heartrender, meaning she can change someone's appearance, or other parts of them.
Anyway, this book focuses on the group attempting to capture the scientist who created Jurda Parem by breaking into the highest-security prison in the world: the Ice court.
My favorite part of the book was the incredible world-building by Bardugo. The world is perfectly thought-out and creative, while also being quite believable.
However, there was also so much character development, and I fell in love with everyone in a different way. (But I have to say my favorite's definitely Wylan, because I'd be him in the group.)
We got to see the development of Matthias, who previously worked to capture Grisha, and may now feel this hatred leaving him as he develops feelings for Nina.
We also see the backstory of each of the characters, and I found Kaz's entirely horrific, but it really helped me see how the story was driven.
Now, usually, I have problems with books that have one overpowering plot point, but I was able to stay incredibly invested in the story and not get bored at all. It was a bit violent, but nothing I couldn't handle, for sure.
I know this was a short read but I did not want to give anything at all away: I seriously recommend this one and the next book in the duology, Crooked Kingdom, for anyone who enjoys reading action and fantasy but also likes a little bit of emotion.