Series Review: The Six of Crows Duology

The two books in the Six of Crows Duology.

The Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo is a pair of books set in the same universe as Shadow and Bone, called the Grishaverse. Grisha are magic users and fall into certain categories, mainly people who can manipulate elements (wind, water, fire), people who can manipulate human bodies (healers or heartrenders), and people who can manipulate objects (called Fabrikators). That's all explored in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which largely takes place in Ravka. Six of Crows focuses on six characters in another country nearby called Kerch. Characters from Six of Crows appear in the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone, but don't let their appearances there fool you, this duology has nothing in common with season 1 and very little in common with season 2. This duology came out a while ago (2015 for Six of Crows and 2016 for Crooked Kingdom) but are still often on agent MSWLs and have some elements in common with my WIP, so I decided to take a look. 

As a side note: You do not need to read the Shadow and Bone trilogy first, although events in that trilogy are alluded to and even spoiled in the duology. If you plan to read both series, read Shadow and Bone first.

The duology's main characters are Kaz Brekker, the ruthless leader/strategist of group; Inej, a skilled climber/tight rope walker/acrobat/assassin; Jesper, the sharpshooter; Wylan, the runaway rich boy and explosives expert; Nina, a Grisha heartrender; and Mattias, a former Grisha-hunter and Nina's sort-of romantic buddy. The main plot is a heist--they need to break into the castle of another country (Fjerda, where Mattias is from) to steal a chemist who is making a drug that makes Grisha more powerful and then pretty much kills them. For their troubles, they're promised a wild amount of money. They must deal with constant changes in plans and their own pasts bubbling up to haunt them. 

There's a lot to like in this duology. The characters are great, the heist is well done with some Ocean's 11 vibes, and the pacing is excellent (which it needs to be for books this long.) I liked the depth of the characters, which I was surprised by because with six POVs, there's a high risk of some characters coming off as flat. However, I knew what motivated each person very clearly. I even took notes so I can try some of Bardugo's techniques in my own writing. I will admit that I have read some of Bardugo's other work and disliked it, so I was surprised I liked this so much. If you're in the same boat as me, don't be afraid to try this duology.

No book is perfect, of course. One thing that fell a little flat for me was that Kerch/Ketterdam were clearly based on the Netherlands/Amsterdam, but while I got that sense linguistically (one of Bardugo's strengths is using the names of things to give a really cohesive sense of place) I didn't get that sense in other cultural elements. As a person with Dutch heritage, I wanted more Dutch! On another picky note, so many of the characters made quick witted comments and jibes that their dialog often felt interchangeable during big group scenes.

This duology is for you if you liked Shadow and Bone (the trilogy or the Netflix adaptation), enjoy heists, and enjoy ensemble casts. It's not for you if you dislike multi-POV books, if you are not in the right headspace to read about kidnappings/sexual assault/human trafficking, or if you're hoping to find a very Dutch Dutch-inspired setting. 


Have you read the Six of Crows Duology? Which crow is your favorite? Let's discuss in the comments!