Following the original “Shadow and Bone” trilogy from its New York Times bestselling author, Leigh Bardugo published “Six of Crows” on Sept. 29, 2015. Set in the Grishaverse, a world full of individuals with magical powers, the fantasy book opens in the crime-ridden city of Ketterdam, highlighting one of the criminal gangs, the Dregs. For 30 million kruge, six of its members (the Crows), run by Kaz Brekker, are hired to pull off an impossible task: rescuing a prisoner and breaking into the highly secured Ice Court. This book is an absolute must-read for fans of fantasy, romance and crime alike from its themes of morally grey characters, the weight of trauma and found family.

An aspect that truly elevates this book are the morally ambiguous characters, who create intriguing conflict which contrasts from the righteous protagonists books tend to have. All the Crows, Kaz, Inej Gafah, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Hendricks, Nina Zenik, and Matthias Helvar are all extremely well-written with their own unique personalities and backgrounds. The chapters also alternate between their different perspectives, truly allowing the reader to peek into their heads. For instance, Kaz is cunning and, sometimes, even cruel. At moments, he commits violent actions and doesn’t restrain those acts as long as he gets money. Inej, on the other hand, is the complete opposite, even after being stolen and forcefully becoming an indentured servant. After she is saved by Kaz and becomes his spy, Inej’s criminal actions constantly contradict her personal beliefs, and she generally feels lost and conflicted. Bardugo’s use of morally grey acts contributes to the appeal of her characters, because while they are not in fact virtuous, they are refreshingly realistic since their flaws reflect human complexity.

Additionally, a message greatly expressed in the characters is trauma and reclaiming power. Once again touching on Inej’s story, she holds a deep sense of longing for her life prior to when she was stolen and taken to Ketterdam. While this robs Inej of her sense of self, those experiences end up directly influencing Inej’s want of the heist money, not only to stop working in Ketterdam but do something entirely different: bringing slavers to justice and preventing anyone else from experiencing the fate she did. In chapter 33, the author describes when Inej processes this trauma first-hand: “Every horror came back to her, and she truly was a wraith, a ghost taking flight from a body that had given her only pain. No. A body that had given her strength.” By facing her traumatic past, Inej was able to instill a newfound self-confidence and purpose, which is a powerful message for any reader.

Another prevalent message constantly shown is found family. Even throughout their violent heist, the Crows provide a sense of support and comfort for each other. All six witness the others at vulnerable, low moments. Despite that, they still have respect and care for one another, which is illustrated in the chapters told from their perspectives. For instance, Inej and Nina share a sisterhood greatly built upon both being taken from their homelands, while Kaz and Wylan have a more hidden bond due to their mutual hatred of how the world has mistreated them. However, it was significantly harder to pinpoint Wylan’s thoughts throughout the book since no chapters were told from his perspective. This was a strange choice on Bardugo’s part, and this frankly made it confusing if Wylan was an important character like the rest of the Crows, even though his contributions were significant throughout the book’s twists.

Overall, “Six of Crows” is a criminally fun book from Bardugo that expanded her Grishaverse even further from the adventures in “Shadow and Bone.” This book only made Bardugo’s fantasy universe more interesting with its cleverly written characters and their found family, while still tackling more heavy themes such as trauma.