This review is for the complete Six of Crows duology (Six of Crows; Crooked Kingdom) by Leigh Bardugo:

This is a heist story, with one young and rising criminal mastermind from the Ketterdam underworld being offered an incredible sum of money in order to accomplish an impossible rescue, almost a suicide mission. A team is assembled and they go for it, getting involved in a complex plot involving magic and international politics.

I liked the story, the worldbuilding and the characters. It's YA, for those who care about labels, but it's quite well-written. I enjoyed that we got to know the back stories (sob stories) of all members of the team, and that they all were interesting, and I liked the dynamics of the team. The romantic elements were integral to the story and did not feel like an unwelcome distraction. The story is rather character-focused. The city of Ketterdam is inspired by Amsterdam, but it did remind me of Venice, and there were other foreign powers inspired by imperial Russia and others. And the story was good: even if I'm not a big fan of heist stories, this book had enough epic to have me entertained, with a plot involving the discovery of a drug that greatly potentiates Grishas' abilities (Grishas are people with certain magical abilities, who are often exploited and/or persecuted) at the cost of quickly destroying their minds, and that many countries are trying to control.

One thing that bothered me is that we are continually being told how evil and ruthless Kaz is, but we only see him act in an honorable manner. Well, with a roguish code of honor, but a code of honor nevertheless. For me that was the main YA tick. And there's no grimdark here: the heroes, albeit criminals, are good guys.

All in all, an enjoyable and easy read. ( )

Not as good as the first part, but still quite good. I will highly recommend this series to my students. ( )

...I'm already feeling nostalgic over these books. The Crows are so great, and Ketterdam is so cinematic and sensory it swallowed me whole. (Even now, part of me is still in the dark, scrappy port town waiting to see what blows up next.) I'm not ready to part with themmmmm! Might die of heartbreak if they don’t get their alleged third book lol. ( )

Wonderful. I love Kaz. *sniffle* ( )

This picks up about a week after Six of Crows leaves off and jumps right into the action! Our band of criminals has another desperate mission that keeps them in mortal peril more often than not!

It’s dark & creepy but exciting & fun and of course has true love woven through the whole thing. It really just begs to be a movie or a TV show. I’m really looking forward to seeing what HBO comes up with. ( )