Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo, 2015
Young adult FantasyMystery, thriller & crimeScience fiction
A crew of teenage outcasts takes on an impossible heist in a city of canals, bribes and betrayals. A canal-city heist hums with ambition, quick banter and a tenderness that catches you off guard.
Feels like tenderness. About ambition, power and love.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a crew of outcasts, crooked deals and a heist that keeps doubling back on itself. The teenage voices and crowded cast mean the crime-fantasy intrigue can feel more adolescent than hard-boiled.
Why read it
Bardugo makes ambition and loyalty feel like live wires in a city where every bribe has a price, giving you a tense, witty escape.
A page from the book
The nervous arithmetic of finding the right compliment.
If only Anya’s eyes were blue like the sea or green like an emerald. Instead, her eyes were brown—lovely, dreamy … melted chocolate brown? Rabbit fur brown? Leigh Bardugo.Bardugo's Grishaverse takes its name from the Grisha, soldiers and artisans whose powers are treated as a natural resource—bought, sold and indentured.
Books that feel like this
More by Leigh Bardugo
Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo, 2012
A mapmaker in a war-torn kingdom discovers a power that could save her country—and becomes the obsession of a charming, dangerous Grisha commander.
Siege and Storm
Leigh Bardugo, 2013
A sun-summoner is hunted, a kingdom fractures, and every alliance asks what she will trade for power.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Six of Crows for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy YA fantasy with a crew of outcasts, crooked deals and a heist that keeps doubling back on itself. The teenage voices and crowded cast mean the crime-fantasy intrigue can feel more adolescent than hard-boiled.
- What is Six of Crows like?
- A canal-city heist hums with ambition, quick banter and a tenderness that catches you off guard. Feels like tenderness. About ambition, power and love.
- What should I read after Six of Crows?
- If you liked Six of Crows, try Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston), King of Pride (Ana Huang) and The Spanish Love Deception (Elena Armas).
A taste of the feed
What it sounds like when a careful man stops being careful.
I love you, Isabella Valencia.” Simple and raw, stripped of all pretense except for the naked truth that had been staring me in the face all this time. “Every single part of you, from your laugh to your humor to the way you can’t stop talking about condoms.” One of those laughs I loved so much slipped out, thick with emotion. A smile flashed across my face before I sobered again. “You think you’re broken, but I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Smart. Strong. Beautiful. Imperfect by your own standards but so wonderfully perfect for me.
King of Pride · Ana Huang
What it means to stop pretending and simply claim what you want.
Because when I finally take those lips in mine, it will be the furthest thing from pretending. I will not be showing you what it would be like if you were mine. I’ll show you what it is. And I sure as hell won’t be showing how good I could make you feel if you called me yours. You’ll already know that I am.
The Spanish Love Deception · Elena Armas
The most inventive way anyone has ever said I'd rather not sit here.
I’d rather drink a can of Axe body spray while feral raccoons feast on my exposed bone marrow than sit across from this twat.
Check & Mate · Ali Hazelwood
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