Kaz lives in a world full of magic and heroes, but he is neither of those things. He wants money, power, and—above all else—revenge.

This book was so much fun to read. Six of Crows delivers nonstop action, excellent characters, and a gripping adventure that pulled me in from the start. The premise is classic fantasy adventure meets heist, featuring a cast of well-developed antiheroes.

Six of Crows takes place in the same universe as The Grisha Trilogy. Having only read Shadow and Bone of that series, I was worried that I might be missing some background knowledge, especially since the action begins rather quickly and not much time is spent on getting to know the characters or the world before diving into the main plot. However, Bardugo makes heavy use of flashbacks and fleshes out everyone's backstories eventually. I wish that I had known this going in- she really does an excellent job leaving out information to build narrative tension, but I was too busy worrying that I had missed out on a previous book to appreciate it.

After a few flashbacks, I was able to realize that this was just her style and focus on the story unraveling in front of me. These flashes of the past are integrated really gracefully into the rest of the story, which really goes to show what a great storyteller Bardugo is. The time jumps feel so natural, it's easy to remain fully engaged in the story. I found a similar thing to be true for the worldbuilding. Knowing that there were previous books in the universe, I initially wondered if I was missing crucial information. Yet again, I found that all the essential information was revealed in due time.

I actually soon forgot about the original trilogy altogether, getting completely wrapped up in the new story. The mature content and writing style felt more evocative of Ninth House (a completely separate work of adult fiction by Bardugo) than Shadow and Bone. In my opinion, Six of Crows is a significantly better book than Shadow and Bone, showcasing a more complex form of storytelling, a more intricate plot, and a more compelling set of characters than its predecessor.

The story is told through multiple points of view, which can be hit or miss for me. In this case, I think it worked extremely well. I felt invested in all the characters, there was no perspective I wanted to rush through. Each of the crows has a distinct personality and skillset, each contributing to both the functionality and found-family dynamic of the team.

Additionally, switching between different viewpoints allowed Bardgugo to maintain a sense of suspense. Had the whole story been told through Kaz's eyes, the reader would've been in on details that were much more fun as surprise reveals later on. Tension is created when we get to see the progression of the story from the perspective of someone who is along for the ride rather than always having insight into the master plan.

The main characters are neatly paired up into couples, which might bother me if it weren't so well-written. Each pairing feels so different and contributes something unique to the story. These different relationships also play out on very different scales.

The romance between Nina and Matthias is front and center, Kaz and Inej seem to have a long road ahead of them, and the chemistry between Jesper and Wylan is only teased towards the end of the book

. In future installments, I hope that Bardugo will also invest more time in developing friendships between the crows. The seeds for some great platonic dynamics have been planted, and I want these relationships to get their turns in the spotlight.

The setup for the sequel, Crooked Kingdom, is perfect. Bardugo delivers a clean ending to the narrative arc of the first book, but the premise and stakes of the second book are clear.

Save my girl Inej!! I'm also so looking forward to seeing how Kaz plays out his revenge arc against Pekka Rollins after sparing his life- he must have big things planned for him. I'd also love to see Jesper further explore his Grisha abilities and identity

. I can only hope that Bardugo continues to deliver the magic she captured in this book.