Today we journey back to the realm of books to the Grishaverse, created by the author Leigh Bardugo. A world so thoroughly explored that I feel as if I have been living there for the better part of my fall semester. The Grishaverse, as of September 2020, consists of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, followed by the Six of Crows duology, and the book King of Scars which will have a sequel released next year. Both the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology will also soon be coming to Netflix as well. All of these books tell the tales of different characters in different parts of this world at different times.

While the world is beautifully developed in the first series, the true crowning jewel of the Grishverse is the Six of Crows duology that follows Shadow and Bone. The books are about a group of people that come together in the city of Ketterdam in Kerch to pull off an impossible heist to steal something that countries are on the verge of going to war for. This story line is continued in the sequel, Crooked Kingdom, where they have to fight to reclaim their spot in Ketterdam when they return from the heist.

While the storyline itself was originally what drew me in, the real magic in this book comes from its characters who drive the plot forward even when it seems to have hit a dead end. They have strong, dramatic character developments that allow you to watch the characters grow with the story and feel connected to them. While these descriptions may be great, the best way to show the greatness of these characters is to introduce a couple of the six crows who pull off the heist.

Art by Kevin Wada

The first one to introduce is Kaz Brekker (pictured third from the right), who is 17 years old and already runs a gang called the Dregs. He is somehow the most mysterious and unpredictable character that I have ever read while also being the one that the audience knows the most about. No other character has made feel like I know nothing and yet everything about them at the same time. He is the mastermind behind everything, the dark, mysterious, untouchable leader that manages to constantly do the impossible. To me the best way to describe his character is through the name that another character, Matthias (pictured last on the right), calls him. Throughout both books he refers to Kaz as demjin, meaning demon in another language, because of his ability to avoid the inevitable at every turn and somehow always walk out on top.

“You can only sharpen a blade so far,” Kaz said as he joined them at the front of the church. “In the end, it comes down to the quality of the metal.”
― Kaz Brekker; Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom

The other character that also immediately held my attention was Inej Ghafa (pictured second from the right).  She can be described as almost the direct opposite of Kaz in the fact that he fought to stay and survive in Ketterdam while she was forced there and sold into indentured servitude, he became someone who could rule the Dregs while she became known as the Wraith for her stealth and ability to blend into the shadows unseen by all except Kaz. He walked into the darkness of Ketterdam willingly while she walked in looking for a way out. The true beauty of Inej’s character is in her growth. She was the only one of the Crows to strongly hang onto her faith, even naming her blades after her saints, but she lacked purpose or hope for the future. However, she discovered who she was and who she wanted herself to be. Her greatest accomplishment though, was forgiving herself for her mistakes which followed her like chains weighing her down.

“Maybe there were people who lived those lives. Maybe this girl was one of them. But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.”
― Inej Ghafa; Leigh Bardugo, Crooked Kingdom 

While it may not be realistic to assume that a 17 year old could pull off an impossible heist and escape death every other day like Kaz Brekker, the complexity of these characters astounds me. The most accurate way of describing these books is a never-ending rollercoaster ride that left me hoping that it would last forever only so that I would not have to say goodbye to these characters. If you are looking for a fun read that will not only give you an adrenaline rush but funny, relatable characters than look no further than Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and if the Grishaverse interests you I would also recommend reading the other books as well!

“No mourners, no funerals.” ― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows