Teen Book Reviews
This summer, our S*T*A*R volunteers have taken up the pen to provide some book reviews! See what your peers are reading and find some great new summer reads. Today’s review comes from teen volunteer Stella.
Stella’s Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
“This isn’t a job for trained soldiers and spies. It’s a job for thugs and thieves.” This is a quote from one of my favorite books of all time, Six of Crows. Six of Crows is written by Leigh Bardugo, who is the author of many other books in the Grishaverse. The Grishaverse is a universe of books that all take place in the same fantasy world. The Six of Crows duology is my favorite out of all of the books. I would rate this book 5 stars. I would recommend this book for people who are 12 years or older.
Now let’s get into the actual review. There is so much I want to say about this book I don’t even know where to start. Let’s start maybe with the characters. We meet Nina Zenik, Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, and Wylan Van Eck. These are teenagers who are trying to break into the Ice Court and trying to steal the recipe for a drug that enhances, but also ruins, the powers of Grisha. Grisha are magical beings who carry different powers. Each and every one of the characters has a fleshed-out storyline and amazing character development. I especially love the platonic and romantic relationships each of the characters has. A good example is the platonic relationship between Matthais and Inej. At the beginning of the book, Matthais has mixed feelings toward Inej and doesn’t respect her. At the end of the book, Matthais respects Inej and they become close friends.
My favorite romantic relationships in these books are with Wylan and Jesper. They have some hilarious dialogues and are adorable together. I don’t want to spoil too much but this will become your favorite couple ever. I also love the world-building in these books. Six of Crows is an extension of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. So, obviously, a lot of world-building took place there, but even people who haven’t read Shadow and Bone can still enjoy the story. The chemistry the characters have in this book is insane. They all respect each other and have development in each relationship. Last but not least, the representation in this book is amazing. There is racial diversity and LGBTQ+ representation. As well as strong female characters! There is also a show on Netflix based on Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows if you want to watch that after reading the books. Happy reading!
