I recently had the immense pleasure of finishing this amazing book and I am already 166 pages into its sequel, Crooked Kingdom. Six of Crows follows six outcasts who have to come together to go on a heist that will result in them getting 30 million kruge. These characters are not good or moral and each have their own personal reasons for wanting the money. The heist is not a question of what they will be stealing, but rather a question of who. The crew will have to break into the Ice Court and steal Bo Yul-Bayur, the creator of a dangerous drug that will change their entire world. In the world of Six of Crows, there are people called Grisha who have special abilities. Some Grisha can control metal and air, others can heal people, and others can tear the human body apart without laying a finger on that person. Depending on where you are in this world, Grisha are either accepted, people are just wary of them, or in Fjerda they are seen as monsters and are hunted mercilessly. The drug that Bo Yul-Bayur has created, Jurda Parem, can enhance a Grisha’s power to unimaginable heights. This drug can allow a heartrender to murder an entire army within the span of seconds. This drug essentially makes a Grisha unstoppable. The downside is that the drug is essentially like heroin and is so addicting to the Grisha that they either die from the drug or die from the withdrawal of said drug. Now that the plot has been set up, let’s get onto the characters

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“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Poison in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.”

This quote sums up the team pretty well. Kaz is the leader of Dregs and is only 17. Most of the team are just teenagers who have had to grow up quickly given their circumstances. Kaz is known for his ruthlessness and is essentially Tony Soprano in a 17 year old’s body. Kaz is a criminal mastermind, can pick almost any lock, and has built his reputation as a monster in the Barrel. Kaz wears gloves at all times and has allowed rumors do the work for him as to why he wears him. Some say that his hands are constantly blood stained, others say he has claws instead of hands, and no one knows why he really wears them, except of course Inej.

Inej is a sixteen year old Suli girl who has captured by slavers and forced to work at a brothel called the Menagerie until Kaz paid off her indenture and had her work for the Dregs. Inej is known as the Wraith and works like a spider to get Kaz any information he may need. Inej comes from a family of acrobats and can scale nearly any wall and it’s nearly impossible to tell when she is behind you. Inej wants the money so she can buy a ship and sail back to the family she was taken from and capture slavers. Inej is the only person who has ever been able to get close to Kaz.

Jesper is the team’s sharpshooter and can never say no to a bit of gambling. Jesper provides the most comedic relief in the book and is also a terrible flirt. Jesper first came to Ketterdam to be a student and make his father proud. However, after one too many nights spent gambling, Jesper is left in debt and has to join the Dregs to work to pay off his debt. He is particularly interested in the Dregs’ newest recruit, Wylan.

Wylan is the newest addition to the Dregs and constantly feels way in over his head. Wylan ran away from home and comes from a privileged past. No one on the team knew why Wylan had chosen to leave a life of luxury for the Dregs, except of course Kaz who knows everything. Wylan hates Jesper’s constant teasing but does enjoy all the banter he has with the sharpshooter. Wylan is in charge of the explosives and since he’s new, he has to prove himself to the group throughout the book.

Nina is the Grisha on the team. Nina is a heartrender. This is a Grisha who specializes in taking the human body apart. Nina can easily kill someone if they’re in close enough proximity with her and she has full access to her hands. If her hands are bound to her body, she is powerless. Nina is a loud and gorgeous girl who loves cake and taking care of Inej. Nina is closely tied to Matthias and has a very complicated past with him. Nina and Jesper are the most flirtatious people on the team.

Lastly, Matthias is an escaped convict. Matthias claims Nina is the one who put her in jail and at first wants nothing more than to take his revenge on her. However, Matthias can’t help but care for Nina given their past. Matthias was once apart of the Druskelle. These are the ruthless soldiers from his country that think that Grisha are less than human and deserve to be killed and tortured. Matthias struggles with his own sense of morality throughout the novel and has to come to terms with who are actually the monsters; the Grisha or the Druskelle?

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While the plot alone is enough for me to give this book five out of five stars, the amazing characters are really what drove the novel for me. Each chapter takes place from the perspective of a character and I loved getting to grasp a sense of how each character thinks and feels. I found myself looking forward to reading about the events in the book from Jesper’s perspective especially.

I recommend this book series to anyone who loves fantasy, anti-heroes, comedy, a little bit of romance, and suspense. Let me know in the comments if any of you guys have read these books and what you thought of them.