“We are all someone’s monster.” 

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a fantasy book with tons of action, and aspects of comedy and romance. The story follows Kaz Brekker, who is a renowned trickster, thief, and gang-leader, and he is only seventeen! Kaz is offered the job of his lifetime: a deadly heist to break out a well-known scientist named Bo Yul-Bayur out of a thought to be, impenetrable prison. Bo Yul-Bayur is the scientist behind a dangerous drug called the Jurda Parem, and he is the only one who knows the formula. If it is recreated and in the wrong hands, the world would be devastated. There was a demonstration of the drug, which shows to greatly amplify the powers of a Grisha, or someone with magical powers. The drug was tested on a young girl who was a Healer. Her abilities before the drug allowed her to heal small cuts and bruises. When they gave her Jurda Parem, she was able to fix severed limbs and control minds. Although Kaz knows how dangerous the drug is, the reward for him is too large to pass up: 30 million Kruge, which is the currency in this world. However, he can’t pull of this heist alone, so he assembles a diverse crew, each with unique skills. First is a sharpshooter named Jesper Fahey. He will do anything for money which is one of his flaws because he gambles so much. He feels indebted to Kaz, so he agrees to attempt to pull of this heist with him. Next is an educated runaway-turned-demolitionist named Wylan Van Eck. He came from a rich, privileged background, so he did not grow up with the violence that the others have, so he is the opposite of the devil’s advocate. Inej Ghafa is a spy known as “The Wraith” with a shattered history. She also feels indebted to Kaz because he pulled her out of her rough past. Next is Nina Zenik, who is a heartrender Grisha with magical powers. She has the magical abilities to damage or heal the internal organs of others. Last but not least is Matthias Helvar. He is a druskelle from the land of Fjerda. A druskelle is a warrior-soldier. He has been in the Hellgate prison for a year, so Kaz and the others break him out to help them with their heist. Each character has their own secrets that unravel throughout the book. If you have love reading dystopian, fantasy YA books such as the Infernal Devices (article by Alexa Mastrangelo) series by Cassandra Clare, you will love this book! 

I personally love this book because it focuses on the darker elements of the society that is set in the book. Here is a band of six people, and yet even though they are all misfits, I still ended up loving all of them and later continued onto reading the second book called the Crooked Kingdom. The sequel is almost as good or even better than the first book! I can guarantee that there’s a character that you will feel an immediate love for. There might even be multiple characters! Personally, I loved Kaz and Wylan the most. Kaz has a ruthless, violent, stoic demeanor that he is portrayed with from the start of the book. However, as the book develops, his vulnerabilities and sadistic humor shine through. Wylan is shown as being very shy and awkward, but he warms up to the other members of the crew. I only hoped for the best of him throughout the book and although Wylan did not contribute a lot physically to the group, he has his moments and his analytical thinking surely saves his team a couple of times. I also love the writing style that Bardugo uses: a constant shift in POV. It allows the story to be told by six different viewpoints, and through all these different viewpoints, it develops strong character development and backstories. The diversity of the characters is also a strong point in Bardugo’s writing: one character suffers from a limp and PTSD, and another character is illiterate and has dyslexia. In addition, there is a LGBTQ couple!

Due to the great success of Six of Crows, it is being turned into an eight-episode Netflix series! The series is expected to be released in either late 2019, or early 2020. The cast was released on October 2nd.