Reviews

//reread in January 2023

Oh my. This was honestly impossible to put down. Okay, I do agree with people saying this book had no reason to be almost 500 pages long. The story did drag at times, and maybe there wasn't that much happening all the time, but it was still so good.

It's a dark book, so definitely check your trigger warnings before getting into it. But I loved reading about flawed and complex characters who have been through so much trauma. And Leigh doesn't make it a quirky personality trait or gloss over it - she handles it so well, and these characters feel like real people.

This makes me kinda sad, because what if she had written Six of Crows like this, as adult fantasy? so much lost potential...

(also love the dark academia aesthetic)

nadibabe's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5. Slow to start and great at the end!

agrippinaes's review against another edition

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5.0

I really loved this story. It’s very well-written with some beautiful prose. The ideas and concepts in it are very interesting and exciting, and the plot is well-developed and intricate. I enjoyed the non-linear storytelling, it was nice to see the plot develop from different perspectives and to watch all the ideas come together.

It does need saying though that this book is not always an easy read. I’ve seen it said by a few people that the book is not quite like Bardugo’s other works. I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology before (I tried the Grishaverse books but they didn’t do it for me), so I can’t really comment on that, but it’s really important to remember that this isn’t a YA novel and approach it with some caution regarding content. I’ve included a content warning at the bottom of the review in which I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible - I went in blind to a lot of it and some details really caught me by surprise.

I loved Alex, the main character. She’s easily one of the best and most interesting heroines I’ve seen in a story like this for a long time. She was very strong, capable, and brave. I loved her protectiveness and loyalty over her friends. I could go on forever - I just really loved her character.
I also liked her relationship with Turner, the police detective, and how it developed - same with Dawes.

Finally, the ending has to be one of my all-time favourites. It’s just so cool. I have no other ways to describe it, I just felt very excited and thrilled whilst I was reading it.

However, I won’t lie, it took me more than half the book to get into it. There were a couple of times I considered not finishing it, but I honestly loved the end of it so much the rest of it was worth it and I was able to look back on the story with more appreciation. Yes, it takes a while to get there, but the build up is so necessary. But it might be a little slow paced at points.

I would recommend it if you like dark fantasy stories, or dark academia style novels, but please do check the content warnings.

Content Warnings:

Spoiler

Violence, murder

Main character is a survivor of a multiple homicide, described in detail

, sexual assault, rape, child sexual abuse, date rape

Spoiler

of side character(s); these assaults are recorded and described graphically

, intimate partner violence (in past), lots of discussion of consent / coercion, drugs, racism.

As I said at the start of the review, this book is not an easy read. I think there are probably other warnings about the content that could be made, so approach with caution.